The diamonds at my throat pressed tight, a collar, a leash, a brand.
I wanted Darius.
I hated that I wanted Darius.
But I wanted him anyway.
I didn't know how much more of this I was going to be able to take before I completely shattered.
CHAPTER 26
DARIUS
"Are all the shipments of the same caliber and quality?" I asked Pavel as we looked over the crates of semi-automatic weapons.
Pavel's new venture was impressive. And if he pulled this off, it would be incredibly profitable.
This was his first complete shipment of true ghost guns. Not guns that had serial numbers filed off, but ones that were never printed with them to begin with.
Extremely illegal and highly sought after by several of our customers, even if only a few could afford them.
"Yeah," Pavel said with a grin. "I had my doubts about this new supplier, but they have come through. We are still going to test each gun, firing off a few rounds before repackaging them and shipping them with the corn and soy headed to our customers' home countries."
I nodded, picking up one rifle and inspecting it. The weight of it in my hands was familiar, grounding. Just because I handled the legitimate side of the family business didn't mean I wasn't aware of how every single aspect of it worked.
"Good," I said, giving him a nod of approval. I was about to ask another question about the ammunition and how he planned to ship the bullets separately when two of my men rushed in.
They had been under strict orders not to disturb us. So if they had come and interrupted this meeting, I knew it was serious.
"Sir, uh..." Andrei looked at the floor, then at the ceiling, refusing to meet my eye. Andrei never hesitated to meet my eye. Something was very wrong, and he was afraid to tell me.
"Spit it out," I demanded as I set the rifle down with deliberate control and let him take a few steps over to the side, giving us a little bit of privacy in case that was why he was worried.
"There's been an incident at the girl's music shop."
My heart stopped. "What kind of incident?" I asked, limbs going cold, a ringing starting in my ears.
"We have contained it, but there was some...damage."
Some “damage.” Andrei didn’t mince words, and he didn’t sugarcoat things. Whatever this was, I needed to be there now.
"Pavel," I barked. "Handle this. I'll be in touch."
"Are you coming back?" he called after me as I ran to the SUV.
I didn't bother answering; there wasn't time. My fingers were already curling around my keys, my stride eating up the distance to the vehicle.
Fortunately, I was at the office near the waterfront, close to her shop in Georgetown. Andrei moved to the driver's seat, but I pushed him out of the way and got behind the wheel. My shoulder caught his chest hard enough to send him stumbling.
Andrei jumped into the car as I threw it into reverse, backing out of the parking lot. Gravel sprayed. The engine roared.
I couldn't recall the drive from the harbor to her shop, not a single detail. All I knew was I had to get there. My knuckles were white on the steering wheel. Every red light felt like a personalinsult, every second an eternity where she might be bleeding, broken…gone.
I stopped in front of the store, not really parking—the SUV half on the curb, blocking traffic—before I left the engine running and headed inside looking for her.
My men were standing over some rich, entitled douchebag. His eye was swollen shut, and the blood from his nose dripped down onto his suit jacket and jeans. The asshole was still yelling, whining really. "This isn't over. Wait until my father hears about this. He is a powerful man. He has connections. You'll be sorry."
I barely registered his existence. He was already a corpse. He just hadn't stopped breathing yet.
