Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 79087 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79087 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
I clench my hands into fists.
“Why are you crying?” Victor asked.
I spun around and sure enough, he is standing there.
How can he look so good now? I mean, I know my husband looked good, but back at our house, where he was dressed the role, he didn’t seem quite so handsome. Also, he was showing more concern in the past half hour than he had just the past month and a half of our marriage.
“I’m not important,” I said. “I’m nobody.”
He looked at me and then surprised me and took me into his arms. I had no idea what the hell was happening. Why was Victor hugging me? Why was I in his arms? It made absolutely no sense to me, and I tried not to freak out.
Only, I wrapped my arms around him and pressed my face against his chest. I held onto him, and I didn’t want to let him go.
Chapter Eight
Victor
Okay, so Freya was getting under my skin. Ivan had given me an order, and I intended to obey, but in my own damn time. My wife was staying as my wife, until we both died. Unless I died before her, and then Ivan would probably find someone else for her to marry. Or vice versa. I didn’t want to marry anyone.
Holding Freya in my arms, I couldn’t deny that it felt right. I also knew her tears were caused by her fucked-up family, and that only served to piss me off even more. They were all going to pay for her tears, every last one of them. Freya should not be crying.
At the sound of her stomach rumbling, I take her chin and tilt her head back just a little. “I think it’s time for us to finish that breakfast.”
I was still starving, but there was no way I was cooking bacon and eggs, when I didn’t even know if Freya liked them. This was my way of being nice.
“Don’t let them win,” I said.
I watched as she took a deep breath and then nodded her head. I wasn’t convinced but I knew for now it would have to do.
Following her into the house, we went back to the table, and I held the chair for her to sit in as I slid it under the table. On instinct, and I don’t know why I did this but it felt natural, I leaned down and pressed a kiss to her cheek. It wasn’t any big deal, just a little kiss. Then, I stepped back and didn’t even look at her as I made my way to my seat. I wanted more food, so I served myself some more. After all, I had cut lots of the damn stuff, waiting for her to appear.
I’m not used to having to put in any kind of effort when it comes to winning a woman. They flew at me. My position, the power, the money drew them in like moths to a flame, and it wasn’t like I fought it. I just did.
We hadn’t gotten off to a good start, Freya and I. I was still pissed that I had to marry, and I didn’t want to get close to any other woman. Losing my mother and sister, knowing I couldn’t save them, that they had been gone before I got there—it had been more than I could bear.
Killing my father hadn’t helped. Well, it had given me a sense of peace knowing the piece of shit was no longer living, but it hadn’t changed what happened. My mother was still dead, as was my little sister.
I didn’t want to get close to Freya. She was my wife, and I didn’t have a choice. But I had a plan. This was all business. I could do what needed to be done. Get her pregnant without committing to her, without allowing myself to feel anything for her. This is what I wanted to do. It felt like it could be easy. But I had a sneaking suspicion it wasn’t going to be.
Staring at Freya, seeing the redness of her eyes, I knew there was a story there. Her father had been a piece of work, but I didn’t know the whole puzzle. He hated her enough to sell her to the Volkov Bratva, and to also put a hit out on her. Not just any kind of hit, but one that would tear her apart. I ran a hand down my face and tried not to think about what all of that meant.
I would keep her safe. If we didn’t, the repercussions would be a pain in the ass. It would start to show Ivan as being weak.
The Grid were a piece of work. I don’t know how The Beast and The Butcher hoped to bring them down, but I wasn’t going to stop them, or criticize them.