This might be the only question I get so I take a beat, trying to choose wisely. “Why did Ryker send me with you?”
“Because I asked him to do so.”
I blink back my surprise, his answer completely throwing me. “What? Why?”
“That’s two more questions and it’s my turn. Why leave Vegas?”
“Because…” I could tell him any number of reasons. Because I’ve been a prisoner my whole life and I didn’t want to be trapped in a marriage. Or I could tell him that Sasha needs protection way more than myself. Both are accurate. But I settle for the deepest truth, the darkest reason. “I’ve got a score to settle.”
He looks at me, his eyes searching my face as he considers my words. And then he murmurs. “Interesting.”
“Why is that?” I ask, the hair on the back of my neck standing on end as I do.
“Because,” he gives me a cold smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. “I’ve got a score to settle too.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Win
Katarina looks backat me in complete confusion.
My body tightens as her eyes lock with mine. Ryker neglected to mention Katarina’s beauty. She’s flawless.
He must not have a thing for models, because Katarina could be one. Slender body, perfect features, a curtain of shiny dark brown hair.
Her full mouth turns down, her brow furrowing as she considers my words. Her eyes graze down my face and then back up to my eyes. “What does that mean?”
I’m a hard man. Being the oldest, taking on a bankrupt dukedom, babysitting my errant brothers, being the break wall for an abusive father, it’s made me tougher than most. And that was before I lost Rebecca.
But the way Katarina’s eyes hold mine, I already know, she’s hard too. “I’d really like to know. What score do you have to settle?”
In good time, my pretty.“There is another more pertinent question you ought to ask.”
“What’s that?” Her forehead creases, her look of consternation doing little to make her less attractive.
“Where we are going after the plane lands.”
Her eyes go wide, the slightest bit of fear coloring them. “Where?”
“Grandmont Estate. Where, for the time being, you will remain my guest.”
“Your guest?” she asks, the slightest hitch in her breath.
I see understanding dawn in her eyes. Will she be disappointed? Most definitely. But for me, her feelings are irrelevant. “That’s right. You’ll find Grandmont quite comfortable, I assure you.”
I watch as her anger rises like the tide, flashing in her eyes and flushing her skin. She’s even more beautiful like this, her cheeks turning the most gorgeous shade of pale pink. “Guest? You mean prisoner.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” She’s exactly right. She will be kept in my home, guards ensuring that she does not escape.
Because I meant what I said. I have a score to settle, a vendetta to pay, and Katarina…she will be my bait.
The fish I’m trying to catch?
Her father. Ivan Ivanov. Head of the largest Bratva family in Russia and a soulless beast who absolutely and completely deserves the punishment I am about to deal to him. I’ve waited for years for an opportunity like the one that’s just been delivered to me.
Ryker made me promise that I’d keep Katarina safe as I hunted her father. Apparently, he feels some responsibility toward her because they were to be married.
Or perhaps, he just wants to keep good relations between himself and Katarina’s brother, Dimitri Ivanov, the heir apparent when Dimitri’s father falls.
