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That’s when I see the mark Ollie made on my brother's cheek… one that mimics mine. I knew he would get retribution.
I place my hand on my cheek and don’t talk. I swallow. I’m battling mixed emotions.
“I don't ever want to see him hurt you again, Renata.”
"There has to be another way," I plead, begging for my brother's life. "Please."
Ollie bows his head, frowning at me. “If I let him go?—”
I shake my head. “I’m not asking you to let him go, Ollie. No. I’m asking you to find another way. Something. Anything.”
Gunshots ring out in the distance. Carlos writhes in Ollie’s grip. Ollie moves with the lethal precision of a man who has everything to lose. Every punch is weighted with the raw, violent need to protectme—his wife. His world.
“My brothers are coming. You’re fucking dead, Carrera. The only reason you’re still alive is because I love her.” He lifts him by the shirt and shakes him. “Do you understand me?”
My brother nods and turns his head away. “It won’t end, Renata. La Sombra Roja want you, they want your inheritance.” He pleads with me. “I won’t hurt you, Renata. Let me go, and I’ll fight for you.”
It’s the first time in my life I wish I couldn’t detect lies. It’s the first time in my life I wish for ignorance because my brother is lying.
“Oh, Carlos,” I whisper. “You’re lying.” I shake my head. “He’s lying, Ollie.” My brother can and will kill me as soon as Ollie lets him up.
“She’smine,” Ollie growls. He gets to his feet and steps on Carlos, holding him in place with his gun locked on him. Carlos throws his head back and screams like a wolf howling. I shiver.
“Anyone who’s listening. Anyone who’s watching. You don’t get to touch a hair on her head without coming throughmeand every one of my brothers. This is Renata Romanova now. My wife. My whole world. Mine in every way that matters. And if anyone—anyone—ever tries to take her from me, they’ll meet the same fate.”
I stare at him as if I’ve never seen him before. Raw pain and savage beauty shine on his face. I know in that moment he’d die for me. I’ve never been loved like this before.
Turning to me, Ollie reaches out a hand, and once more—right in the middle of his savagery—he finds tenderness. He can annihilate all of creation and still always find space for me. It’s our theme, what unites us—beauty in the storm. Love in the midst of tragedy. My vicious protector who will never hurtme.
Ollie cups my jaw in his hand and nods to Carlos’s masked man, only… this isn’t one of Carlos’s men. He takes off his mask. Idon’t recognize him, but when he does, I see a flash of a scar on his inner wrist. This was the man who protected me from Carlos in Colombia. I realize with a flood of understanding… he’s the Romanov mole. He’s one of them.
“Take him,” he tells him. “You know what to do.”
“Turn her away, Ollie,” he says in a low growl. “Get her out of here.”
I reach for Ollie as he reaches for me. The doors to the dining room burst open, and Ollie’s brothers, Nikko and Viktor, huge and ruthless, barrel through the doors.
“He’s in there. Get him,” Ollie says. “I don’t want his filthy blood on my hands.”
He slams the door behind them. I bury my head on Ollie’s shoulder and flinch at the sound of gunshots.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Ollie
I holdRenata close to me, unsure of what she's feeling or if she'll ever forgive me for my role in her brother’s death. I know how she felt about Carlos in the end, what she hoped for, and how it all crumbled.
We walk into the living room, away from the porch, the kitchen, and the dining room, away from the memory of what happened in our final standoff with her brother. Nikko and Viktor will take care of the details.
My phone rings.
I don’t want to talk to anyone right now—I just want to be alone with my wife. But I know I have to answer. My time is no longer my own.
Without even checking the caller ID, I pick up the phone.
"Are you two okay?" Lev’s voice is on the other end.
"Yeah. He was here. We’ve got him.” I blow out a breath. “Carlos is gone. Where are you?" I respond, keeping it brief. There will be time for detailed conversations later, but for now, we need to exchange the essentials.
