Page 164 of Bratva and Betrayal: Kirill

Her back hits the wall. “Eddie!”

Two of my guards hold him by the arms, his hands still in cuffs, his legs in irons.

“On one of our dates a few months ago, you drunkenly told me you married the head of the Ramirez Cartel after a night of partying with him.”

“Eddie, what are you doing…out?” She looks ready to start convulsing. “He’s a monster, Kirill.”

“I got his sentence commuted.” I glance at Eduardo Ramirez, then back at Tamara. “You married a vicious murderer. He’s your husband. But till death do you part.”

“Mikhail!” she screams for her guard.

“Mikhail works for me,” I bite out. “Your husband will arrange for your protection now.”

The only real protection she’ll need is from that husband of hers.

I walk over to Ramirez. “You owe me.”

“I’m at your service, Pakhan.”

I unlock his shackles and put a hand on his shoulder. “Wait until we leave before you start punishing her.”

“No problem, Pakhan.” He licks his lips, wanting his wife.

I know the feeling. But I doubt he’ll be gentle with his.

With nothing more to be said, I turn to Drago. “Let’s give them some privacy.”

We step out into the hallway where Cartel men line the walls, guarding their king until he returns to Miami with his wife.

The door closes behind us, cutting off whatever comes next for Tamara.

Just screaming.

Have fun, Eddie.

“She couldn’t have married you anyway,” Drago mutters as we walk.

“No,” I agree simply. “But she would have tried.”

We get into my SUV, and I look out the window as it pulls away. The lights of the city blur together, my thoughts drifting somewhere else. With a lot less screaming.

Okay, I make my wife scream, too. In a good way.

“Take me home,” I tell the driver.

Because for the first time in five years, I have a wife waiting for me.

Chapter 55

Sandrine

There’s silence on the other end of the phone. All I hear is Lourdes’s breathing, tempered with a few soft whimpers.

“How could Dad do that?” she whispers.

I sniff, too. “I just keep thinking he wanted to protect me.”

“He tried to keep you from your child. Even if he didn’t want you to be with Kirill, which I can understand, but to make you give up Violet…” She trails off.