AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Mila’s always going to be a Petrov,” the man says.
“Yevgeny,” I say, remembering the man as one of our own or what I thought was one of our loyal men. “Is that your real name,friend?”
The man sneers at me. “You think I’m going to speak with you, dork?”
I grind my teeth, the blood in my veins pounding deep in my ears. “Take him underground. I’m going to have a conversation with him very soon.”
Denis gives me a bleak look. He knows that underground means the cells and that aconversationmeans doing whatever it takes to get this rat to talk.
“I can handle that, sir, if you like?—”
“No.” I keep my gaze fixated on the asshole, a storm brewing deep in my mind, a movie reel playing of all the ways this could’ve gone wrong. “Is Lia okay?”
“Yes, sir, they both are.”
“Both?”
Since we’re at Lia’s house, I assumed that this was about just her. Mainly because I’m almost sure I would’ve recognized Mila’s voice if she was the one screaming about the gun and for help.
“Mila and Lia, yes, sir.”
I nod, pushing past them. When I’m out of their sight, I break into a run, knowing I’d never be able to be the same person if something happened to Mila. I’d never be able to look at the world, my work, or the Bratva in the same way. I run into the room, pausing when I see Mila standing there with her hands across her middle, her eyes glistening, staring at the floor.
My savage, protective impulses almost send me running across the room to Mila’s side. I want to sweep her into my arms and hold her close, tell her I’d never let anybody hurt her. Then I remember Lia. What if she tells Dimitri? I’m not sure how my brother would react to this extra complication. If he told me to stop, I know I wouldn’t be able to.
It could start a war with my own brother. That’s why I try to push this down and hide it. I attempt to look at Lia as well. “Are you both okay?”
“We’re fine,” Mila says, her voice small. “I …” She looks at Lia. “I’ll let you tell him.”
“Some freak working for the Petrovs tried to kidnap us.”
Mila looks at the floor. “Because I told him I’d help.”
My head splits right down the middle. I can’t believe Mila would betray us for no reason. “What … why?”
“Drake.” Her voice is small and full of devastating sadness. It takes everything I have not to sweep her into my arms. She coughs back a sob.
“We’ll get him back. I promise.”
“Yeah, you’ve said that, but nothing’s changed,” she snaps.
She walks to the door, right past me, coming close enough that I can feel her heat and sense her sadness. After a quick talk with Lia, who looks at me as though she seems to know how I feel about Mila, I head outside. Denis is standing outside the door with another guard.
“He’s ready for you, sir,” Denis says.
“Good,” I grunt.
Before I can get to work, I need to check in on Mila. I find her in her bedroom, sitting on the edge of the bed, tears sliding down her cheeks. She’s staring off into space as though she’s seeing all the brutal and unfair things that will happen to her. I walk over to the bed, kneel down, take her hands, and look into her eyes.
“What happens to Drake now?” she whispers, breaking down.
“There’s no way for that asshole to contact the outside world,” I tell her. “Your father won’t know if this scumbag succeeded or not. He’s never going to speak to him again. I need to know exactly what happened.”
She swallows, looking at me like she did when I walked into the house with Ania in my arms. It’s like she’s realizing, one step at a time, that I’m not just some computer nerd. “I’m not sure I should say.”
“Why?”
“Because you seem really mad.”
