Page 28 of Sweet Deception (Savage Vow #2)
He tilted his head. “I’m the only one who can help you get back to Moscow.”
A cold, sickening feeling crawled up my spine. “And what do you want in return?”
His smirk widened. “Allow me to fuck you. Doggy style, to be precise. And I swear, I’ll risk my life to get you out of here.”
Rage shot through me. “You’re disgusting.”
He bent down and picked up the shattered remains of my phone.
“If You think you’ll ever leave Italy? That your knight in shining armor will come for you?
No one’s coming, Anna. Not for you. Not for her.
You’ll rot here, just like your sister-in-law.
” When you finally realize the truth, hit me up. I’m always around.”
He turned away, walking toward the door.
“Let go of my phone!” I started after him, but he lifted a hand.
“Don’t,” he warned. “Or I’ll push you.”
I froze, watching as he disappeared down the hall.
I was in deep shit. No phone. No tracker. No way to contact Gleb.
Coming here was a stupid move. Gleb had been right.
But I couldn’t let Stefano or my father suspect a thing. I had to act normal.
So I did.
At lunch, I ate with my siblings like everything was fine. I watched movies with my aunts. I smiled when I needed to.
I knew my father was watching me. There were security cameras in the major rooms, but never in my bedroom.
That night, I lay in bed, running through my options. I knew Gleb’s number by heart. If I got my aunt’s phone, I could call him. But not now. I had to wait.
And as for Stefano... I would deal with him. Maybe not with brute force. But with something far worse.
I just had to be patient.
Then...
A knock on my door.
I bolted upright, my breath catching. My eyes darted around, searching for something, anything, I could use as a weapon.
Nothing.
I swallowed hard.
My best defense? Not opening the door at all.
Whoever it was... they weren’t here for anything good.
And I wasn’t ready to find out why.
“Who is that?” I asked, my voice cautious.
“It’s Isabella,” came the urgent whisper from the other side of the door.
I hesitated. Why would she be here at this hour?
Still, I unlocked the door. As soon as it cracked open, Isabella slipped inside, her face pale and frantic. She glanced over her shoulder, then grabbed my wrist.
“We need to leave. Now.”
I yanked my hand back. “Leave? To where?”
“I work for Gleb Romanov. I’m sorry. I betrayed your father,” she admitted in a rush.
My stomach clenched. “How can I trust you?”
“You can’t,” she said flatly. Then, without warning, she gripped my wrist again and pulled me out of the room.
I wanted to resist, but something in her eyes, pure desperation, made me follow.
“Where are we going?” I demanded in a whisper.
“Shut up and move,” she hissed.
We slipped through the darkened hallways, heading toward the backyard. As we neared the pool area, my breath caught at the sight of seven guards sprawled across the ground, unconscious.
“You... did this?” I whispered.
“I spiked their drinks,” she muttered while unlocking a small gate. “They’ll be out for an hour, but we don’t have that long.”
The gate creaked open, and we stepped onto a private road. The wind carried the salty scent of the sea. My stomach twisted.
Something felt off.
I halted. “How do I know you’re not leading me into a trap?”
She let out a sharp breath, glancing at her watch. Then she turned to look at the mansion. “We have less than two minutes. We need to be far from here.”
A sick feeling spread through my chest. “What do you mean?”
“The explosion might reach us if we don’t move,” she said.
I froze. My pulse thundered. “What explosion?”
She exhaled. “Gleb ordered an attack on Stefano’s wing.”
My blood turned to ice. “What?”
“He lost it after hearing what Stefano did to you,” she admitted. “So he made sure Stefano burns for it.”
I swayed on my feet. “What about Tatiana?”
“His spies confirmed she wasn’t in that part of the house.”
That wasn’t enough to calm me. “And my parents?”
Her expression darkened. “They’ll be fine. But anyone near Stefano’s rooms... won’t be.”
