Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 56572 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56572 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
“What about my brother?”
“We’ll save him, too.”
When she adjusts her bathrobe again nervously, I almost lose it. It’s like she’s trying to get me to look at her juicy tits. Juicy. I can’t believe I’m thinking about stuff like this, but that’s how she seems—a curvy treat just for me.
“In three weeks?” Mila says doubtfully. “Less than?”
“We’ll find a way.”
“Why are you so determined to help?” she mutters, then looks down at the floor.
I raise my hand and then lower it. What if I let myself care about and want her, and then she has to marry Dimitri anyway? I need to control this part of me until we find a way to end this engagement for good without any complications. That means I need to keep digging into the digital footprint of every one of our soldiers.
“I guess you don’t want your brother to marry someone he doesn’t care about, right?”
Wrong. Maybe that’s the reason I should use, but it’s not the truth. The truth would mean crossing far too many lines.
“I’m just trying to do the right thing,” I say noncommittally.
She looks disappointed, making me wonder if she wanted more. Without another word, she turns and keeps walking away. I wonder if she intended to leave me standing here, but I follow her anyway.
We stop outside her room as though we’ve just returned from a date, and she’s waiting for me to lean in, grab her bathrobe, tear it loose, and reveal her big tits and perfect body.
“How did you guess?” I say after a pause, needing her attention for a little longer.
“Huh?”
“You asked if I was a programmer, too, earlier,” I say, gesturing back the way we came to jog her memory.
The smile that touches her lip wreaks havoc on my control. Hell, it would make any man want to kiss her. There’s genuine enthusiasm in her eyes that makes them shine. “That’s kind of an obvious tattoo.”
“Is it the first thing you learned too? How to program Hello World?”
She nods. I know exactly how she feels when that spark enters her eyes. It’s the same way I felt when I first discovered programming.
“Apart from websites, what else do you do?”
“I’ve been doing some algorithmic challenges, and I’ve been looking into game design. I’ve also …” She lowers her voice. “Well, I’ve downloaded a few hacking tutorials from the dark web. I’ve never actually done any hacking, though.”
She adds the last part with a guilty note. I smirk, leaning in close. I’m one step away from leaning against the wall next to her head, then moving closer so we’re mere inches from each other. Being as close to her as possible would be the most natural thing to do. She’s into game design, too. The similarities won’t stop.
“That would be terrible, right?” I say in a teasing tone. “Committing a crime like that?”
Her laughter is the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard. It’s the surprise nestled in there, like she can’t believe she’s actually laughing. She looks at me as though I’m magic for making her laugh. It makes me want to earn many, many, many more looks like that. “Fair point,” she murmurs. A moment later, she says, “Is there any way I can help?”
I swallow, shaking my head on instinct. That would mean spending more time together.
“No,” I tell her. “I’m sorry.”
“Because I’m a Petrov, is that it?”
No, Mila. I know what will happen if I spend too much time with you. I know what I’ll do. If she has to marry my brother to stop the city from falling into her father’s hands, I know that I’ll break me. Even if we only just met, I know deep down that is something I could never recover from.
“Yes,” I say, because it’s convenient.
She frowns. “Fair enough.”
I almost grab her when she turns away, but that would be an even bigger mistake. She closes the door with a nod, and I nod back. Then I hurry back to my room, put my headphones on, and try to focus on my three computer screens.
Dammit, she’s in my head. She won’t leave. She won’t quit.
From now on, I’ll have to do my best to avoid her. We’re all staying here because of the chaos our father threw the Bratva into when he ended it, so I can’t return to the city, where I’d be more vulnerable to an attack.
This estate is large, though. I should be able to avoid her, even if I don’t want to.
CHAPTER 5
MILA
“Hey, buddy,” I say, grinning at Drake over the video call.
It’s been two days since I tried to give myself to Dimitri—two nights since he made it clear he doesn’t want me. I was both thrilled and terrified when I learned he wasn’t interested. At least Drake looks happy, smiling at me.
“Hey, sis,” he says, beaming. “You okay?”