Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 79326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Anders snorts in annoyance. “When has that ever stopped me? He attacked Melinda. I’m in this until the end.”
“We all are,” I say.
Leo nods. “That’s right.”
“Damn straight,” Alex says.
“No one screws with friends of Baranov House,” Zoe says.
Lara
Now that Baron and I are on the same page, I love watching him in action. Before, his prowess as the leader of a young bratva cell freaked me out. He was the enemy, and it proved I had a formidable opponent. Now it means I have a badass partner.
I mean, we still have things to work out. I don’t like being a pawn in a game I don’t understand, and I hate that Baron won’t tell me what my purpose here is. I don’t like thinking my family is in danger. Knowing Baron’s father has us all in a vise-grip.
But holding my heart back from Baron was so much harder than letting it go. It’s like now that he’s opened up to me–said he loved me–the gates barring him from entering my care zone have swung wide open. The feelings I caught for him are big.
Really big. In fact, I seem to be catching more by the minute. I never knew love could simultaneously feel so wonderful and terrifying. It’s like I’m free falling down a cliff side, trusting Baron will erect the net to catch me at the bottom.
I sit beside Baron in the vehicle, sneaking side glances at the corded muscles of his forearms as he drives. His jaw is firm, and there’s determination in his gaze. He’s already thinking through the next five steps, I’m guessing.
He already grabbed baseball caps for all of us and a box of latex gloves before we left.
I know he didn’t want me to come–for my own protection–but there’s no way I’m missing out.
I didn’t like feeling left out of his operation before, and I’m not going to let him pigeon-hole me back into the sheltered wife category. Besides, I’m heavily invested in Melinda getting her justice. And I want to watch Baron in action–it’s hot.
A thrill of adrenaline runs through me at being part of their caper. Baron pulls up in front of a student apartment building and studies it. We watch a student walk up and enter using a keycard. “Front door uses a keycard like a dorm,” he mutters.
“I’ve got this.” Leo pushes open the door, pulling a ball cap low over his face. “Wait for me to get in.” We watch from the tinted windows as he walks confidently up to the building door. He pauses near a post and pretends to check his phone, and then when someone comes out of the building, catches the door and slips inside. He props a shoulder against the glass window of the atrium, pretending to look at his phone.
“Okay, now you two.” Baron twists to look at Anders and Melinda.
They slide out of the car and walk across the street. The automatic door swings open for them, as if Leo hit the wheelchair button.
“Let’s go, malysh.” Baron hands me a baseball cap, and I pull my hair up in a twist and put it on.
The door swings open for us, too. Baron rubs a hand over his face strategically, murmuring in Russian that there’s a camera straight ahead.
Anders and Melinda have disappeared.
“You take the elevator; we’ll take the stairs,” Baron tells Leo.
“See you there.” Leo seems to vanish behind us as Baron leads me to the stairwell. We walk up one flight of stairs to the second floor hallway where we find Anders with Melinda boosted on his shoulders putting a stretched piece of chewing gum across the camera in the corner.
Leo faces a door, both hands working the knob with his tools. A moment later, he disappears inside the apartment. Baron and I follow, with Melinda and Anders right behind.
Baron produces two pairs of latex gloves from his pocket and hands me a pair.
“Right. No fingerprints.” I take the gloves and slide them over my hands. They’re too big, leaving gaps at the ends of the rubber fingers.
“Don’t touch anything unless you have to,” he tells me.
I nod, walking through the messy studio apartment. It smells like stinky socks and jockstraps. The school year just started but there appears to be a years’ worth of crumbs on the floor. A bowl of half-eaten macaroni and cheese sits in the sink.
“Well, that was easy.” Leo is on his hands and knees looking under the bed. “I found the cash.” He pulls out a paper bag and turns the open mouth to show us stacks of money inside.
“How much was drugging me worth?” Melinda demands, taking the bag in her oversized gloves and opening it. She dumps bundles of money on the kitchen counter to count.
Baron picks up the trashcan in the bathroom and peers inside, then shows it to me. Inside is packaging from a syringe and some kind of medicine.