Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 69352 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69352 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
Shasha answered the first ring. “Milena?”
“Not Milena,” I said. “This is…”
“I know who you are. How’s Milena?” he snapped.
I didn’t bother to ask how he knew.
I looked down at Milena’s face, which was buried into my chest.
Her breathing had slowed.
I didn’t know if it was because she knew who I was talking to, or if it was the sound of my voice.
Whatever the reason, I kept doing both.
“She had a panic attack when we were inside the prison,” I said. “Lyle…”
“Fuck!” I heard something bang. Likely Shasha’s fist against a steering wheel. “Fuckin’ shit!”
I smoothed my hands through Milena’s hair, hoping that it would help soothe her.
Her hair was so fuckin’ long.
Down to her damn waist.
Seriously, some of the strands were touching the seat that I was sitting on, it was so long.
“I wouldn’t have taken her in there had I known…”
“She didn’t know, either,” he admitted, voice hoarse. “No one but me and Dima know.”
“Tell me everything,” I pleaded. “This same motherfucker has been messing with my brother’s good behavior in prison. I want to know what we’re dealing with.”
I needed to know.
And the brother thing was a lie.
I needed to know solely because of the fact that it was Milena.
That decision I’d made earlier?
It was resolute.
She was going to be mine.
She might’ve inadvertently claimed me earlier, but I was advertently claiming her now.
She would be mine.
She would be my old lady.
She would eventually be my wife.
She would never go another day without me there.
I just had to ease her into it, first.
“Lyle Pennington—” The name sounded like a curse. “He and Milena briefly dated. She was seventeen, him twenty-five. I had no clue about it at first. Just knew that she was dating someone. When I finally met him, I was fucking livid. At first, I’d noticed changes coming from her. Her attitude. The way that she treated Dima and Nastya. The constant undertone of not feeling good enough. I watched my baby sister change from a budding young woman to a scared, hollow version of herself. And that was all because of him. The moment I met him, I knew that he was the reason for her change. And, because there’s no way a man that much older than my sister was going to date her, I forced them to break up.”
I was guessing it didn’t end so easily, or the man wouldn’t be in prison right now.
“Did what I needed to do to make sure that he stayed away. Until one day he snapped. He came by the house dressed as a guard. Even looked exactly like the one that usually came in for his shift around that time. The other guard left, leaving the house pretty much unprotected. I’d forgotten my wallet at the house, so I came home to get it before a meeting. When I walked in, it was to find Milena on the ground…”
He trailed off, and I didn’t need to hear more.
I knew.
I knew deep in my heart exactly what had happened.
“I was on the verge of killing the motherfucker, but at some point, Milena must’ve gotten a phone call out to the cops. They showed up lights and sirens and pulled me off of the disgusting piece of shit. Another minute, and he would’ve been dead.”
Good riddance.
“And he gets out this year,” Shasha said quietly. “I’m not sure how, but he made bail.” He blew out a deep breath. “I’m heading there now. I’m assuming she won’t make it home on the back of your bike.”
No, I didn’t think she would.
I squeezed her just a little bit tighter.
I was probably cutting off her air supply, but at this point, I couldn’t stop myself.
The shivering had come down.
She was no longer shaking in my arms, but she was sitting deathly still.
“I’m in front of the diner about a mile from the prison,” I informed him.
“I’m less than thirty minutes out.”
I didn’t bother to ask how he’d gotten to that point so fast. I just said ‘okay’ and hung up.
Milena never said another word.
She did relax in my arms, though.
She went from a shaking, stiff mess to a loose, languid, melty woman in my arms.
She fell asleep at some point, and I kept holding her exactly like this for the next twenty-four minutes.
Shasha arrived beside the Suburban and didn’t wait for me to get out myself. He walked right up to my door and stared at his sister.
Since he could see her face, he didn’t say much.
He only opened his passenger side door and gestured for me to put her in.
I did, placing her gently into the car.
Shasha rounded to the other side and pulled a couple of pink blankets from the back seat.
One he shoved underneath Milena’s head, and the other he gave to me to cover her with.
Carefully closing the door, I looked at Shasha over the roof.