Page 194 of Pride, Prejudice and the Bratva

I would reach her.

I would burn through anyone who stood between us.

Harris Thompson. The California families. The Voss brothers. Any syndicate foolish enough to think they could take what was mine.

Anyone. Everyone.

I could not exist another second without her. The separation alone felt like slow, deliberate suicide.

I was just about to step into the armored vehicle when my phone vibrated sharply in my hand.

An encrypted message.

Unknown source.

Three words.

We have her.

My blood turned to ice.

No.

No—God, no.

Better not be my wife. Better not be Elena. She had already suffered enough. She couldn’t—she—

The phone rang again before I could even breathe.

Petros.

I answered before the first ring finished, my voice raw, violent. “Tell me Elena is with her brothers. Tell me she’s safe.”

There was a pause on the other end.

A pause that felt like a blade sliding slowly between my ribs.

“Sir,” Petros said, his voice tight, controlled with effort, “the six Voss brothers were attacked on their way to their private airstrip by an unidentified mafia faction.”

My vision darkened.

“Elena has... been taken.”