“Steady,” Roscoe said in a low voice.
“Mikhail, I was so worried.You disappeared without warning, and no one knew what had happened to you.”She kissed his cheek.
Mikhail met Roscoe’s gaze, and Edwina saw the second Roscoe’s shoulders relaxed.Then Mikhail angled in her direction, and his eyes widened.“Edwina, you’re here.I thought I’d imagined you.”He shook off Bridget, and every bit of tension seeped from Edwina.He remembered her.
“Who is this woman?”Bridget demanded.
“I’m his wife,” Edwina said, her tone sweet.“His actual wife.”
Bridget took half a step back, then halted her retreat.“Mikhail, I’m your wife.Tell her.”
Mikhail scowled at Bridget.“What the hell are you talking about?We’ve never met in person.Edwina and I are married.She’s my wife.”
Edwina’s relief was so great that she swayed for a moment.He’d remembered.The drug had left his system, or at least most of it had.Currently, his brows squeezed together in confusion.
“You’re Bridget Smirnoff.Why are you here?”
“Because you’re my best chance at freedom and gaining everything I want,” she snapped, and in one smooth move, she pulled a gun from her handbag.
Mikhail stepped in front of Edwina.“What the devil do you think you’re doing?Why would I help you?Your father is a pain in my backside.”
“Those drugs worked,” Bridget muttered, but she hadn’t counted on acute shifter hearing.
“What drugs?”Mikhail demanded, his brows drawing together.
“Do you remember meeting Smirnoff at the cafe?”Edwina asked.She wasn’t positive about how much he recalled.
“I think so.Yesterday?”
“No, it was almost a week ago,” Roscoe said, his attention fixed firmly on the gun.“Edwina and I, plus some of my team, have been searching for you ever since.Smirnoff drugged you in the cafe and took you to his estate.He told you that you’d married Bridget, and as his son-in-law, he wanted you to take over his business.”
“What the hell?”
“We are married,” Bridget butted in with a trace of almost panic.
“Smirnoff is teaching you the intricacies of his business and expects you to run the business when he passes,” Roscoe said.
“That’s true,” Bridget said.“You promised you’d teach me the complexities of my father’s business.”
Mikhail lifted his hand to his head, his fingers pressing into his temples.Edwina watched with concern.He hadn’t recalled everything.But at least he remembered they’d married.That was something.
“And this is all about you,” Edwina said, not trying to hold back her sneer.Mikhail owed the Smirnoff family nothing.“You would’ve killed him with the drugs you gave him to conceal his memories and wouldn’t have cared.All you want is to get your way.”
“Do you want my brother to take over the family business?”Bridget asked.“I’d be much better and do an excellent job.You must help me.”
“You’ve already done enough damage,” Edwina said.“Put the gun down before someone gets hurt.”
In answer, Bridget squeezed the trigger.
28
Edwinacrumpledtothefloor after two rapid flashes and loud reports from the weapon.Another shot, and Roscoe dropped.
“Stop!Give me the gun,” Mikhail demanded, cold sweat forming on his back.Edwina had to be all right.She was his mate.His other half.Anger took over and the urge to wring Bridget’s scrawny neck.“Look at what you’ve done.”
Bridget’s face paled, and the hand clutching the gun shook violently.While her father and brother were involved in crime and violence, she was not.Her inexperience showed, but her jaw had set with her determination.She blinked rapidly, her mouth working.No words emerged.
Mikhail spiraled between anger and soul-sucking fear.He sucked in a panicked breath, and the coppery scent of blood tainted it.His legs trembled, and snarls of fury filled his head, butting against the painful and tender spots in his brain.He staggered, almost face-planting as he stumbled toward Roscoe.Mikhail crouched beside his friend.
