Page 27 of Savage Truce

There’s no elated feeling, just a crushing heartache of losing the one safe place I could retreat to.

Every time things got too hard, I escaped into dreams of Rodian. They were the only thing no one could take from me. Not Mother. Not Grandfather. Not the monsters who dragged me here. Now there’s nowhere left to hide, not even inside my own mind.

The men who barged into Ms. Fedorova's house and took us all captive are nothing more than evil demons, and Rodian is slaughtering them without hesitation.

If this is how the pakhan deals with his own men, I can’t begin to imagine what he’ll do to me.

My blood turns to ice as I realize the men I thought were monsters bow to somebody far worse. It takes a man even more terrifying to command soldiers like them.

A grim fear fills my soul, and by the time Rodian is done killing Bogdan and he climbs to his feet with blood dripping from his fists, it feels like I’m staring at Death himself.

The men who didn’t choose to fight are all kneeling and jerk with fright when Rodian roars something in Russian I don’t understand. They all nod frantically, and rushing to get up, they run to the pile of bodies and begin to drag them farther away.

When Rodian turns his head to look at me, I scrounge my last energy reserves together to press closer into the corner.

His expression is nothing short of brutal as he stalks toward me, and when he crouches, I’m barely able to whimper.

I’m surprised out of my mind when he carefully pushes his arms beneath my body to pick me up. As if I’m nothing more than a feather, he holds me tight, carrying me out of the pen and through the factory.

I begin to shiver uncontrollably, and just as I dare to peek up at his face, he barks, “Get the doctor to wait at the estate for us.”

“On it,” one of the other men replies.

Rodian climbs into a helicopter, his hold of me remaining firm, and when he takes a seat, he adjusts my body on his lap before locking eyes with me.

We stare at each other while the other men get in, and soon the loud sound of the helicopter blades drowns out everything else.

The last thing I’m aware of is his earthy cologne, mixed with the coppery scent of blood.

CHAPTER 8

Rodian

During the entire flight to my estate, I can’t tear my eyes away from Anastasia.

Her breathing is too shallow, and I hate how fucking pale her skin is.

I only had one night with her, but it was damn near magical. When she didn’t meet me in front of the theater for our date, I was crushed and fucking angry with myself for letting her walk away from me when my gut told me I wouldn’t see her again.

I almost killed one of her co-workers because they wouldn’t give me any personal information on her, and when she didn’t show up for work again, I believed she was in an accident.

I checked every hospital in the vicinity of her town but came up empty-handed.

Having no choice but to return to Russia, I randomly searched her name along with words like seamstress, theater, and costumes.

Back then, I didn’t have access to the best hackers in the world like I do now.

“Iisus Khristos,” I whisper as I take in how much weight she’s lost. Her breasts aren’t as full anymore, and the sharp collarbones look all wrong on her.

While I carefully brush my fingers over her cheek, the shock hits once again, and for a few seconds, I can’t believe where I found her.

Yegor never mentioned his granddaughter was in Russia, which is fucking weird.

Why the hell did they hide such a beautiful creature from the world?

If I’d known who she was when we met, I would’ve arranged a marriage between us. The entire fucking war could’ve been avoided because I would’ve become Yegor’s successor instead of having to take the Bratva by force.

Why the fuck did the stubborn old man hide her away?