Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 56507 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56507 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 188(@300wpm)
CHAPTER 5
AIDEN
Itry not to watch her sleep, but it isn’t easy. She’s rolled into a tight ball as though trying to protect herself, but that’s what I’m here for. Fuck, I need to chill. When that wooden ballerina softly bounced off her head, I felt like I’d slapped her.
“Who is she, brother?”
I look up to find Logan standing over me, leaning against the wall, wearing his military fatigues. He’s got a slight smile on his face, but it’s almost wary—how people tend to get around me. It’s something I spent time developing when I was younger—driving people to be scared of me and want nothing to do with me. Yet I’ve known Logan for almost a decade. I’ve helped him with some non-military stuff, and he still seems slightly uncomfortable.
Is that what I am? A wolf always ready to hurt someone? Is that what I’ll always be?
“You don’t have to tell me,” Logan goes on.
I stand up, dragging my gaze away from her. She looks too damn small. Too damn young. It hurts me how badly I want her. A delicate person like Ania isn’t made for my calloused killer’s hands. Moving closer to Logan, I lower my voice and say, “She’s my stepmother’s daughter.”
“Ah,” Logan says, waiting for me to go on.
That’s one thing I like about him so much. He doesn’t push. Too many people think they’ve got a lot to say when, in reality, keeping their mouths shut would be the best option.
“You ever heard of the Sokolovs?”
He shakes his head.
“They’re Bratva, like a mafia, but for the Russians. On the West Coast, they’re relatively big. My stepmother was a …” Prostitute, but he doesn’t need to know that. “… in a bad place once, and she fell for the leader, Konstantin. He used her, beat her, and stole her daughter. He scared her so badly that she never dared try to find her until his death. Now, I’m taking her home.”
“You’re not worried about these mafia guys following you?” Logan asks with a wry smile.
“Hmm,” I say, and he laughs grimly.
That’s a damn stupid question, and we both know it. “I hope they do,” I go on. “I hope they gather all their troops and come at me with everything they’ve got.”
“That would be a bloodbath. Difficult to cover up, Aiden.”
“That’s life. What else am I going to do?”
Logan frowns. He’s got a family and kids. He’s got a reason not to want a gunfight to break out every couple of hours. All I’ve got is this ember inside of me that is constantly waiting to become a flame, continually begging to explode, like it wants me to turn full fucking berserk.
“Relax, brother,” Logan says.
“Hmm.”
“You’re thinking about it, aren’t you? A possible fight? You’ve got that look in your eye, man.”
“What look?”
“Like Satan himself could wake you up in the middle of the night, and you’d just casually snap off one of his horns and stab him with it.”
Now it’s my turn to laugh. “Your imagination is far too vivid for me.”
He shrugs, and we say nothing for a while. When Ania turns over in her sleep, I watch her with that growing hunger deep inside, the hunger I can’t ever, not for a single second, let myself ever act on. She’s. Just. Too. Young.
Eighteen … I try to think of who I was at that age. I was a crazy, wild kid with fury in his fists and a deep desire to be allowed to inflict violence legally. A beast, almost.
“If you saw me and that woman together in public,” I say quietly. “What would you think?”
Logan looks at Ania, then looks at me. “I don’t know, brother. Your stepsister?”
“You do. You’ve got an opinion. Imagine she’s not my stepsister.”
“My opinion doesn’t matter. She’s of age, isn’t she?” I give him a murderous look, and he laughs it off. “Obviously, she is. I’m just messing. She just looks young.”
“So tell me what you would think. Be honest, Logan. Jesus. Have I ever swung on you?”
“Twice.”
“The fuck you talking about?”
“In ’08, after the Ramadi disaster, I asked you if you were going to marry that girl.”
I almost smile. He’s right. An operation went wrong, and a poorly timed question after I broke up with a woman I’d been with for three months. I was leading her on. I’d never felt a damn thing even though I tried, but that’s all ancient history now.
“They say the third time’s the charm,” Logan mutters.
I hold my hands up. “I won’t swing on you. I just want you to be honest.”
He sighs. “I’d probably wonder what you were doing together.”
“The age gap is too much.”
“Yeah, brother. I’d say so, but that’s just my opinion.”
“No, you’re right,” I growl, then return to my seat.
Reaching into my satchel, I take out another piece of wood and get to whittling. I try not to let myself think about what it will be, but it starts becoming a ballerina again. It starts becoming Ania. Dammit, even Logan said she’s too young. Eighteen years old. I was an idiot then—a madman. I wasn’t capable of making serious decisions. My experience in the military and my extra-curricular activities have given me a psychological edge, too. I could gaslight this poor girl into thinking I’m the right man for her. I refuse to do that shit. I refuse to be that person.