Page 133 of Inked in Devotion

“Not at you,” I whispered. “I’m the one who should be sorry.”

His brows furrowed. “I don’t understand.”

I addressed the people in the room. “Can I talk to Kolya for a second? There’s something I need to tell him.”

I spun around, not waiting for anyone to say yea or nay. This couldn’t wait. I had to make him understand.

“Chloe, what’s wrong?” he asked.

When we were in the hallway in front of a side table and a mirror, I looked into his eyes. “I didn’t see it before. My focus was Sebastian and the danger he was in—” I clutched Kolya’s hands and tugged him close. “I didn’t see that you were a victim in this too.”

His mouth parted, gaze sharpening. “Chloshka.”

“I know the bratva sees you as a protector. The Vozhokari sees you as a warrior. But you are also human. This forced copulation to give them a soldier? That’s slavery. So, yes, we are signing this blood covenant because I want you to be free from them. It’s angering me how they expect you to breed their next soldiers. They can’t have Sebastian, but I won’t let them have you either.”

For a second, we just stared at each other. His fierce gaze interrupted the beat of my heart.

Then his mouth crashed down on mine as he kissed me feverishly, devouring me as if I were his oxygen. I surrendered to the moment and returned his kisses until the scrape of heels broke our kiss, but Kolya refused to let me go.

“Oops.” Lucy was holding the phone. “Margo wants to know if it’s a go.”

Kolya and I locked eyes again, and he dipped his chin in affirmation.

I glanced at Lucy. “It’s a go.”

Chapter

Thirty

Kolya

“Why can’t I come?” Lucy glared at Kirill. “I arranged this all and I can’t witness a blood covenant?”

Everyone was gearing up in the armory, including my fiancée. I adjusted the body armor on Chloe. I’d been clenching and unclenching my jaw, pissed at myself that it had come to this. If I could cocoon her in Kevlar, I would, but all I could do was put her in the Escalade recently outfitted with state-of-the-art armor and bulletproof glass that had been rated for explosives. Kirill special-ordered it for Lucy, but he was giving it to us for tonight, on the condition that we returned it without a scratch.

I doubted it would come back in one piece. Ilya had been gathering intel on what we were up against. The Vozhokari were not working alone; whoever the entity that the bratva thwarted when we got rid of Jordan Wilson hired mercenaries as backup. They were second-tier military contractors, not the best but not the worst either.

“You look tense,” Chloe said.

I shook my head. “I’ll be glad when I get you into the Marriage Ink building.”

“Kolya, if anything happens to me—” Chloe started.

I put a finger on her lips. “Nothing,” I gritted, “is going to happen to you.”

She leaned away to speak. “I talked to Theo. I told him he should give you custody of Sebastian.”

My eyes closed briefly, my chest tightening. “Ah, Chloshka. I don’t want…” I glanced away briefly, an ache stabbing me in the heart. “I’m hurting in here.” I rubbed my chest with a knuckle. “I want a life with you. I think this is an emotion called love⁠—”

She laughed briefly as tears brightened her eyes. “We are so romantic.”

“You and I, we’re not going to be a tragedy,” I told her.

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

Besides armoring up, we were using encrypted comms. I handed Chloe a gun and several magazines. We’d only gone to the firing range once, and she’d been rusty, but she had good form and aim. After all, she plugged two bullets into Jeremiah. However, it was different when you were firing from a holster or behind a wall, and I was hoping it wouldn’t have to come to that.