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“No. I don’t want my brothers dead, not yet, at least,” I say with a smile. “I promise I’m doing everything I can.”
“Okay, well, you leave out front, I’ll leave out back. I have some business to attend to.” He kisses me deeply, and I return the kiss. “Love you.”
“Love you,” I respond.
I walk out of the store and head up the street. As I’m walking, someone suddenly grabs my wrist and drags me into an alley nearby.
I turn around to attack them, but it’s Darius.
“What are you doing?” I hiss. “You gave me a heart attack.”
“I gave you a heart attack? I know who’s store that is and…” He sniffs the air around me. “You smell like sex again.”
I blush crimson. “I do not. And I was just browsing a knife shop.”
“A knife shop that isn’t open yet,” he growls. “You’ve betrayed the family. You’re fucking Arseny Milov.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Darius,” I plead with him. “Why would I do that?”
“Why would you do that? That man will kill babies to get the information he wants. You know that, don’t you? That he’s probably killed people's babies to extract information from them. The Milovs are fucking blood traitors. They don’t hold anything sacred. They are not people of their word, Elena. If you think Arseny is going to marry you or do right by you, he won’t. He’ll abandon you the first opportunity he gets.”
I stare at him for a moment, and then I realize that Darius also has access to that email address. It could be him sending the hit requests. My father would be none the wiser.
“Darius, I hear what you’re saying, but I’m not sleeping with any of the Milovs.” I touch his arm. “You have to believe me.”
“I don’t though. I don’t even think you were kidnapped now. You probably just went along with him of your own free will.” He glares at me.
“How do you know I was kidnapped?” I ask curiously.
He takes me by the shoulders. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is that you come with me now and stop seeing Arseny if you know what’s good for you.”
I hold his arms and gently move him off of me. “I hear you. I’m sorry, Darius, I was just confused. I’ll go home now, and I won’t see Arseny again, I promise.”
He sizes me up for a moment, and I briefly consider that he’s going to let me go when he grabs my wrist suddenly and starts to drag me away. “I can’t trust you. That Milov has to pay for tainting our family again.”
“Darius!” I try to pull away from him. “Get off me. I’m a grown-ass woman. I can make my own decisions.”
He pulls me against him. “This is why you’ll never be head of the family. You don’t have what it takes to make the tough decisions. None of you do.”
“My brother is next in line,” I snap. “Not you.”
“We’ll see about that,” Darius snarls as he drags me toward his car. I reach under my skirt and pull out my knife, slicing him across his hand. He yells and releases me, and I nearly fall to the ground. I steady my footing and take off toward my own car.
“You bitch,” he yells after me. “Your father will never let you back home.”
My heart is beating outside my chest as I realize he’s probably going to order another hit on Arseny now. I need to warn him before it’s too late.
I drive over to the butchers, hoping Arseny is there. I keep checking my rearview mirror to see if Darius is following me, but he must have gone directly to my father.
I won’t be able to go home, and that stings. I’m still clutching the knife while I’m clutching the steering wheel. I must look like a possessed woman.
I pull up to the butchers and hurry in. Roger is standing at the front counter.
“Is Arseny here?” I ask.
“He was in the back with Luka,” Roger says. “I don’t know if he’s still there.”
I hurry to the back, where I find Luka walking toward the back door. “Luka. Where’s Arseny?”
