Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 86238 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86238 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
“Things might not be as they seem.” When Ghost pffts me, I try to rationalize with him. “You said Kirill was getting suspicious, so maybe he is fucking around with her tests to fuck with you. Wouldn’t be the first time he’s done that.”
With Ghost looking deeper into Kirill’s wish for a male heir, we’ve unearthed a lot of shit. One was an abortion he believed Sofia was forced to endure during Katie’s first month at the compound. It was staged. But the most shocking was the tests Dr. Marc conducted on the vials of sperm Ghost inseminated into Kirill’s wives. They are designer as I hinted at last month. The thing is, there were no male organisms in the samples. Only female.
So no matter what, Ghost’s agreement with Kirill that he will let Sofia and Lera go when he successfully impregnates one of his Virgin Marys with a male heir will never happen.
Ghost believes his deviousness is because he doesn’t want to let Sofia go. I’m not so convinced. Sofia is as cunning as Kirill, but Ghost won’t hear about it. He still remembers Kirill saving her from a violent rapist and forgets that everything he’s done to her since that night has been just as vile.
“It might be time to adjust the goalposts,” I suggest, aware he doesn’t want to break the pledge he made but needing him to know any plan is better than none. “Maybe you need to start putting yourself first.”
23
ALEK
“I’m not sure if I agree with what you said to Ghost last night.” Anastasia’s confession must have been playing on her last night because instead of being snuggled up to my side as she has been almost every morning the past month, she’s once again on the couch, cuddled up to her sketchpad.
After nudging my head for her to join me back in bed before we have to spend the day apart so people will believe she is engaged to Ghost, I ask, “Why’s that?”
She places down her sketchpad, her fingertips black from the image of me sleeping she’s in the process of drawing before slowly padding over. “Ghost is all Lera has.” The coolness of her skin when she slips under the sheet exposes she has been awake for some time. “If he isn’t taking care of her, there won’t be anyone.”
“Sofia—“
“Isn’t fit to be a mother.” Since I agree with her, I don’t interrupt her as she did me. “Yes, love makes you crazy and stupid, and it has you acting reckless, but there comes a time when that eventually has to calm.” She peers up at me, blinking and confused. “Motherhood seems like a good reason to settle down.” I drag my finger down her cheek to gather a strand of hair clinging there before tucking it behind her ear when she murmurs, “I mellowed, and that’s partly why I believed Stace’s claim you had been with her. I was forever worried you would get bored.”
“Of your insatiable appetite for sex at all hours of the day and night?” I pfft her. “Please.”
“That, and the fact a beach ball was slowly inflating in my stomach.” When she laughs, it dawns that isn’t her sole worry. It is her next confession that pains her the most. “And I thought I deserved it for not listening to you. That it was my punishment for carrying a basket down those stupid stairs.”
“Ana… fuck.” I roll on my side to face her front on, ensuring she can see nothing but honesty in my eyes when I say, “What happened was an accident. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. I thought we agreed on that last month?”
She bites on the inside of her cheek to add a bit of anger to her tone before replying, “No, you went down on me and made me forget that I was the one meant to be apologizing.”
“Because I didn’t need to hear it. You had no reason to apologize to me.”
“I kept your daughter from you—”
“Speak shit like that again, and I will tan your ass.” Her eyes widen as her pupils dilate. “I watched the footage from that hospital corridor on repeat for days after you left. Days, Ana. And do you know what I saw?” I give her a few moments to see if she wants to respond. When she doesn’t, I say, “Fuckers who didn’t even give a grieving mother fifteen minutes with her child.” A salty blob drops down her cheek when I murmur, “You couldn’t have kept me from her even if you wanted to. You were angry, and you lashed out, but you earned that right. They treated you like shit, so I did the same fucking thing when I hunted them down.”
Ana struggles for air as her wide eyes bounce between mine. She’s gasping through the shock of my confession, but she isn’t upset about it.