Read Online Chase You To The Sun by Jocelyn Han - Free Book Online Page B

here without outside help.
    “Can I ask you something, papa ?” she said timidly, swallowing the lump in her throat.
    “Anything, dorogaya .”
    “Why is he asking you to do this?”
    Her father shook his head in confusion. “That’s not important.”
    “But it is,” Lana insisted. “There must be a reason why he wants you to halt shipments.”
    He frowned. “Sveta, I honestly have no idea, but I can take an educated guess. The man is probably out to get a monopoly on gemstone resources in order to fund his own criminal empire and destroy Elite dominance in the Earth sector at the same time. Imagine what it would do to stock markets and currency stability if we stopped shipping to Mars and Luna altogether.”
    “That’s true,” Lana whispered. Her dad was making a lot of sense. “I just – well, he said...”
    Mr. Ivanov smiled at her encouragingly. “What did he tell you? Out with it.”
    Lana took a deep breath. “He claims the Promethean mines make use of unpaid workers.”
    In the silence that ensued, she observed shock flitting across her father’s face, gradually melting into a kind of pained exhaustion.
    “It’s – complicated, honey,” he said. “There’s more to the story.”
    Even though his answer sounded calm and self-assured, Lana couldn’t help but feel a twinge of doubt at the words ‘it’s complicated.’ A tactful phrase with the power to tear small holes in the fabric of her safe little world. He wasn’t denying it.
    “He’ll have to save that story for another day,” Bruce interjected, putting his hand on her shoulder. “Time’s up. Mr. Ivanov, I eagerly await your next actions. We’ll be in touch in a few days’ time.” Before Lana had the chance to say goodbye, he switched off the monitor, abruptly ending the video call. Silence hung heavily between them as Bruce took a few steps back and eyed her intently. To his credit, he didn’t look self-satisfied.
    “Can I please go to my room?” Lana said quietly, finally breaking the silence.
    He nodded brusquely. “I’ll walk you.”
    They strutted through the corridor and up the stairs without speaking. When Lana stopped in front of her room, she looked up at Bruce questioningly. “Do I need to lock my door?” she hesitated.
    His simmering, gray eyes looked down on her. “John will stay away from you,” was all he said.
    “What about you?” she whispered, vividly remembering that unsettling look he’d directed at her in the living room.
    Bruce gave her a faint smile. “What about me?” he said, leaning into her almost imperceptibly.
    Lana swallowed hard. “N-nothing,” she spluttered nervously when she realized she’d just single-handedly managed to shift the atmosphere completely. “Just – forget it. I don’t know why I said that.”
    He cocked an eyebrow. “Oh, don’t you?”
    She looked away, unable to come up with a safe answer.
    “Are you asking me to come in?” he continued, his dark voice dropping even lower. In the dim light of the second-floor landing, Bruce slipped his hand off her shoulder and leisurely caressed her upper arm, his fingers trailing over her bare skin.
    Lana mutely shook her head, letting out a shaky breath when he took a step back.
    “Good night,” he said, a hint of amusement in his voice. “Sweet dreams, Lana.”
    She couldn’t flee into her room fast enough. Leaning her head back against the closed door, Lana tried to stop her body from shaking uncontrollably. It was all too much – her realization that she’d be stuck here forever if nothing happened, her dad beating around the bush when she’d asked him that question about the mine workers, and the sickening sexual tension between her and the man everybody kept warning her about. A man with secrets dark enough to obscure her sound judgment. A violent man with unexplained pain in his eyes and a heart he claimed didn’t exist anymore.
    For the first time since she woke up, she wanted to get out of this place because