Page 166 of Beautiful Trauma

It took me a moment to find my voice. “Jaysus, Mila, are you serious?”

“I am. I’ll explain it all when you get here.”

“Sorry, my love, but even if your father is dead there’s no way I’m coming into Bratva territory.”

“Dima says he’ll give you protection.”

I shook my head. “Not fucking happening. We pick somewhere neutral.”

“Then how about I meet you at the gallery.”

“That will work. We should be landing in an hour.”

“I’ll see you then. And I love you, Kellan.”

“I love you, too. So fucking much.” I was about to hang up, but then I said, “Mila?”

“Yes.”

“You can speak freely now, right?”

She laughed. “Do you think I’m trying to dupe you again?”

“I was more concerned that Dima was holding a gun to your head and forcing you to play along.”

“It’s not like that.”

“I have video feed of him dragging you in the house.”

“You have to trust me that it was all part of a ruse Dima concocted so he could let me kill Father.”

“And you have to remember the man tried to kill me.”

“I know. But I promise that there’s nothing underhanded going on. Maksim and Dima are going to rule the family as partners.”

“That sounds like a solid idea.”

“Okay, well, I better go get cleaned up. I’ve got blood all over me.”

“Yeah, you do that.”

“Love you.”

“Love you, too.”

When I hung up, Dare asked, “How is she?”

“I think she’s in shock. She was just nonchalantly telling me she had her father’s blood all over her.”

“It’s her first kill. Of course she’s in shock,” Quinn remarked.

“Apparently Dima pulled som kind of ruse to get her there so she could kill Danill.”

Callum widened his eyes. “I sure as hell didn’t see that one coming.”

“Neither did I.”

Dare slapped me on the back. “Kinda turns you on thinking of her being all cold-blooded, doesn’t it?”