Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 47606 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 159(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47606 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 159(@300wpm)
He glanced at me, then at Colton, who crossed his arms, following my lead, taking his cues from me the same way I did from him when the roles were reversed. We would not be alarmed, and there would be no yelling. Again, this was us, as we always were.
“You realize I have a gun and I’m going to murder you if you don’t tell me where the diamonds are,” Erast informed me.
“What diamonds?” I snapped at him. “Seriously, I’m so sick of being asked about goddamn diamonds I never saw. That day when you got all snarly with me and said, Oh, we’ll see when Gen pulls the surveillance footage and—” I stopped because I needed to know.
“And?” he prodded me.
“You’re here. Gen is not. Is he dead?”
He took a breath. “No. Last week he called up that fucking widow—you remember, the one from Bosnia and Herzegovina—and after all this time, she flew into New York on her private jet, picked him up, and that’s it. He’s done. Living the rest of his life as a kept man.”
It was sort of poetic. She had all the power, Gen had none. Because yes, he’d live the rest of his life carefree, but how much of his heart and soul would that choice eat?
“Why didn’t he come to ask me about the diamonds?”
“I have no idea,” he said irritably, starting to pace. “We came together, and I always have to travel in a stupid disguise because I’m supposed to be dead, and it’s fuckin’ cold here. What the fuck? How long does it stay like this?”
“I thought these guys were Russian?” Colton asked me.
“Yeah, but they were all born in Southern California, except for Csokas and Rokov, I think.”
“That’s correct,” Erast confirmed, sounding dejected, almost sad.
“What’s wrong with you?” I asked, trying to keep the irritation out of my voice. Because I’d been scared for Colton and worried for me about how I would handle seeing Gen again. But now it was Erast, and I was just annoyed. Plus, he sounded petulant, which was grating. “Did you want an heiress to come whisk you away?”
“That’s your problem, all of you, all the house entertainment. You always thought I was jealous of Gen, and I wasn’t.”
“Gen was the one with the beauty and the charm,” I made clear. “He was the one who went out, found people, seduced us, then turned us out.”
“That last part isn’t exactly true. You weren’t walking the streets. He kept you all in that fucking mansion you put an end to when you left.”
“I’m all torn up about that.”
“You know that time you were kidnapped by those guys Gen gave you to, I told him not to bother getting you back, you were damaged goods at that point.”
“Makes sense,” I agreed, not about to argue with him.
“Plus, I was sure you’d never be the same. His spell was broken. You were gullible but not stupid.”
Colton moved toward him, but Erast lifted the Glock 17 and pointed it at him. “Don’t do anything foolish, boyfriend. The past is the past. Who cares?”
“That’s actually right,” I said to Colton, wrapping my arms around his waist and pressing my face to his chest.
“Wait, boyfriend?” Colton asked Erast.
“Yeah, of course. As I said to you, Gen and I were here for a week, watching Pax, seeing if he was living life off stolen stones, but he’s not, and all we could see was his assistant job, and we didn’t get it. Then Gen, he goes out by himself and follows you around after work one night, and when he came back to the hotel, he seemed sad. When I asked what was wrong, he said he knew you were happy. He said you looked good, healthy, different, and he went on and on about the spark in your eyes or the spark being back in your eyes. I don’t know. I wasn’t really listening. But I think he was hoping you had the diamonds and that you might consider taking him back if you did.”
“So if Pax had them, Mr. Antonov would’ve considered staying because Pax would be rich. But as Pax doesn’t have them, calling the widow was his best bet.”
“Yeah.”
Colton nodded. “He’s all heart.”
“Gen also suggested that if I wanted to know definitively if you had the diamonds,” he said to me before pointing the gun at Colton, “then I should threaten your boyfriend because you really love him.”
“Your cousin thinks Pax really loves me?” Colton asked Erast.
“What?” Erast sounded annoyed.
“Never mind him,” I said quickly, wanting Erast’s focus on me. “Let’s talk about the diamonds.”
“Yes,” Erast replied, seemingly unsure of Colton, holding the gun on him instead of me. “Gen swore Pax is crazy about you. He said that even before he fucked up, Pax never smiled at him the way he smiles at you.”