Total pages in book: 31
Estimated words: 28975 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 145(@200wpm)___ 116(@250wpm)___ 97(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 28975 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 145(@200wpm)___ 116(@250wpm)___ 97(@300wpm)
“So, how are things?”
Gustov continued to stare at Bogdan. “I am in hiding.” Finally, he looked toward her. “How are you, Princess?”
“Married and … attempting to survive.”
“Is he hurting you?”
“Watch your tongue,” Bogdan said.
“I know what you do with wayward tongues, but I take care of her, not you.”
“She is not yours to worry about.”
“Evelyn asked me as her dying wish to keep an eye on her, and that is what I am doing.”
“And what were you doing for the three years since her death?” Bogdan asked.
“Enough,” Anastasia said. “There is no reason to fight or argue. Why are you hiding?”
“Why do you think?” Gustov asked. He reached into his jacket and held out a letter. “Your mother gave this to me, and told me I was going to have to be careful. She knew what your father would try to do, and so far he’s failed. But trust me, Anastasia, he is a deadly man, and he is trying to kill me. You can only sign away your fortune if I am present, and I am the one with all the information.”
“My dad is trying to kill you?”
“Yes.”
“Because of that letter?”
“Yes, and because of everything I know Evelyn told me. She wrote the warning in here for you.”
“Can I …have it?” she asked.
She hated her father, but even his level of deception was starting to give her whiplash. He was constantly making her life difficult.
“May I approach?” Gustov asked.
“Yes.”
She rolled her eyes and waited. Gustov stepped closer and held out the envelope for her to take. Just as she was about to throw her arms around him and hug him, Bogdan pulled her close to his side. She missed Gustov.
“You do not have to fear me,” Gustov said. “Anastasia is like a daughter to me.”
“A very wealthy daughter.”
“I did not care about Evelyn’s wealth, and I still don’t. I miss her every single day.”
“I do as well,” Anastasia said.
“Your mother would want you to live your life.”
Tears filled her eyes. “Kind of hard to do when you’ve got a father who wants you dead.”
“But you have a husband who is willing to fight for you.” Gustov looked toward Bogdan. “I will be around, Anastasia. Remember all I have taught you, and it is time you give her a gun, so if you are not around she can protect herself.”
Anastasia glanced down at the letter in her hand, seeing her mother’s cursive writing, and when she looked up, Gustov was gone. She didn’t expect him to stick around.
Bogdan led her back to the car, and she climbed inside.
“You know how to fire a gun?”
“Yes, Gustov taught me.”
“He did?”
“My mom thought it was important for me to learn self-defense, and I didn’t realize how important it was going to be until now. Even my father is trying to kill me. Good times.” She let out a little laugh and held onto her letter.
“You will show me what you can do with a gun, and then I will see about granting you one.”
She smiled.
“Would you like me to read the letter to you?” Bogdan asked.
She glanced down at it, and then looked up at him. “I don’t know.”
“You do not need to read it.”
She licked her suddenly dry lips.
This was not what she wanted. Turning the letter over, she wondered what her mother was like when she wrote this. Was she weak? Did she write this before she had gotten sick? Her mother hadn’t wanted her to care for her, but she refused to leave.
She tore into the envelope and unfolded the pages, but they blurred as tears filled her eyes. This was her mother’s handwriting. She used to love watching her write. The way her pen glided across the paper so smoothly, so effortlessly.
“Please, you read it,” she said. She couldn’t focus.
Bogdan took the letter from her and began to read. “My darling daughter, Anastasia. If you are reading this, then I fear I am gone, and you are alone in this world. There are many things I wish, but the biggest right now is that I had taken you even further away from your father. He is circling. There are things you do not know.” As Bogdan started to read, his voice in Anastasia’s head became that of her mother.
“Your father is poor. He had nothing. His family lived outside of their means, and the only thing they had going for them was Dante’s good looks. I did not want to marry him. This is the truth as I give it to you now. I know you think I loved Dante, but I didn’t. You would hear me cry each time he left, and I know you thought it was because I loved him, but the truth was, I hated him. I hated everything about him. My parents were fooled by him, but I was not. It was when you were ten and they could no longer deny their mistake, that they apologized to me. They promised they would find a way to free me from my marriage, but within a month, they were dead. Suspected carbon monoxide poisoning, but I know Dante did it. If he ended our marriage, it meant he would cease the supply to my fortune. My parents were incredibly wealthy. I had to sit back and watch as each of my brothers died, along with my sisters.”