Novel & Cerita Booktok Russ

Somewhere in the city—several stories above, in a steel and glass building—Julian Blackwood lay in his dark, sleek bedroom, staring at the book she had given him. He'd never intended to keep it. When Lena Carter had offered it to him—those gentle words, that thoughtful crease between her eyebrows—he'd intended to refuse. But something in her eyes had taken away his intention. It was neither flirting nor pretense. It was genuine. Silent. Generous. He hated kindness. It broke things open. Julian gazed down at the book. The cover was unadorned, the title in gold print: *A Man Called Ove*. He remembered Lena's words:

“ In my world if you hurt someone small than you? You are coward, piece of shit. In my place, someone like that? No last long” The words sent a shiver through me but not that of fear. There was something protective in his tone that made my stomach flutter. I turned to him a little more. “Your world..what is it really like? The internet says a lot about you but I want to hear it from you” He was quiet for so long I thought he wouldn’t answer. Then he exhaled through his nose. “Russia is cold, not only weather but business.” He said, looking straight at me.

"What's that book there?" "Study," she closes the book and hands it to me. "I got it for you." I can't help myself, I end up falling in laughter when I see the title: "The Rise of the Rutherian Mafia: a detailed analysis of the arrival of the first self-declared mafia bosses in the early 20th century. What the fuck is this crap here?" "Luther Sussanto was an influential historian in the 80s and 90s. He's the one who wrote this book. You don't know him, but he's well known and even the subject of study, because Luther Sussanto was a close friend of my grandfather."

he said tiredly, “if you would please go and get the third edition of Bozkurt’s Second Introduction to Basic Social Forces Governing Modern Packs from the shelf.” I blinked. Well, that was one of the un-sexiest things I’d ever heard someone say. “Uh. Bozkurt. Right.” Standing, my vision went blurry for a moment, like it sometimes did back at the orphanage when there hadn’t been anything to eat that day. I shook off the grey spots and walked a little shakily to the built-in shelves. Bozkurt, Bozkurt… Vincent alphabetised his own library, because of course he did. I finally spotted the world’s least exciting textbook and shimmied it out from the shelf.

he teased. I chuckled, feeling another emotion besides the usual pain that clouded my mind after every practice. “What do you want Radek,” I sighed, feeling the wave of tiredness wash over me. “So I found a book, not as good as Hamlet, would you like us to talk about it?” I yawned, “What book is that?” “I won’t tell you the name until you agree to listen to me rant about the book,” he said. I had two options; end the call and dwell in the darkness, or listen to him talk about a book I may or may not have read.

Will Sir Russ now take over? To find the answers to your questions keep and eye out for book 2 - From Legends to Life

I observed every move they both made with careful resolve while I trailed through the library of my mind, trying to figure out where I had seen his face before. They were laughing away in light conversation causing my envy to overtake my reasoning. Mr Russo gripped her chin and I could see exactly what he was planning before he did it. His moves were calculated, I had seen men like him before. Touching property that wasn’t theirs without a care in the world about hurting anyone else.

'Apology for something that wasn't his fault', I held up the notebook. He slowly nodded, chewing on his lip. His eyes flickered to my side where the book he had given me laid. He picked it up and opened it, "Where did you reach?" 'Finished it this morning', I replied with a smile. His brows shot up as he nodded, looking impressed. "So you're a russian expert now," he asked, teasing me. I wrinkled my nose at him. 'I probably need to read some more...' He nodded then put the book back down. He unwrapped his lunch and we ate. We were halfway through our lunch when he asked.

"your book nerd side is showing" after that, he got smacked in the head

The bartender gave me 2 glasses of martini and I sipped it. "Well.. the second book is about.. uhmm he went to Russia and the-" He suttered a little bit and I raised my eyebrows. "I'm Patricia, Patty for short." I said as I put out my hand and he shook it. "I'm Rob." He said and of course I already knew that. "So.. tell me more about it." I said and I leaned closer to him. He gulped nervously and kept glancing at me and then the book and then back to me. I sipped my Martini slowly but stopped looking at him.