Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 68192 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68192 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
He walked out, and tears rolled down my cheek. Happy ones, mostly, this time. I might have actually gotten away. I might have a chance at freedom. But what about the people I’d left behind? My mother and Alina—how badly would they be harmed because of me?
“Would you hand me my bag? I want to try texting my mother.” I didn’t think she’d respond, but I had to try.
Lorenzo gave the bag, and I fought back more tears as I pulled out the phone she’d given me.
13
LORENZO
Iran a hand through my hair as I walked to my office. The smart thing to do would be to send Niko away. I shouldn’t be involved with him, and if Dimitri found him at my house, there would be no repairing that connection. But wouldn’t Remington rather Niko be here than in Ivanov’s hands or with someone else who could use him as a bargaining chip?
Whether that was true or not, I couldn’t send him away. He couldn’t defend himself, and I didn’t trust anyone else to do it. Dimitri would be looking for him. He was too important an asset. Dimitri was determined to keep himself afloat, and to do that, he had to get the money from Ivanov.
Was he already on his way here? Would he guess where Niko had gone? I needed to call Remington, then I needed to call my brothers. I had to be ready to defend us all.
How far would Dimitri go to try to retrieve him? I didn’t want to find out without backup. Dimitri needed the alliance with the Ivanovs, but he couldn’t afford to start a war with my family.
Still, I had to let Remington know what was going on. He wasn’t going to like it even if he was ultimately getting what he wanted.
He must not have known the wedding date had changed. Likely, Ivanov and Dimitri hadn’t told anyone. I needed to talk to Dante and Rafe first, but I knew better than to put off contacting Remington. So I compromised and sent him a text.
I don’t think you have to worry about a wedding taking place. Nikolai is here with me. Dimitri beat him, but it’s nothing we can’t handle. He’s safe now.
My phone rang before I had a chance to decide what to say to my brothers. I’d known better than to hope Remington might not see my text for a little while.
“What the hell is going on?”
“Nikolai escaped and came here for protection. He barely made it. He hasn’t eaten in a few days.”
“How did he get out?”
“His mother helped him escape.”
“His mother?” I could hear the surprise in his voice. At least he hadn’t been hiding this from me. “I didn’t think she could stay sober long enough to help anyone.”
“So you’re not the one who gave her my address?”
“Me? No. Why would you think… Never mind, we’ll deal with that later. I have no doubt Dimitri will come looking for his son. I’ll send some guards to help you fortify your house. Be prepared to defend it.”
We would talk about it later. We needed to know how his mother found out. “I’m already working on it. We need to try to find Nikolai’s mother. She wouldn’t come with him, and there’s no telling what Dimitri’s done to her.”
“I’ll see what I can do. Do you want to tell me why he came to you? How does he even know you?”
I didn’t, but the longer I waited to tell the truth, the worse it would be. “Something else happened the night I was at Dimitri’s house.”
“Really? Tell me about it, then tell me why you decided I didn’t need to know after I told you I wanted this marriage contract dissolved.”
“I talked to Nikolai. He was clearly interested in me, so…”
“You talked to him? To discuss how you and his father had the most fragile of alliances?”
“I fucked him, okay?”
Remington sighed. “Right there at his father’s house.”
“Yes.”
I was shocked when he laughed. “I bet you enjoyed the hell out of that.”
“I did.”
“Nikolai is a beautiful young man.”
A low growl escaped me. Niko was mine, at least until he couldn’t be.
“Don’t worry, Henri is enough for me.”
He sure as hell was. Remington’s boyfriend was incredibly gorgeous, and he had Remington wrapped around his little finger. No one would dare speak to the king of New Orleans the way Henri did.
“So you thought fucking Dimitri’s son was a good idea?”
“No. It was a terrible one. I know better.”
“Renzo, you’ve been beating yourself up for way too long. You saw something you wanted, and you took it. I can’t be too mad about that, especially when it ended up preventing Nikolai’s marriage from taking place today.”
“You heard they’d moved the timetable up?”
“I sure as hell did. I was scrambling to figure out what move to make next. Keep Nikolai with you, preferably in your sight. As far as I’m concerned, he’s your prisoner. He doesn’t go anywhere or speak to anyone.”