Page 143 of Nine Months to Love

But he’s also trying to destroy me. And I can’t let that stand.

“Doesn’t matter if I like him,” I say. “If he’s coming after me, I have to respond.”

“Fair enough.”

My phone rings. Arkady’s name flashes across the screen.

I answer. “What is it?”

“We had an incident at the manor.” His voice is tight. Controlled. The way it gets when things have gone very, very wrong.

My grip on the phone tightens. “What kind of incident?”

“Someone tried to extract Mikayla.”

Every muscle in my body goes rigid. “What?”

“They knew exactly where she was, sir. Came in through the east wing, took out two guards before we could respond. We stopped them, but it was close.”

“How many?”

“Three men. All dead now.”

“And Mikayla?”

“Still secure. Shaken, but unharmed.”

I exhale slowly. “Good. Increase security. I want eyes on every entrance, every window, every fucking blade of grass.”

“Already done.”

“And find out who sent them. I want names, addresses, everything.”

“Boss—” He pauses. “There’s something else.”

The hesitation in his voice makes my stomach drop. “What is it?” I demand. “Just fucking tell me.”

Another pause. When he speaks again, I don’t want to believe it.

“Say that again.”

He does.

“Again.”

He does.

“Say it fucking again, man!”

He tells me what happened one more time. When he does, this time, it finally sinks in. The phone drops from my hand and clatters on the terra cotta tiles. Arkady is still saying something, but it’s barely audible, just a tiny rush of incomprehensible words dwarfed by the roar of blood rushing in my ears.

No.

No.

No.

Anyone but her.