I already lost so much time in Russia’s airspace, not to mention the entire night I was blissfully sleeping while Yulian was flying to his wedding.
So no, I won’t wait. I had to be here now.
I don’t care if it’s a suicide mission. Yaroslav won’t be stupid enough to hurt me, knowing my father will skin him alive if he dares to so much as touch me.
Uncle Anton said Yulian left late that night, so he must’ve arrived in Chicago yesterday. He wouldn’t have been expected to get married so soon, right?
My fist clenches.
I was so mad at my uncles for letting him go without telling me, for facilitating it, for twisting the knife Yulian plunged into my heart.
“He said he had urgent business in Chicago, and he had to go alone to protect you,” Uncle Anton told me. “We couldn’t exactly refuse.”
They still should’ve.
They could’veat leastwoken me up so I could stophim. Or go with him. I would’ve donesomethingto relieve this pain that’s been plaguing me since he left.
I stare at the texts I sent him. There’s no reply. He did read them, though.
Fuck.
I run a frantic hand through my hair, my composure ripping at the seams.
He can ignore me all he wants, but this will not go as he wishes.
If he believes he can step all over my heart and walk away, he has another thing coming.
But even as I tell myself that, my fingers tremble around my phone as I refresh our text exchange, holding on to a sliver of hope that I’ll receive a morsel of his attention.
Something.
Anything.
But nothing comes through, and my heart shatters for the hundredth time since he left me.
I’ve never been this distraught and broken. When Danika cheated on me and I wasn’t hurt, I thought it was because I lacked emotions, but now I realize it was because I never loved her.
Not even close.
Not even a little.
Danika was a replacement for the actual man I was in love with.
And now that he deserted me, I feel like my heart will rip out of my chest.
Ithurts.
So much, I can hardly breathe.
My dad’s name flickers on the screen, and I wince as I pick up.
“You’re in Chicago?” he asks with veiled concern.
“I have to be.”
“It’s dangerous! You have no guards to protect you in case things go south. Just wait for me, son, okay?”
“I can’t.”
