Page 105 of Where the Wind Whispers

“Let me put Anastasya down then we can … talk.”

Violet wasn’t gone more than a handful of minutes before she was settling back beside him, curling her legs up beneath her. “Whatever it is, just tell me.”

“Your father,” he started, “it’s happening within the week.”

She blinked.

He understood her confusion because he rarely spoke to her about anything related to his business. He liked to keep certain things outside of their home if he could help it. But it was important that he explain this detail because she would want to know.

Having Alfie just as determined as he was to see Alberto dead had made the plan rather simple. Kaz had looked over and memorized everything, down to the very last detail; he knew he would be ready for anything.

The clock was ticking down.

“But before that can happen,” Kaz continued. “I need to make sure that you and Anastasya are safe.”

A moment of confusion, then surprise, and finally, anger. “No.”

“Violet—”

She shoved to her feet, taking off in a flurry to the kitchen. “No.”

Sighing as he got to his feet, Kaz followed. “It’s a necessary precaution.”

“You made a promise to me, Kaz,” she threw over her shoulder.

“And this will be the last time I ask this of you, krasivaya,” he said, catching her around the waist with an arm, dragging her back to him before she could get too far. “It won’t be long, a few days at most.”

Violet wasn’t so easily swayed. “Right. You said that last time.”

“And I’m saying it this time.”

She spun in his arms, looking up at him with such sad eyes. “I don’t like this, Kaz.”

Kaz shook his head, drawing her closer before resting his chin on top of her head, waiting until her stance relaxed before he spoke. “I love you and Anastasya more than anything in the world. Don’t ever think that I won’t do everything in my power to keep you safe. Once this is done, and not a second later, the two of you will be right back here where I can spoil you for the rest of our lives.”

A heartbeat later, Violet exhaled and said, “Make sure you come back to us, Kaz. Promise me that.”

He didn’t hesitate. “I promise.”

He’d promised her.

He promised not to send her away again, yet there Violet was, in the backseat of a black SUV, heading toward the private airstrip she hadn’t wanted to see for a long time. Anastasya sat happily in her car seat, watching the dangling toys bounce with the movement of the vehicle, her blue-gray eyes lit up with fascination.

She had no idea of her mother’s heartbreak, none at all.

The baby girl didn’t know that it could be days, weeks, or even months before she saw her father again. One of two people in the entire world who loved her more than their own life, and she didn’t even know.

Violet leaned over to her daughter, letting the baby chew on a frozen teething ring she’d been holding. At just two months old, Anastasya was already getting her first tooth on the bottom. It was barely peeking through the gum, but it was there.

Still, the baby rarely fussed about it.

She was such a good girl—laid-back like her father.

“Do you want to grab something to eat before we hit the airstrip?” her driver asked. “It’ll be a long flight and plane food is garbage.”

Violet didn’t know the name of the man. Kaz had simply waved her toward the car without introduction, and then proceeded to threaten the driver with his life should something go wrong between the mansion and the private airstrip.

“Mrs. Markovic?” the driver asked.