The Reading Problem: The Mila K Mysteries, #5

By K.C. Brennan

When Mila first returned to her hometown of Chernivtsi, the last thing she expected was to be dragged on a roller coaster ride. In her mind, Chernivtsi was a place of calm, and peacefulness, the ideal place to focus on study and nothing more.

Yet now, the cozy life that she hoped for was nowhere to be found. In the few months since she began teaching at the university, mysterious documents kept appearing in the library, her favorite student was almost convicted of a murder he didn't commit, two deans were killed, a girl almost died and she herself was attacked. And don't forget the secret society that was determined to get them all, Mila and her friends.

Not to mention Oleck…

Mila didn't know if she was falling for him, or if she simply hated his apparent rejections.

And now she was embarking on a new adventure with the special agent.

Traveling together, they journey to Reading, England, where Mila had spent a few years doing her post-doctoral research work and studying. Returning to Reading is exhilarating for Mila, she is looking forward to reconnecting with her former advisor and mentor, Maeve Edwards. Maeve is a renowned professor and archivist at Reading University and is sure to be a great help to them.

But there is also a slight problem…returning to England also means returning to William.
A handsome professor and nobleman who fancied Mila and did cause her heart to flutter again after Pietro broke it. William's social and upper-class connections are bound to come in handy, but will seeing him again bring back old feelings? Or cause more discord and confusion between her and Oleck?

While their friends back in Chernivtsi agree to keep working on the documents in secret while Mila and Oleck are in England, the couple is worried that the assassin sent by the Brotherhood is still around the university. While in Reading they are hoping to locate a book that may hold the key to unraveling the secret to the mysterious documents in the library.

However, locating the book may mean spending more time with William…will that rekindle any feelings for Mila? Or create tension with Oleck? Or will it simply end up only The Reading Problem??

• Language: English
• Publisher: KCB Mysteries
• Release date: Sep 14, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223865100

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

When Mila first returned to Chernivtsi, the last thing she had expected was to be dragged on such a roller coaster ride. The image she had had of her hometown was of something calm. In Mila’s mind, Chernivtsi was an ideal place to focus on study and nothing more.

Of course, the city was full of students, which provided a lively vibe, but that was not what Professor Kovalenko was interested in. She had left that life behind when she had packed her bags and moved to Kyiv.

And now, after only a few months, the cozy life that she had hoped for was nowhere to be found. In less than a year, crazy mysterious documents had kept appearing in the library, she had been attacked, a girl had almost died, two deans had been killed, her favorite student had almost been trialed for a murder he didn’t commit, and a secret society was out to get them all.

Not to mention Oleck.

Mila didn’t know if she had genuinely started to fall in love with the special agent or if she simply hated his rejections.

The professor had never been extremely interested in men, but something about Oleck Popov was driving her insane. His calculated way of being and his arrogance made him somehow irresistible to Mila.

Well, the looks don’t hurt either.

Every now and again, she let her mind move from the man driving her crazy to the other one who had broken her heart into so many pieces that she never thought she could ever love again. It had taken her years and years to wrap her head around the fact that Pietro Melnik, the love of her life and the man with whom she never argued, had decided one day to marry another and dump her like a pair of used socks. It had taken her years to understand that his desire for power and social position was more important to him than his love for her. And he did love her. Of that, Mila was sure. She had even seen it in his eyes when she had returned to Chernivtsi.

But for some people, love is not all that matters.

Somewhere deep down the professor was sure that she still had feelings for Pietro as well. Or else she wouldn’t have been so devastated when he had been killed in front of her eyes. And most certainly, she wouldn’t have been so devastated when she’d found out that he had murdered Dean Kulik.

Recently, she had decided to move to her own flat. She needed some space to think, and as much as she loved her father, she needed some alone time. So, as she was standing in her living room with a mug of hot tea in her hand, looking at the winter scenery from her window, Mila realized that what she felt was anger. She was angry at everything that ever happened to her in this town. She felt that Chernivtsi simply didn’t want her living there.

She remembered her time in the capital and what an academic achievement it had been. Mila smiled, thinking about all of the conferences she had attended and all the praise she received from academic peers for her published research.

And now, instead of doing this, I am fighting invisible evil.

The professor took to her feet to make a second cup of tea, and her eyes fell on a picture in which she was with a brunette, freckled woman.

Dear Meave.

Mila moved her thoughts away from her years in Kyiv and smiled when she remembered how frightened she had been when she first took the scholarship and flew to England. She had been like a lost puppy until Meave had taken her under her wing.

Her daydreaming was interrupted by her phone ringing. She looked at the caller and saw Oleck’s face. Mila didn't want to let her emotions take control of her body. But her body had a different idea, her heart started beating faster, and she felt a tingly sensation in her stomach.

Here we go again.

CHAPTER 2

Maria sat on the couch she had in her small, rented apartment. There were so many things that didn’t add up. It was not as if she had been in this business for decades, but she was raised to always be at the top of her game. She was a pro, and she never failed on her tasks.

So far.

When it came to completing her jobs, the young woman enjoyed making cold-blood decisions with each step. Maria had never had a problem with any of the instructions she had received, even though it was not the life she would have chosen ten years ago. It was the life fate had given her, and there was nothing more to discuss on the matter.

That’s why the nickname she used when connecting to the dark web was Fate89. The thing that made Maria sleep like a baby after each job well done was the idea that she was just giving fate a helping hand. The last words she told herself when going to bed were, ‘I’m not a monster. I am just the Fate.’

Maria stood up and looked around. Even when she had been a child, she had always known that she would be the killer the Brotherhood expected her to be. Yet, in her mind, she had hoped for a different life. Everybody around her in the agency lived in fancy apartments and had expensive clothes and jewelry. But she was modest, even when she was not undercover. The small apartment in which Maria, the secretary, lived was not significantly different from the one Maria, the killer, had.

Not that I complain about any of this.

The young woman touched the desk with her fingertips, feeling each groove in the wood. Whatever Maria did, she couldn’t think of anything other than the fact that she was missing something.

But what?

Maria’s gut told her that something was wrong with that Sasha dude. However, all the research on him had returned clean. No matter what source she used, Sasha’s records always came out the same. So, even though Brother Christof had told her to stay away from the dark web, she had decided to ignore his orders for the first time.

The idea of not respecting her mentor’s instructions physically hurt her body. That’s why she felt the need to touch the furniture and prolong the actual moment. Yes, her laptop was at a hand’s reach, and yet she felt like it was light-years away.

When she finally dared to log in using her alias, Maria couldn't say if five minutes or an hour had passed since rising from her couch. She looked around for a while before contacting her virtual friend, Python501. Very few people knew that Python501 was behind many blackouts around the globe. He was one of the best hackers out there, and he had been in debt to Maria ever since she had spared his life. The Brotherhood had wanted to recruit him some years back. When he rejected their offer, they sent Maria to murder him. However, the young woman saw the greater potential in having him as an ally, and so she