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“Thank you,” I whispered, wishing he’d kiss me even as I prayed for him not to.
After getting dressed and brushing my hair, I look at myself in the mirror. I’m filled with anger and resentment toward my father, pain for my baby brother, curiosity about Mikhail’s secret plan, and ugly, mocking visions of how everything could go very wrong very fast.
“Mila?” Ania calls, knocking on my door.
“Yeah?”
“Do you want to come hang with me and Lia before the party?”
I almost tell herno. I’m in a sour mood, but I’ll have to try.
“Sure,” I reply, walking over to the door.
Ania looks gorgeous in her dress like a girl would wear to prom. We leave the house together and walk across to the other one, finding Lia in some party prep room with several vanity units. Both look so glamorous, making me feel frumpy in my plain dress.
I have to keep reminding myself that I’m not dressing up forDad.
Ania sits at one of the units. “I hate parties,” she says, dabbing her face.
“It should be okay,” Lia says, sitting at another unit.
I’m on the couch, staring at the floor, picking my fingernails, and trying not to think about all the nasty things that could happen to my innocent baby brother.
“Mila, why don’t you wear something beautiful?” Ania says, and I almost snap at her. “You’rebeautiful, so you might as well.”
I hope she doesn’t need a response, but then I notice her watching me in the reflection. “I don’t want to look pretty tonight.”
Lia speaks in a low voice. “Mila, I can ask Dimitri to?—”
I don’t mean to, but I snap, “You think this is aboutDimitri?”
“Well, maybe you can ask Mikhail?—”
This is becoming too much. As I jump to my feet, I feel like a brat, but I can’t talk or even think about Mikhail. Between obsessing over my brother and feeling a gravitational pull toward Mikhail, my nerves are way too raw for this. “Just leave it, okay?”
“Where are you going?” Ania asks as I make for the door.
I don’t mean to, but my voice comes out harsh. “Waiting outside. Is that okay with you?”
Walking quickly through the house, I hurry across the compound, my heart pounding in my ears. I said I was going to wait outside, but I don’t want the eyes of the guards on me. Instead, I go back to my room.
Drake has sent me a message.I’ve got a way to stop the party!
What do you mean?I write back.
After a moment, he sends me another message, just an emoji. It’s a little image of a bomb.
CHAPTER 20
MIKHAIL
It’s takenhoursto get to this point, driving down the strip in a limo: Mila, Ania, Dimitri, Lia, and me. Somebody called in a bomb threat to theManor, where the pledge is being held. That meant we had to wait around in the house, the tension rising. I’m buzzing all over to get this over with.
Staying away from my woman, even for this short while, has been the most challenging thing I’ve ever done. Every second I’m on the compound, my instincts are telling me to find her, hold her, kiss her, program with her, lick her, own her, fuck her. Every. Single. Second.
“Are you ready?” Dimitri asks Lia in a gentle voice, holding her hand.
That pisses me off way more than it should—them holding hands so casually when I’ve had to make myself seem cold and distant toward my Mila, for both our sakes. If this doesn’t work and Oleg doesn’t hold up his end of the deal, or Nikolai somehow wins …
