“Kill him and you’re a dead man,” my father spoke carefully, his authority over every other man here evident.
“And yet if I don’t kill him, I’ll look weak,” Viktor countered, “and Katya will always be running to him.”
“I won’t,” I said quickly, standing up. The gun was practically pressed into my breast, but I didn’t care. I’d do anything to save Nikolai. “I swear I won’t. I’ll marry you. I’ll be a dutiful wife. I’ll do as you please, but don’t kill him, please, Viktor, I’m begging you.”
Viktor looked between me and Nikolai carefully, his resolve faltering.
“There you have it,” my father added, drawing Viktor’s attention to him, “she is promised to you. I’ll rid our family of Nikolai, and all deals stay in play. But kill him and you won’t take another breath.”
“Katya,” Nikolai grabbed for me, falling in the sand as I moved away.
Viktor smiled at this and slid his gun away. “Very well,” he turned back to my father, “but I never want to see his face again and if I do...so help him, I’ll kill him where he stands.”
“Done,” my father replied. “Alex, take two men and get Nikolai out of here.”
Alex nodded before moving to Nikolai and my heart broke as he helped his best friend back up to his feet. He threw an arm under Nik’s and one of our men grabbed the other side of my beautiful, broken boy and together they all left.
Watching how he stumbled and coughed almost broke me.
Viktor turned back to me, and I knew that I could never hate any other person the way I hated him. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Nikolai
My face hurt like a motherfucker and my clothing was soaked with my own sticky blood. But the physical pain was nothing,absolutelynothing, compared to the goddamn ache shooting through my chest, over and over again.
I’d tried.
Katya, dammit, I’d tried.
There was no escaping the guard detail now. Eduard and Alexander had ordered men stationed at all exits. Front door. Patio doors. Windows. There was nothing to do but stew on the sofa and wait for morning when I’d be escorted off the private island over to the mainland to catch a flight back to the states.
And then what?
What would become of me once I was back home? My place within this family was over, ruined forever.
I could hear my fellow soldiers talking about the wedding.
Early morning. The weather was supposed to be perfect. It would be in the same place as the engagement dinner—with flowers boated in from the mainland, a string quartet, and a priest. Evelina had Katya staying in her and Eduard’s condo until the ceremony. How could they still be proceeding? How could they have seen Viktor’s true colors today and still plan on handing over their daughter to him tomorrow?
It shouldn’t matter that Katya had been a wild child in the past. It shouldn’t matter that she’d made mistakes. Any parent should want to protect their child from a bad, potentially abusive marriage.
The sky was dark outside, and the ocean sounds filtering into the condo did nothing to calm my nerves. I sat on the edge of the sofa’s rounded arm, nervous energy flowing through my veins. There had to be a way to get out of here. Therehad to bea wayto stop the wedding. I was willing to try anything. Goddamn anything.
Standing up abruptly, I paced the condo, running fingers through my hair over and over again before gripping the short strands roughly, angrily, hurting my scalp.
“Son of a bitch!” I shouted, causing the front door guards to enter the condo and look around briefly before giving me a piteous look that said, ‘hope we’re never in your position’ and backing outside again.
I glanced towards the bedroom door. Eduard and Evelina would know if I tried to ring their condo, but I hadn’t been carrying my cell phone when I’d stormed the engagement dinner. If Katya still had hers…
Six long strides later, and I was in the bedroom pulling my cell out of the inner pocket of my suit jacket. My hands shook as I typed, my legs feeling both antsy yet weak as I stood with my feet digging into the plush carpeting.
Nik: Are you okay?It wasn’t the first thought that came to my mind, but at the moment it was the most important. I needed to know how she was, needed to know that she was physically safe.
When she didn’t immediately answer, I gripped the smart phone in my hand so tightly that the screen protector cracked. Spider webs traced across the glass, obscuring the words I’d written. I was nearly ready to give up, assuming that they must have taken Katya’s phone, but then the typing icons sprang to life and I swallowed hard, wondering what the next few moments would bring. What words would she send me?
Hope for us.
