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Chapter Thirty Four

Author: Cheryl Fields
last update Last Updated: 2023-03-03 22:52:47

NIKOLAI

“What the hell were you thinking letting Tophas get away with her? You know what he's going to do to that woman!” Igor raged behind me as I tucked my arms on the brick boulder of the hallway sundeck, gaping at the slender back of the retreating woman.

I ignored the man pacing behind me, feeling the barb of Raya’s words still as it wormed and ate away at the hard armor of my chest.

The way the olive-skinned woman had looked at me when I’d asked her to stay, it was like I was some sort of parasite she was hoping to cut off and burn.

“Damn you, Nikolai,” I groaned inwardly, knowing I should have told her the truth in the first fucking place.

“What are you gonna do about the gala Niko? We both know Tophas isn’t going to miss the opportunity to charm the council en massé,” Igor needled, and I resisted the urge to press my fingers into my eyeballs until they popped out.

It was the effect the nagging son of a bitch always had on me, harrying me all day like a damned pecking bird.

“Wh
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