AllFreeNovel
Share Us
PROLOGUE
MIKHAIL
Mila walks—almostruns—away from me. My heart is pounding so damn hard. It’s pounding from everything that’s happened between us and everything thatcan’thappen if we want to keep her brother and this city safe. Yet I can’t stop myself, even when we’re supposed to be arguing.
I quickly move ahead of her, then take her shoulders and kiss her passionately, hoping she can feel the possessiveness burning through me, the certainty that I’ll let nobody else have her, especially not my brother. She might be pledged to him, but shebelongsto me.
The heat takes us over. Lifting her off her feet, I lay her down on a set of drawers and push my hips forward so she can feel my manhood brushing against her. The heat is even more urgent because I remember how incredible my curvy, young virgin feels, the perfect sound of her moaning when I bring her right to the edge.
Then I remember. Not here. Not now.
It takes everything I have to step away from her. It’s just a small step, less than a foot, but it’s so difficult with the taste of her lips on my mouth. “You’re right,” I tell her, even if it tears me up. She’s just told me we need to cool it off. It hurts like hell, but there’s the possible war, her dad, and her hostage brother. There’s so much against us and between us. “We shouldn’t … until I’ve kept my promise, which Iwillkeep.”
“If you don’t—” she whispers, then cuts herself off.
I know where she was going. I know what shemeantto say, and it almost turns me into an animal. It’s like she’s talking to the primal part of me, the voice that tells me to claim her over and over. I don’t give a damn whose fiancée she’ssupposedto be.
“Say it,” I growl.
After a pause, she murmurs. “This is over.”
Yet I can tell she doesn’t mean it. Her voice falters as if the idea of us ending things hurts her as much as it hurts me. “Good,” I say.
“Good?”
“Now I have something to aim for.” I’m burning up thinking of all the ways this could go wrong. “Keep my promise, and I get the most beautiful, sexiest, kindest, bravest woman I’ve ever known. Break it and …”
I can’t make myself say it. It’s difficult enough to think about it. My woman has come into my life and changed everything. She changed me the first moment I saw her. We’ve both known it could blow up in our faces every second we’ve spent together. We’ve tried to ignore it, but the threat has always existed. Mila says it out loud.
“Everything turns to ash,” she whispers.
CHAPTER 1
MILA
As Dad leans over his large desk, aiming his finger at me, I try to remind myself that we’ve had some good times before. There have been laughs in our lives, and a few notes of happiness have been tossed here and there like stray, forgotten lines of code—lines that don’t stop the program from functioning but don’taddto it either.
“You have to make him love you,” Dad says, glaring at me with that vicious curve to his lips. Dad has a medical condition that causes him to sweat alot. I always do my best to try not to let that affect how I see him. I want to care about my dad, but the pain runs deep. “Do whatever it takes. Go to his room at night. Make him want you that way. We need Dimitri Sokolov tocareabout you, Mila. Can you do that?”
I grit my teeth, though I know Dad will have a nasty comment about that if I don’t quickly correct myself—an error.That’s how Dad sees me: an unruly mass of code he’s forced to correct and monitor continuously.
“His father will be dead soon,” Dad goes on.
I swallow, darkness touching me as I look around the office so I don’t have to think about the implications. Our LA mansion is enormous, with sprawling grounds and guards patrolling it. Dad has said that the Sokolov estate in Vegas is very similar. There are guards and walls and no escape, just like usual.
“Don’t look like that,” Dad snaps, causing me to turn back to him. He’s dabbing his forehead with a handkerchief, mopping at the sweat. “He’s going to take his own life.”
“Jeez,” I mutter. “He’s told you that?”
“He’s ill. He doesn’t want to let fate decide.” Dad gets a small, unnerving smile on his face. Maybe just thefacthe’s smiling is enough to unnerve me. “And he wants to play a game with his sons, too.”
“A game that involves him … doing that?” I ask.
Dad laughs gruffly. “You’re too soft for this life, Mila. You’ll have to toughen up soon. I’ve spoken to Dimitri’s father; he’s arranged everything. When it’s done, you’ll be heading directly to Vegas. Then Dimitri Sokolov has three weeks to marry you.”
“Or what?” I ask.
“Don’t worry about ‘or what,’” Dad says. “Let’s just say I’ve got contingencies for every eventuality.”
