Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 85156 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85156 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
I should be angry about my distraction during the meetings, especially where the Bratva is concerned. But I can’t bring myself to be upset when the reason is Eva.
“You have it bad, Evgeny.”
My attention returns to the phone screen and the blank space where Eva’s reply should be. I keep thumbing the conversation up and down just to keep the screen from going dark.
At Dmitri’s words, I meet his eyes again, only to see the shit-eating grin on his face. “Excuse me?”
“Oh, come on.” The grin widens. “Everyone can see it. You’re completely gone for Eva.”
“I’m not ‘gone’ for anything,” I growl, locking the screen and stuffing it into my jacket pocket.
The smirk Dmitri gives me says yeah, sure as clearly as the flight attendant’s announcement that we’ve arrived and can deplane.
The woman’s eyes linger on me as I pass by, and I give her a cursory glance. She’s model-beautiful, tall and thin, her skirt following dips and curves that at one time would have had me telling her to come to my house later in the evening. And she would have had no objections based on how her tongue runs over her lips as she watches me go.
Then her gaze lands on the scarred side of my face, and she looks away quickly.
I let out a short laugh as I push past her to the door, used to it. The pilot thanks me for my business as I pass through the doorway and head down the steps to the tarmac. Dmitri is already there, his phone pressed to his ear, and he’s gesturing in short, jerky movements to the man who’s serving as my driver today.
That’s the first warning I have. The second is the expression on Dmitri’s face when he turns toward me.
I know that look, the pinched expression that deepens the fine lines around his mouth, showing his troubled eyes.
My heart skips a beat before plunging into my gut. “Eva?”
“No, but—” he swallows, his throat bobbing with the action “—it’s her brother, the younger one. One of our guys found him. He’s—”
My second-in-command doesn’t have to finish his sentence for me to understand.
“Take me to him. Now.”
Dmitri nods, and our bags are barely in the trunk before we’re off.
The address takes us to an empty warehouse near the port, a maze of warehouses and shipping containers from all over the world.
Dmitri, the driver, and I draw our guns, my two men advancing in front of me and clearing the area before we slip inside, keeping our faces turned from the security cameras. Whether they’re live or not, I don’t know, but none of us are taking any chances.
They do another sweep inside to ensure it’s empty, and when they give me the all-clear, we search for Eva’s brother.
It doesn’t take long to find him. Dusty light filters through rows of grimy windows, highlighting motes that swirl and fall over the figure lying facedown, a pool of blood staining the concrete floor.
For a moment, all I can do is stand there, staring, regret and frustration welling in me. I’d hoped my man’s report of finding the kid here had been exaggerated, since everyone within the Kucherov sphere, down to the last man, knew what I would do should anyone harm a hair on the head of Eva or anyone in her family. I’d made that abundantly and painfully clear.
When I bend down to check his pulse, the kid is cold, and my fingers find no thready beat.
“Fuck!”
My only thoughts are of Eva. This will destroy her. She tried so hard to save this kid from himself, to protect her family and keep them on the straight path forward.
I knew the kid was in trouble, and I hated how it affected Eva. But had someone done this to get to me now that I’d made it clear to the world she’s mine? Or had her brother’s antics finally caught up with him? It’s impossible to tell just yet.
“Who the fuck did this?” My words are a frigid whisper, a killing rage already rising, the red haze tunneling my vision.
“Who the fuck did this?” I demand, my bellow like thunder.
“Nobody knows yet.” Dmitri’s face has gone pale. He’d met Jordan before, when he’d accompanied Eva to her family home. The only time I’d met the kid was in the bookstore. “Yoseph got a call from an unknown number. He didn’t recognize the caller, but the guy told him to look here.”
“Shit. Fuck!”
What the hell was I going to tell Eva? How was I going to tell Eva?
Running footsteps from the front entrance are all the warning I get before I hear the scream.
“No!” The scream is a heart-wrenching, haunting wail that echoes against the steel, concrete, and glass around us. “Jordan! No!”
Eva pelts past me toward her brother’s body, but I manage to snag her around the waist, pinning her against me.