Page 162 of Deceptive Vows

I scream as blood splatters everywhere.

More shots sound, and even though the guard in the passenger seat is returning fire, it’s not enough.

The motorcyclists are shooting with machine guns now, and they hit him, then Levka.

I scream again as the car runs off the side of the road with me and crashes into a thicket of trees.

I hit my head, but I shake off the pain and try to get out.

It’s too late, though. I can’t do anything.

The first biker pulls up beside the car and pulls a gun on me at the same time he yanks open the door.

He’s masked. All I can see are his eyes.

Fuck. What am I going to do?

What the hell am I going to do?

“Hello, princess. You’re coming with me,” he says, reaching for my arm.

“Get away from me!” I kick him, but I’m helpless against a man like him.

He grabs my arm then stabs me in the side of my neck with a needle.

Before I can even think about what he did to me, I black out.

46

Mikhail

Sophia’s hands tremble as she looks at the beautiful china cup on the table containing the remnants of her chamomile tea.

Her face is blotchy and her eyes red. She looked the same way last night when we left the morgue.

I arrived at her home twenty minutes ago. I promised I would come by after Natalia left to fill her in on the details I have on Ivan.

Ivan, who my men and I have been searching for and can’t find.

We watched him on the surveillance cameras at Dmitriyev Ltd. and didn’t find shit. I wish I could have pulled my gun on him last night and ended him, but with my father dying in my arms, I couldn’t home in on my inner beast.

The motherfucker must have known what Father was saying to me, or he wouldn’t have left. Or he heard some parts of the whispers Father imparted to me before he died.

I still can’t believe he’s gone. Having both my parents and sister die in not even the space of six months has destroyed me. To add to the blow, I lost my girl, too.

I shake my mind free of the loss and focus on Sophia. She needs me, and she’s now aware of Ivan’s treachery.

We’ve been sitting in her living room since I arrived. Her sipping on her tea while I brought her up to speed on everything else.

She made me cup a of tea, too.

I haven’t touched it yet. I’m going to need something stronger to get through the night.

Finally, she looks at me and dabs at the corners of her eyes.

“I don’t know how to process this. It’s too much, Mikhail.” She shakes her head. “In the space of months, this family has more than cut in half. To hear that one of us is responsible for it kills me.”

Her lips tremble.