Page 94 of Darkest Desire

I raise my hands in surrender, which is a blow to my ego, I’ll admit. “I just showed up here. I didn’t kill this guy. You can check my gun. It’s not hot.”

“So then how come I have a dead guard outside my house?” His eyes widened and he rushes to the front door… which is cracked open. He runs inside and comes back out a moment later. “Natalya and Sasha are gone. What the fuck did you do with my wife?” He slams his hands against my chest, pushing me back.

“I didn’t take your wife. I came here to get my wife back. Why would I be here if I stole both of our wives?”

He calms down, considering my words. “Then if you didn’t take them, who did?”

I nod at the dead guard on the ground. “Maybe whoever killed that poor fucker.”

“You didn’t steal Natalya? But you came here to kill her, didn’t you?”

“I didn’t kill her,” I growl. “It was just a warning. I only came for Sasha.”

Mikhail whips out his gun and I immediately do the same. “I don’t believe you.”

“I’m not obsessed with your wife like you think I am. I just want Sasha back. But you said it yourself: she’s not here. So who took her?”

“Denis?”

“Why would Denis take Sasha back? He and I have an alliance. Natalya, I get. But Sasha?” I shake my head. “It doesn’t make any sense. Other than me, have you made any enemies recently?”

He scoffs. “Just the usual. What about you?”

I think of Giovanni’s face but no. He’s in Italy. Not that he couldn’t have come here but how would he have known Sasha was here at Mikhail’s house?

No. There’s only one person I can think of.

“It’s Liam.”

Mikhail’s eyebrows shoot into his hairline. “The Irish? Mmm. They do hate you.”

“Yes. And I just spoke to Liam. He wants me dead. He wants to mess with me. He must have came for Sasha and took her and Natalya.”

“It’s worth looking into it.”

“Good. Now, leave me be. I won’t kill you if you don’t kill me. A temporary truce until our wives are found.”

Mikhail considers it before he extends his hand. “Shake on it. Give me your word.”

I would much prefer to punch him in his fucking face but I shake his hand instead. Now is not about fighting with Mikhail. It’s about getting Sasha back.

If she’s in danger and I get into a fight with Mikhail, there’s a chance I could die and I’d never be able to save her. The only reason Sasha trusts me is because I’ve consistently saved her life. I can’t stop that now.

“There,” I say once I drop my hand. “A truce. Neither of us kills the other one until we have our wives back. And maybe this will teach you to stop messing with me.”

“When you stop threatening my wife’s life.”

“She was trying to take my own wife from me,” I growl.

Mikhail scoffs. “I don’t fucking care, Nico. You don’t mess with my wife.”

“And you don’t mess with mine.”

He throws his hands up in frustration. “Fine. We’re in agreement. Now, I’m going to confront Liam about this. If he has Natalya, I’m going to kill him.”

“You do that. But I’m going to get reinforcements to ensure that Sasha is saved.”

“Reinforcements?”