Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 68192 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68192 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
“You say we shouldn’t harm you, then you accuse us of kidnapping Nikolai,” Remington said. “Which is it? Are you an ally or not?”
“I’m a friend of anyone who wants to bring my father down, but I want to know that Nikolai is safe. He’s done nothing wrong. He deserves his freedom.”
“We didn’t kidnap him,” I said. “He escaped.”
She looked back and forth between the others. “I’ll handle this,” Remington said. “Nikolai escaped with the help of his mother. His father beat him and broke his arm, but we’re taking care of him now.”
“I want to talk to him.”
“Have you met in person?” Remington asked.
“Yes.”
“So he can vouch for you?”
“Yes, though I don’t know why you think I would break in here if I were anyone else.”
“Your father has made some dangerous plans. Why wouldn’t I believe he sent you here as a spy?”
Her fierce glare nearly had me taking a step back. “I am not working for my father.”
“We’ll see what Nikolai has to say about that.” He looked at me. “Call Lancelot.”
23
NIKOLAI
Ijumped when the balcony door slid open.
Lancelot held up his hands. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“It’s okay. Is anything wrong?”
“There’s a young woman who says she’s here to visit you.”
I frowned at him. “A woman?”
“Yes, she claims to be Ivanov’s daughter, but since none of us have seen her, we can’t confirm her identity.”
Was that really possible? “Alina is here?”
Lancelot shrugged. “So she says. Would you be willing to meet with her to confirm who she is?”
“Of course.”
A few moments later, someone knocked on the door. I stood, but Lancelot motioned me back.
When he opened the door, Lorenzo, his brothers, and a man I assumed was Remington Theriot stood there with Alina. She was paler than she had been the last time I’d seen her, and she was dressed in clothes that looked much too large. I doubted they were hers. Her father would never allow his daughter to wear torn jeans and a sweatshirt.
“Alina, are you all right? How did you get here?”
She started toward me, but Remington grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
I sucked in my breath. I couldn’t let him hurt her, but what was I going to do against Lorenzo and three other men?
I screamed when something jumped from Rafael’s hand and ran toward Lance. I realized it was a small monkey as it climbed up Lance’s leg.
“That’s Tony,” Rafael said. “He’s Lance’s.”
I was having trouble taking that in. “You have a pet monkey?”
Before Lance answered, Remington cleared his throat, and I turned to face him. “Nikolai, I’m Remington Theriot. It’s nice to meet you.”
“It’s nice to meet you too,” I said, unsure of how to handle the situation.
Remington Theriot’s reputation was terrifying. I’d always assumed if I ever met him, I wouldn’t live much longer. Yet here he was, claiming to be glad to meet me.
He gestured toward Alina. “The young woman claims to be Alina Ivanov. You know her?”
“Yes, sir, she is Alina, my former fiancée.”
“Do you trust her? Is she loyal to her father?”
Alina huffed. “I told you I ran away. And this isn’t the first time.”
I fought the urge to smile. It was good to see that Alina’s spirit hadn’t been broken. “That’s true. She’s tried to escape before, and she attempted to plot with me so that we could get out of our prospective marriage, but we were interrupted too soon.”
“I want to talk to Nikolai alone,” she insisted.
“I’d like to talk to her too,” I said, looking to Lorenzo for help.
“Lancelot will need to stay. We can’t leave you alone for your safety.”
“And ours,” Remington added.
Alina gave a curt nod. “I’ll accept that. We should have a guard. I don’t know how high a priority I am to my father right now.”
Remington scowled at her. “But you thought it was a good idea to lead him here?”
“My intention was to find Nikolai and make sure he was all right. If you’re taking care of him, then you can protect me as well.”
“Are you always this demanding?”
“My father says I must be the devil’s child that my mother conjured and not his at all.”
Remington rolled his eyes. “Terrific. We’ll strengthen our forces here.”
Tony chose that moment to jump down from Lancelot’s shoulder and run over to Lorenzo, who bent to pet him. Tony started playing with Lorenzo’s watch. I laughed, and Lorenzo looked up and smiled. “Lance will help you if you need anything, and I’ll be back later.”
Tony yanked his watch all the way off his arm and took off.
“Hey!” Lorenzo yelled. “That was my grandfather’s.”
“Tony, give that back,” Lance ordered, but Tony came running to me. He climbed up my leg and prodded my hand.
“He’s trying to put the watch on you,” Lance said.
“I’ll help him,” Lorenzo said. He slid the watch onto my wrist and smiled. “I like that.”