A chill ran down my spine. This wasn’t just an escape. This was war.
“Thirty seconds, Anna,” Isabella urged. “Run.”
I couldn’t move. The weight of what was about to happen paralyzed me.
Then...
A deafening explosion rocked the earth.
The ground shuddered beneath my feet as fire erupted from the mansion, bright as the sun against the dark sky. Heat rushed over us, the force knocking me back a step. My father’s house, the house I grew up in, was engulfed in flames.
My ears rang. My breathing was ragged.
Gleb... really did this.
A private jet descended from the sky, its engines roaring. Isabella grabbed my arm and pulled me toward it.
She stopped at the foot of the stairs.
“You’re coming, right?” I asked.
She shook her head. “If I vanish now, it’ll be obvious I helped you.”
“But...”
“My daughters are here. My life is here.” She took my hands. “If you ever need me, find them. They’ll know how to reach me.”
Tears burned my eyes. “Thank you,” I whispered.
She smiled, then gave me a rough shove toward the jet. “Go.”
I climbed in just as the doors shut. As the jet lifted off, I pressed my forehead against the window, watching my father’s house disappear beneath a cloud of smoke.
I swallowed hard.
Had I just witnessed my own family’s downfall?
And... had I caused it?
???
The flight to Moscow was three hours, but it felt like a lifetime.
When we landed, I barely had time to step off the jet before Gleb was storming toward me.
Without a word, he cupped my face, his hands rough but warm.
“I’m sorry I acted late,” he murmured.
My chest tightened. Acted late? He blew up an entire wing of my father’s mansion.
“Thank you, Gleb,” I whispered. “But I caused all of this. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left... And now, they might hurt your sister even more.”
He exhaled. “My sister is here.”
My head snapped up. “What?”
“My men located her through the ring you gave her. So... thank you.”
Shock rooted me in place. “Tatiana is safe?”
His jaw clenched. “She’s alive. But she’s ruined.”
My stomach twisted. I lowered my gaze. “It’s my father,”
His grip on my waist tightened.
Then, in a low, hoarse voice, he whispered, “I risked everything I’ve ever built just to get you out of there.”
I swallowed.
As soon as we stepped inside, I turned toward the bathroom, desperate to wash off the night’s chaos. But before I could take a step, his hand caught my wrist, yanking me back against his chest.
His eyes were dark, unreadable, and something in them made my stomach clench. Anger? Possession? A warning?
His fingers trailed up my cheek, slow, deliberate, tilting my face to his. My pulse hammered. I opened my mouth to ask what, I didn’t know, but the words never came.
Because his lips crashed onto mine.
I sucked in a sharp breath, my body going rigid with shock. But then his hands curled around my waist, pulling me flush against him, and the moment snapped into something hot, reckless, undeniable.
Was this real?
His hands fisted in my hair, tilting my head as he deepened the kiss. I melted into him, my fingers sliding into his hair.
God. I had wanted this for so long.
A low groan rumbled in his chest as he lifted me into his arms. Effortless. As if I weighed nothing.
His grip was firm and possessive.
He carried me to the bed, his mouth never leaving mine, and when he lowered me onto the mattress, he followed, pinning me beneath him.
His kiss was fire. Rough, demanding, like he wanted to punish me for leaving, for making him burn for me. His teeth scraped against my lower lip, biting, soothing, claiming.
My mind blurred. My body trembled.
I arched against him, my breath ragged.
His lips moved to my throat, his voice a deep rasp against my skin.
“Mine,” he murmured.
I gasped, my hands flying to his chest, to push him away? No. To pull him closer.
I was drowning in him. His taste, his heat, the way he devoured my mouth like he’d been starving for it. My fingers curled into his shirt, clinging, needing.
A soft moan escaped me.
My head spun. This wasn’t a dream. This was happening.
Gleb Romanov was kissing me.
And God help me, I never wanted him to stop.
And I knew I was lost to him.
Forever.