Page 14

I was so close, so damn close. My hand was reaching over the top of the wall to hoist myself to freedom. The next thing I knew, I was sitting in the kitchen again, being scowled at like a wayward child. And then he pulled his gun.

Terror washed over me, but it wasn’t the sight of the gun aimed squarely at my forehead.

Arkadi had already established too many times that he wasn’t willing to kill me for that to be much of a threat, despite the flash of anger in his eyes.

It was the sight of my phone in his hand.

He must have gotten it from that foul old man at the bar, and he’d been going through it ever since.

Arkadi knew about Nat and had been messaging her as if he were me, to keep her from worrying or suspecting anything out of the ordinary had happened to me. He could easily find her now, and he’d eventually figure out who she was.

It wasn’t like Nat kept her identity a secret, but she had nothing to do with the Bratva.

Nothing at all. Aleks made damn sure of that.

My brother would have blown a gasket if he had an inkling that his firstborn daughter was getting involved with an art forgery ring.

He would have been plenty pissed about me wanting to take part, too, but he would have turned the earth inside out to keep Nat from starting up a life of crime.

That handsome Russian man at the heart of the scheme had to be linked to Arkadi somehow.

It was too much of a coincidence that I was here now with him, just a few days after meeting that guy.

More than ever, I wished that I had called Aleks and squealed on my niece the second I found out about it.

Nat being pissed off at me for a while was much better than her being on Arkadi’s radar.

In fact, I would have happily let her completely cut me off if it meant keeping her out of harm’s way.

Now, she was very much in it, and I had no choice but to give up my feeble fight. Arkadi’s fierce glare as he let it sink in that he really did hold all the cards had me slumping in my chair, pretending he didn’t exist.

After that, he had the nerve to try to talk to me, but I went back into survival mode, trying to think of a way out of this.

I’d almost made it, I could try again. Until the priest arrived with a harried witness in tow, so clearly in Arkadi’s pocket that it would be futile to try to get them to help me.

This wedding was really going to take place. I was about to be Arkadi’s unwilling bride, and no one gave a damn. Every fiber of my being wanted to run, become superhuman so I could fly past them all and get straight back to LA, where someone would be on my side.

No wings sprouted out of my back, and the brief joke of a ceremony was over in a heartbeat.

According to the corrupt priest’s proclamation, I now belonged to Arkadi Mikhailov.

I had been staring straight ahead, keeping my eyes unfocused as the circus unfolded around me, but now I had to look up because Arkadi’s hands let go of mine and slid up my arms to rest on my shoulders.

The heat of his palms burned through the borrowed sweatshirt, and my gaze drifted upward until I finally met his icy black diamond eyes.

Not so icy at the moment. Time seemed to slow down as he dipped his head, and then his mouth was on mine.

His hands moved back down my arms to settle at my waist, his tongue nudging my lips apart as he tugged me close to his rock-hard body.

It was almost soothing, the way my mind went blank at the onslaught of sensations.

No, not soothing at all. I was on fire, but not with rage. My hands gripped his shirt, but I didn’t shove him away. For some reason, I couldn’t comprehend, I didn’t want the kiss to end.

Probably because that meant reality would shove its way in.

Arkadi was kissing me, his tongue mastering mine, his hands blazing a trail lower and lower. We were married, presided over by a priest, after signing way too many official-looking papers. Married to Arkadi Mikhailov, my worst nightmare. My family’s most despised foe.

And not just married. Oh no.

He broke the kiss, leaving me gasping in his arms. We were alone again, and the footsteps retreating down the front hall told me the priest and his witness were done waiting to offer their congratulations.

I didn’t care that they were leaving me alone with him because they were no help to me.

I had been on my own since I was snatched off the street, and it was beginning to weigh on me.

Just like I thought, as soon as I was no longer being transported by the feel of Arkadi’s expert mouth on mine, reality crashed in around me like a mine collapse.

The only thing holding me up was his strong hands firmly holding onto my waist. And I still almost sank to the floor when he gave me a look I couldn’t decipher, a sensuous grin curling those very lips that had made me lose my mind only a second ago.

