Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 52062 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 260(@200wpm)___ 208(@250wpm)___ 174(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52062 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 260(@200wpm)___ 208(@250wpm)___ 174(@300wpm)
History repeating itself in the cruelest way possible.
No.
The word had torn through my mind with violent force.
Not her. Not like this.
I wouldn't let it end that way.
I slid and stumbled down that embankment with my heart in my throat.
And then I saw her.
Lying still in the snow, her body crumpled.
For one terrible, infinite moment, I thought I was too late.
That she was already gone.
And the fear that ripped through me was unlike anything I'd ever experienced. It was primal and devastating and it made me want to tear the world apart with my bare hands.
But then I reached her, touched her face and felt the faint warmth of her breath against my palm, and the relief nearly brought me to my knees.
She was alive.
Now that she’s back at the lodge and safe, the rage is rising in me.
Hot and fierce and absolutely lethal.
Because Andrei did this. He left her to die in the cold. Left her bleeding and unconscious and alone.
"Nikolai?" Dmitri's voice pulls me back. He's watching me with concern in his eyes.
I force myself to breathe. To push down the violence that wants to erupt.
"Are you okay?" He asks.
"When this threat has passed, we find the pizda who left her to die.”
“Holly told you who took her?”
“In the car on the way back to the lodge. She said she had called Andrei to pick her up. Asked him to take her to a hotel but he refused. Said he was taking her to a man who paid him to spy on what was happening here at the lodge.”
Dmitri’s expression remains neutral as he nods. But I know him well enough to know he is picturing the calm and calculated way he would kill Andrei.
But he won’t get the satisfaction.
Because Andrei will feel my wrath when the time comes.
I take the hot cocoa and head back to Holly, my mind already working through what comes next.
Finding Andrei is a priority. He won't have gotten far, not in this weather. Not with the men I have already mobilized to hunt him down.
And when I find him, he's going to pay for what he did.
He's going to learn exactly what happens when someone threatens what's mine.
And it won't be quick.
Or clean.
It will be a lesson that echoes through the Bratva for years to come about the consequences of touching Nikolai Morozov's wife.
But first, Holly needs me.
I round the corner and see her huddled under the blanket, still shivering, her face pale in the firelight.
And despite the rage still burning in my chest, I gentle my expression as I approach.
Because right now, what she needs isn't the monster.
She needs the man who will keep her safe.
The man who will burn the world down before he lets anyone hurt her again.
33
HOLLY
The next morning, I wake to pale morning light filtering through the windows and for a blissful moment, I don't remember.
Then it all crashes back and my stomach drops.
Everything Nikolai kept from me. And what followed after.
My gaze drifts to the armchair beside the bed where Nikolai is asleep.
At some stage last night he changed into dress pants and a button-up shirt. But now they’re wrinkled from sleep, the shirt unbuttoned, the sleeves pushed up his strong forearms. His head is tilted back against the chair, his face peaceful in a way I've never seen when he's awake. Those impossibly long lashes fan across his cheekbones. Those beautiful lips I’ve spent hours kissing, are slightly parted with each steady breath.
He's so handsome, it hurts to look at him.
I long to climb on his lap and wrap my arms around his neck and bury my face in his warmth.
But I need more time to process it all. The secrets. My murderous grandfather. The men sent to kill me. My stupidity in fleeing and Andrei’s subsequent betrayal.
I turn away and close my eyes.
Because I’m afraid there are more things he hasn’t told me.
And I’m not sure I’m ready to hear them.
34
NIKOLAI
The water scalds my skin, but I welcome the pain. It's a distraction from the chaos in my head.
Two hours until The Wolf arrives.
Two hours until I end this nightmare once and for all.
I brace my hands against the marble tile and let the water pound against my shoulders. My plan is dangerous, but it's the only way. Yuri won't stop until he gets what he wants. And men like him don't negotiate. They take. They destroy. They leave nothing but blood and ashes in their wake.
I have no choice but to stop him.
Shutting off the water, I step out of the shower and dry off. I dress carefully. Black suit. Black shirt. No tie. Each movement is methodical, like I’m preparing for war and I’m dressing in the armor I need for the battle ahead.
I leave the bathroom and walk toward the guest room. Dmitri is waiting near the stairs, his face grim.