Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 79097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
He looks down at his too-tight T-shirt and shakes his head. “Don’t ask. Let’s get to the warehouse. First, you go outside and say something to my mother to make her believe we’re not together anymore.”
“My God, your poor mom.”
“She’ll be fine. I’m arranging for us to switch transport on the way to the warehouse.”
Still…
He makes a series of calls, peppered with a good deal of angry cursing in Russian. I don’t know what he’s saying, but I know we’ve kept our ruse. Everyone thinks we’ve broken up.
It’s time.
I walk downstairs, clomping the whole way to attract attention. He’s long gone, going through back rooms and staircases in his borrowed clothing so no one suspects it’s him.
I march out the front door.
“Isabella?” Ekaterina stands on the front step, her gaze world-weary and tired. “Where are you going, love? Lev wouldn’t want you to leave.”
I shake my head. “I can’t stay. I’ll be fine. I… It’s complicated, Ekaterina.” My voice cracks. I don’t have to act much at all. It is complicated.
Her gaze meets mine, and in that moment, understanding passes between us. “Stay safe,” she says quietly. “You are strong. You are resilient. No one can ever take that away from you.”
I reach for her hand. “Thank you,” I whisper and lean in. “I’ll be back.” She squeezes my hand wordlessly. I walk toward the car that waits.
I know they’re watching. All of them. The Romanovs. My brother’s people.
My friends.
My husband.
I slide into the car and pinch the bridge of my nose. I’m trembling. So much is at stake. Everything, everything that matters depends on what happens next.
I look out the window when I notice a familiar scent. My skin prickles with awareness. I look around the interior of the car. Why do I smell a familiar scent that… reminds me of my brother? The cloying scent of Zegna Intenso, my brother’s signature cologne, fills my nostrils. Ice pulses through my veins when I meet the gaze of my driver in the rearview mirror.
“Going somewhere, Princesa loca?” Javier says, his look murderous. “Maybe the... warehouse? Yes? Yes! Let’s go. I need to introduce myself to your new husband.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Lev
The car is supposed to meet us at coordinates on the east side of the city so Isabella can make a quick transfer.
But it never arrives.
Fuck.
I wait five minutes.
Ten.
Where the fuck is she? I pace a groove in the ground outside my car when a text comes in from an unknown number.
Fuck!
Warehouse, Mr. Romanov. We are waiting. Come alone or she dies.
My blood boils.
Isabella can hold her own; I know that. She’s hardly a helpless female tied to train tracks waiting for me to rescue her.
But she’s my wife. And she’s pregnant.
I’ll fucking kill them.
I get into the car, knowing I’m driving straight into a trap. I could call my brothers, but my wife is in danger. If they suspect I called anyone, they’ll fuck her over.
If they hurt her… if they harm one single hair on her head…
I get there in record time, park the car, and check my weapons. I’ve got two semi-automatics pistols, fully loaded, and a knife in my boot. I slam the door.
“Javier!” I scream. “Come out and face me, or are you going to be a fucking pussy?” Rage boils in my veins as I stomp toward the front of the warehouse. The last time I was here, I met my wife, and I dragged her home as a traitor. This time, I’ll kill the bastards who threaten her safety and bring her home as my queen.
Together, we’ll rule.
The door flies open and Javier Morales himself stands with narrowed eyes, staring at me.
“How nice of you to stop by, Lev. We have a lot of catching up to do, brother-in-law.”
“Yeah,” I say genially. “We do.” I want to see who he’s brought with him. I glance around and see no one. “You bring company?”
“No!” Isabella yells from behind him. “He’s alone because Carlos betrayed him, Lev.”
“Shut up, bitch,” he snarls at my wife. It’s at that point I stop thinking with my brain.
I close the distance between us in an instant and hit him so fast and so hard, his head snaps back. He comes up, rage in his eyes, lunging at me, but I duck and evade his punch. I come back swinging. "You don't talk that way to my wife," I growl, landing the first satisfying punch to his gut. I hit him again and again. Blood pours from his nose.
I throw Isabella a knife, and she catches the handle mid-air. Pride surges through me. He gets me good, a hard jab to my abdomen. I’m doubled over, trying to catch my breath, when he snarls at me. “You were the one that turned Carlos against me.”
I stare at him, too stunned to speak. “Me? I’ve never even met the guy.”