“What’s wrong?”Clarice asked, and her tone had renewed concern along with instinct humming through him.
“It’s my grandfather.He’s taken ill.Ah, there is our hostess.”He crossed the room with long strides, and Clarice scuttled after him.
“Wait,” she cried.“You can’t leave.”
“It’s my grandfather,” Mikhail said, lying without a blink.He should’ve obeyed his gut and stayed home instead of letting guilt sway him into escorting Clarice.“Clarice, I can’t do this any longer.Our relationship has run its course.”He paused, then led with the truth because he owed it to her.“I’m married and do not wish to cheat on my wife.”
Clarice’s gasp attracted attention.“You’re married,” she said, something more than shock threading through her words.It was distress and was that horror?
“I can’t discuss this now.I’ll call you tomorrow, but there will be no more cozy dinners or dates now that I have a wife.”He turned away.
Clarice put on a burst of speed and gripped his forearm, her nails digging through his sleeve.“You cannot leave me here.”
“If you hurry, I’ll drop you at home.”
“You have to leave?”
“Yes,” he snapped, starting for the door, using his strength to tow her after him.
“Wait, my coat,” she wailed.
Suspicion rose in him.“You’re trying to keep me here.”
“No,” she denied instantly, but Mikhail saw through her rebuttal.
He jerked from her touch and headed to the main entrance.Clarice released a panicked cry.Someone had organized her to bring him here.This truth thumped him over the head as a beefy man dressed in a suit, his tie askew, appeared before him.
“You’re leaving so soon?”he asked in a jovial tone.“We haven’t had dinner.”
“I have received an urgent message.One of my family members is ill.”
Mikhail used his bulk and height to force the man to retreat and exited the mansion with ground-eating strides.His steps faltered slightly on seeing the number of security men standing around.Their heads jerked in his direction, but to his relief, they didn’t halt his departure.
A man in a uniform stepped in front of him without warning.“Sir, we must ask you to remain here while a VIP arrives.”
“My driver is waiting for me,” Mikhail said, aiming for pleasant.His words, however, emerged with a side of pissed arrogance.“I will be leaving now.”
“Mikhail!”Clarice’s panicked voice came from behind him.
Mikhail didn’t bother looking in her direction because his sixth sense told him she’d maneuvered him into this situation.He brushed past the security guard, only halting when he heard the cocking of a gun.Mikhail froze and slowly turned back to the guard.
“I’m afraid I’ll have to insist on you waiting, sir.”
Mikhail burst into action, using his shifter speed.He was on the man and using his strength to rip the gun away before the guard reacted.He tossed the weapon deep into the garden and continued to where their driver had dropped them off.
“Mikhail!”Clarice wailed.
Mikhail jogged through the well-lit garden, more determined than ever to leave.Hurried footsteps after him had him breaking into a run.A shout rang out, but he ignored that too.Clarice had set up this meeting, and he had no idea why.
The horn honk had him veering in that direction since he recognized the sound.His driver.He covered the remaining distance at a lope, the whistle of a bullet forcing a turn of extra speed from him.His driver revved the engine and took off before Mikhail was inside.
“What is going on, sir?”his driver asked as he almost ran over a guard who’d decided they might stop if he stood in the driveway.
“Clarice…” he trailed off, unsure of what to think.When he’d started dating her, he’d done a full security check, and she’d passed with flying colors.Nothing about her background had raised alarm bells.He’d trusted her, but tonight had been weird.
His phone rang, and he pulled it out, trusting his driver to get them safely away.The car was built to withstand bullets.
“Seat belt, sir,” his driver said.“They’re closing the gate.”
