Page 86 of Prince of Control

I allow Brash to escort me to the jet, and we buckle our seatbelts.

As the plane races down the runway, Brash pulls out his phone and makes a call.

“It’s done.” He glances over at me. “I have the Turgenev girl. Prepare the divorce papers. I want them ready to sign as soon as we touch down.”

Everything in me stops. My heart forgets to beat. My breath goes completely still. Grief clears out of my system, replaced by adrenaline.

I unbuckle my seatbelt and surge to my feet, but it’s too late. The plane is taking off.

“Ah ah.” Brash snatches my wrist and yanks me down on his lap. He bites down on the side of my neck like he thinks he’s a vampire.

“Ou!” I yelp. I don’t know if he broke the skin, but there will definitely be a bruise.

“You’re not going anywhere.” His grip on my wrist hurts. There’s a maniacal glee in his voice that chills me. “Your father shouldn’t have refused our initial offer.”

My brain stutters. What offer? What is he talking about? I struggle in his hold.

“As my wife, you’ll soon learn I’m quick to punish and slow to forgive.” He throws me off his lap. I careen into the aisle, banging my hip on my chair before I catch it. “Now sit down and buckle up, or you’ll earn your first punishment right here on the plane.”

Baron

I drift in and out of consciousness. I hear my friends’ voices as they struggle to pick me up and carry me inside.

She’s gone.

I lost Lara.

I force my eyes open and find myself sprawled on the sofa. All of my friends gather around me. Some of their faces pinch with worry. Some scored with rage.

“Anya,” I croak, trying to find her in the group.

“Right here.” She lifts a hand, and I manage to focus on her.

“Where is she?” I croak.

Anya looks startled. For once, she didn’t anticipate my next demand. “Lara?”

“Yes, Lara!” I struggle to my feet and throw my arms out when my vision blackens.

Phoenix shoves his slender shoulder under my arm to prop me up. “You’re in no condition to rush after her.”

“Where is she?” The sound of my own voice nearly splits my head in half. I wipe some blood from my mouth. One of my molars feels loose.

Anya unlocks and looks at the cracked screen of my phone. It must’ve fallen out of my pocket when Brash’s army knocked me down. “Oh shit,” she mutters.

“What?” I thunder.

“She’s at the airstrip.”

Whisper doesn’t have a commercial airport, just the private airstrip used by the wealthy to ferry their private jets in and out of town.

“Take me there.” I limp toward the door.

“Baron, in case you didn’t notice, they had AK-47s,” Zoe says. “We don’t have those kinds of weapons. And even if we did, you can’t start a war like that without calling your dad in first.”

“She’s right,” Leo says quietly. “I’m all for going after that fucker, but we need to think this through.”

I sag against the wall, the movement of my breath paining my cracked ribs. My eyes close. Think, Ben. Think.