“Six, this time. They’re in the interrogation cells.”
I have no idea what’s going on, but this sounds serious. Yuri gives Aleksandr a meaningful look as though there’s something he’s not saying in front of me.
Aleksandr nods his head, receiving whatever secret message Yuri just sent him with that look. “So they’re escalating.”
“I can go home. If you have other stuff to do,” I suggest. “This sounds important.”
The second the words leave my mouth, he pulls me towards the door. “I think the fuck not,” he growls. “Yuri has got this under control.”
Aleksandr doesn’t speak to me as we walk home.
I can still smell him all over me now. He sticks as close to my side, his arm tightening around my waist whenever we walk past someone. It’s the only sign that he’s rattled by what happened. I’ve never seen him look anxious, not even a little bit.
I fire questions at him, but he just shakes his head, his jaw tense.
“What was that?”
“Who was shooting you?”
“Has that happened before?”
“Are we in danger now?”
Finally, when we step inside the loft, he spins around to face me. He traps me against the closed door, his eyes cool and dark. His hands rest on either side of me, his muscled, inked arms surrounding me like a cage, and I’m suddenly aware of how shirtless he is.
“Thatwas one of your father’s assassination attempts, Natalia.”
I am speechless.
Aleksandr nods, not pulling his gaze away from me. “Maybe I should tell him his precious daughter was almostcaught in the crossfire.” He’s not really speaking to me, but saying his thoughts out loud. One of his hands pulls down my hood and tugs out my hair tie. “Might make him think twice next time.”
My father is trying to have him killed.
That’s his plan to get me out of this marriage.
I didn’t expect it to be so… violent. I’ve never heard of my father ordering a hit on someone.
My throat feels like it’s closing up.
“One of?” I choke out.
Aleksandr is impossibly calm as he nods his agreement, running his tongue over his teeth.
“The twentieth. We’ve detected one each day since the wedding.”
“Doesn’t that… Doesn’t that breach your deal? Somehow?”
He shakes his head, his lips curving up. His lower lip is busted from fighting, but it doesn’t make him any less handsome. Something sizzles in my stomach as he smiles darkly, twisting a strand of my hair before returning his hand to flatten against the door.
“I’ll be doing the same thing to him soon enough.”
My stomach drops. I’m realizing that I’ve been dragged into the middle of a Bratva war with no choice and no understanding of the stakes.
On one side, my father’s hatred of the man who killed his sons. On the other side, Aleksandr’s supposed side of the story. He still hasn’t told me what happened from his perspective and I’m starting to doubt if it even exists.
“You’ve made a deal. Why do you still have to kill each other?”My voice trembles.
Aleksandr lets a laugh out of his nose. “That’s cute,zolotse. The truth is, whatever we’ve agreed, neither of us will be satisfied without the other’s head on a golden platter. The deal is a temporary arrangement.”