I shoved away, preparing for the fight of my life. If he thought he could control me now just because I’d been forced to sign my name on some papers and said ‘I do,’ he was in for the surprise of his life.

He yanked me close again, grinning down at me. Smug, that’s what he was. Infuriatingly smug and too damn good- looking. Surely I didn’t want him to kiss me again, did I? I headbutted him in the chin and slid to the ground when he yelped and let me go.

“You really have to stop that,” he said, grabbing me up before I could scramble away again.

Holding onto my shoulders, he backed me against the nearest wall, studying my face. He finally touched the middle of my forehead with a slight glance of his fingertip as he frowned.

“You’re going to hurt yourself,” he admonished. “My head is far harder than yours.”

“I’ll find something that’ll crack it,” I said, closing my eyes against his steady gaze. It looked too much like he was concerned about the little bump on my head. They flew open when he chuckled.

“That’s why we’re leaving,” he said. “You can’t be trusted here in Milan.”

What the hell was that supposed to mean? The kiss had rattled me enough to forget what kind of real danger I was in, and the fact I was mere miles from people who’d help me had lulled me into a false sense of complacency. All I had to do was get past him and his guards, and I’d be home free.

Apparently, he knew that as well as I did, so now we were about to go somewhere else. Somewhere, I’d really be on my own. Once that happened, I’d be completely at his mercy. I raised my fists for one last attempt, and he grabbed my wrists with the speed of a striking cobra.

“You hit me over the head and shot at me—”

“You’re acting like you took a bullet,” I interrupted, rearing back to headbutt him again. Even though he was right and it hurt like hell the first time. I had to admit I was slightly grateful when he dodged me.

“What I’m telling you, Mila, is that I’m done playing around.”

The forceful way he said my name stunned me into a brief second of inaction, no longer trying to hit or bite or kick.

With that, he hoisted me over his shoulder and carried me out to his car.

I went limp, fearing I’d end up in the trunk again, and at the same time swearing I’d kill him if he put me in there.

He dumped me into the back seat, looking supremely offended. “My wife doesn’t ride in the trunk of a car.”

“I guess your thugs didn’t get that message earlier,” I snapped.

“You weren’t my wife then, were you?”

He shut me in and rounded the front of the car, keeping his eyes locked on me through the windshield.

Where would I go? Three guards stood out front with their hands on their weapons, looking like they couldn’t wait for a reason to get vengeance against me for shooting one of their own.

He paused for a second to speak a few words to the driver and got in next to me, slamming the door with a resounding thud.

Just like the sound of a casket lid shutting on me.

Outside of the gates, the driver picked up speed, and soon we were on the highway, racing through the night.

It felt more like days had passed instead of hours, and I was able to see the clock on the dashboard showing that it was only a bit past midnight before Arkadi pressed a button to raise a privacy screen between us and the driver.

Short of flinging myself out of the fast-moving car, I was stuck with this madman who wanted everyone in my family to suffer.

“Where are we going?” I finally asked, unable to stand, not knowing what was in store for me. Not that a location would be much help, but if I could get my phone back or swipe his, I could at least alert Nat where I was headed.

“We’re going on our honeymoon,” he said, infuriatingly refusing to say anything useful. I huffed with frustration and glared at him. “If you’re in a hurry, we can start right now.”

“I’d rather die than have a honeymoon with you anywhere,” I snapped, instantly wishing the words back at the look on his face.

Mocking, defiant, and way too handsome for anyone’s good, especially mine.

“You throw those words around too easily,” he said. Leaning close, he trailed his fingers sinuously down the side of my throat. “And I don’t actually believe you.”

His dark eyes were mesmerizing, flashing in the brief jolts of light from the other cars we passed.

I was captured by them and couldn’t look anywhere else.

His touch was even more unnerving, but I couldn’t pull away.

There was plenty of space in the roomy backseat that I could have recoiled, but I found myself leaning into his touch instead.