One guard steps directly into the path of my car, his weapon raised, yelling something I don’t care to hear.
My foot presses down, and the impact is immediate. His body lifts onto the hood and rolls off to the side as I keep driving.
Ido’s car follows close behind, and Isaak is in another vehicle just behind him.
She’s alive.
She is fucking alive.
And I know she is here.
That bastard brought her up, claimed she was dead, it was strategic. He was playing me. I just couldn’t see how.
Now I do.
I stop in front of the house and step out of the car, I slam the door shut behind me as I take the stairs two at a time.
Two maids emerge at the same moment, freezing when they see me.
One of them whispers in Russian, her voice barely audible. “They’ll kill her now. After what she did…”
“Where the fuck is she?” I demand.
They shrink back, one nearly losing her footing in panic.
“Inside,” she stammers. “In the main room.”
What could that bastard possibly want with her? The only explanation that makes any sense is that he intends to use her against me.
I’ll get to the bottom of it soon.
Ido is at my side seconds later, Isaak just behind him. We step inside together, our attention sweeping the area as we take in every detail.
The first thing I hear is laughter.
I follow the sound, and when I step into the room, everything inside me halts.
There she is.
My girl.
My fucking reason.
The only thing that ever kept me tethered to this world.
She is on the floor, dressed in leggings and an oversized T-shirt that slips from one shoulder.
For a fraction of a second, relief washes over me, she’s clothed, she’s conscious, but then I really look at her.
And something inside me turns feral.
Blood stains nearly every inch of her. Her face is swollen, the skin is split and inflamed, most of the damage concentrated around her temple and forehead… her lip is torn open.
She’s alive.
Beaten… but alive.
Relief and rage tangle inside me, and it takes everything I have not to tear the room apart with my bare hands.
