“I’m a fashion designer, Mikhail. My clothing is all one of a kind. I’ve already agreed to go with you without a fight; you can at least have enough respect to allow me to stop at my place and collect some of my belongings.”
“You mean, your boyfriend’s place?” he scoffs.
“No, my place. Yulian and I live in a penthouse in the city, but I have my own private escape that I’m building outside of the city. No one is there. It’s still under construction. But I store my things there because the penthouse is too small.”
“Go figure, an Andreev can’t even properly take care of his woman, making her live in a place that’s too small. Fine. We can stop, but you'd better make it quick. And the guards are following everywhere you go.”
Chapter 23 - Yulian
Every time I call Kat, I end up smiling for ages afterwards. That girl just knows how to make me happy. She does it so easily, so playfully. She’s creative, beautiful, smart and funny. And dammit, she’s sexy as all hell.
I’m fucking lucky. That is unquestionable.
As soon as I hang up, I already want to call her back. I can’t wait for those guys to get to her studio and fix the CCTV. I hate not being able to watch her.
In a way, I find it really sexy that she likes me watching her. She likes it that I’m so possessive. That means she enjoys the fact that she belongs to me.
“Music—louder, fifty percent,” I say to the voice system in my workshop. The volume goes up, and I pick up the oil and the cloth I was busy with, pouring some onto the fabric and then gently wiping it over the design I’ve just carved into one of the window frames for the sun room.
As the oil soaks into the raw wood, it brings life and color to it. It’s beautiful. It’s meditative and peaceful, and soon I’m lost in the slow process of it.
My phone rings, and I jump in fright, laughing at myself.
Katerina’s name flashes across the screen. Grinning, I reach for it. It’s only been about twenty minutes since I spoke to her, and she’s calling me this time. I’ll have to tease her about this.
“Kateri—”
“Yul, it’s me. It’s Ali.” Her voice is tight with stress.
“Ali?” I stammer, “What’s wrong, what happened?” The hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and a cold shiver runs down my spine.
“I can’t find Kat anywhere. She was here, and now she’s gone.”
“You’re still in the studio?” I ask, confused.
“Yes, and her phone is here. It was still on. She left it on the workbench, but Yul was busy typing a message that she didn’t send. It just saystrouble.”
“Fuck,” I growl, my stomach knotting worse than ever before. “Someone took her. There’s no other explanation.”
“But I was right here in the back, I would’ve heard something!” Ali argues, and I can hear the tears in her voice.
“No, Al, she stayed quiet to protect you. She didn’t put up a fight because she knew you’d come out from the back and be in danger, too. Besides, there is only really one person who would do this—Artur. Her brother.”
“I don’t know what to do, Yul,” she pleads.
“Go home, be safe. I’ll call you later, okay?”
“Okay,” she stammers, swallowing hard. “Please find her.”
“I will, Ali. Just go home, please. I don’t want to have to worry about you, too. Message me as soon as you’re home, ok?”
After the call with Ali, I feel like crawling out of my skin. I’m so angry. What the fuck is Artur playing at? It can only be him! Right? I mean, the chances are really high.
I pace for a second, trying to calm myself down before I do something stupid. Right now, my only priority is to find Kat and bring her home. I want her safe. I need to be level-headedfor that. I can do this. I can work well under pressure. It’s just…it’s difficult when it’s the girl I am totally and utterly in love with and can’t even bear the thought of losing.
I shove my hands through my hair and take a deep breath.Pull yourself to-fucking-gether, Yulian.
Okay.
