Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 59983 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 300(@200wpm)___ 240(@250wpm)___ 200(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59983 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 300(@200wpm)___ 240(@250wpm)___ 200(@300wpm)
“It doesn’t matter how many times it’s been. You cheated.” I slash my arm through the air. “And I’m done.” Without sparing him another look, I rush to the closet for the first bag I can find.
“What?” Now I’m getting a reaction out of him. He reaches for my hand, a scowl on his face when I jerk out of his reach. “You’re done? You think you get to say when we’re over?”
“You decided that we’re over. The second you fucked my best friend was the end,” I snarl at him and rush to grab my things.
“Just because I make one mistake—”
“Don’t lie to me!” I growl. Shaking my head, I try to tune him out. This red-hot anger fills me with an urgency to sprint from this shock. So much for peace and quiet to think and plan. So much for counting on anyone to hear me out and help me through this dilemma about keeping the bakery alive.
“Hey!” He tries to block me at the door, but I shove him away. “Where do you think you’re going?”
I pull up to a stop and get in his face. “I’m not staying here!”
He scoffs, crossing his arms. “You think you can just get up and go? Walk away from me like that?” He snaps his fingers and smirks. “You’re ready to walk away from us?”
I glower at him then narrow my eyes at Maeve, who’s failing to hide a grin as she still sits naked on the couch, like she’s thriving on this drama. “Yeah. I’m ready. There is no more us.”
Shaking his head slowly, he gives me a once-over. Unlike the creep on the subway, Roman pierces me with a look of disdain. “Then go. It’s not like you were ever good enough for me, anyway.”
Spikes of heat hit me, ramping up my anger. My blood rushes faster, and my head aches with too much tension from all the stress of the day.
“You weren’t,” Maeve adds from the background.
It’s one thing for him to cheat on me. But my best friend? I gape at her for a second. “And you think you are?” I step back around Roman. “Enjoy my sloppy seconds, Maeve. Maybe he’ll figure out how to actually make a woman come since you’re so easy.”
She gasps and Roman follows me. “You lying bitch. I know—I can—” He growls again, spluttering for a comeback. “Don’t blame me for how bad it was. It was a fucking chore trying to ever make you come. You’re so fat and frigid, I deserve a motherfucking medal for trying with you!”
“Whatever you say, Roman.” I don’t look back, giving him the last word in that patronizing tone he’s never liked—the one that implies he’s too simple, too young, to get it.
“Don’t mock me,” he warns, reaching for my hand.
I wrench it free and grab the doorknob. “Don’t touch me.”
His face tightens again. “If you go out that door, don’t plan on coming back. Ever again.”
I laugh once, yanking the door open. He thinks I’m bluffing.
“Liliana, I mean it,” he growls. “No one gets to walk away from me.” He stabs a finger at his chest.
I smile slightly with all the ugliness of anger. “Watch me.”
I slam the door shut behind me and don’t waste a second. Before the adrenaline can crash and I’ll be reacting to this betrayal, I get my phone out and text my friend Jenni, asking if I can come over.
She won’t mind. She’s never liked Roman, and she especially hasn’t been fond of him pressuring me to consider the loan he’s been pushing on my parents.
I shake my head as I get back into the cold outside.
Jenni will let me stay with her. And she can hear me out about all of it. How my best friend and boyfriend betrayed me.
“You’re doing me a favor, Roman,” I snarl to myself. I don’t have time to waste on a cheating boyfriend or a friendship with a liar.
“It’s a new year. New me,” I vow with vehemence, taking one angry step at a time to return to the subway. It’s time to make the most of it.
The End
2
ANTON
Blood sprays from the man’s mouth. The enforcer doesn’t stop there. On the other side of the tinted window, the deadliest Sokolov soldier raises his arm and strikes the traitor again. This time the rat’s head lolls to the side, hanging down as he strains to breathe through the blows.
“I didn’t do it!” he cries seconds later, red dribbling down his mouth, a tooth clinging crookedly. “I didn’t steal it!”
The enforcer pivots toward the window, aware I’m watching. If there were any mercy to grant this man, I’d rap on the glass and signal a pause.
I don’t. I don’t move toward the wall that partitions me from the latest defector in the organization. Witnessing enforcement isn’t something I need to do. It’s not even something I care to bother with anymore. Every man in this family has earned my trust, from the spies and bookkeepers who flagged this supervisor for embezzling Bratva money to the guards and soldiers who beat our enemies before finishing them off. I trust them all.