Page 105 of The Chaos She Brings

She swallows, her voice thick with something dangerously close to regret.

“This… was the only way.”

Her words sink in, digging claws into my soul.

Enzo stands with his arms crossed, his expression unreadable. “How do you even know so much about Mikhail's plans?”

Anastasia just shrugs. “I make it my business to know.”

“Why are you telling us this now?” I ask.

She studies me, her face filled with regret. “You’ll never know how sorry I am that Tess won’t get to find happiness with you. You seem like you’re good for her.” She straightens her shoulders. “I’m telling you, so you understand. This is over. There is nothing to be done.”

“Like fuck there isn’t!” Enzo and I both roar at the same time.

“Where is he keeping her?” I ask, directing a cold glare to Tess’s mother. One who I’m not entirely sure deserves the title.

She presses her lips into a thin defiant line. Enzo grabs her again, squeezing her neck just enough to show he’s not messing around. “Russia. He’s taking her back to Russia,” she wheezes.

“Get out. Don’t ever come back.” Enzo turns his back on the woman. She looks at his back as he walks away, then turns to face me. She gives me a subtle nod before she walks back into the lift and out of our lives.

I find Enzo with his head in his hands at the kitchen counter. He looks up at me, pain in his eyes, as I walk towards him.

“What’s the plan?”

He shakes his head. “I don’t know. It will take me at least a day to organise something with my men. I don’t—fuck—I don’t want Papa to know yet. He’s attached to Tess already.”

“Can’t we just stick with the blackmail idea? Her return as an exchange?”

He shakes his head. “Nikolai is crazy. His parent’s might have been able to convince him before he had her. But there’s no way he’ll give her up now.”

“So, he has to die,” I shrug, like plotting murder is totally normal. Which, to be fair, in both our worlds, it is.

36

I Made A Terrible Mistake

Tess to Kai: I wish there was another option. [unsent]

Tess

Happybirthdaytome.

I’m thirty years old today, and instead of celebrating it with Kai and my friends, I’m on a plane to Russia to get married to a man who looks like he can’t wait to sink his teeth into me.

I’m curled up on a seat, the furthest away from him I can get, while his eyes burn holes in my head.

It’s a rather nice plane, I hate to admit. Plush leather seats—although I’m not sure I’m a big fan of all the cream. There’s a stewardess who has spent the entire flight ignoring me and only speaking to Nikolai. Not thatI care, but also—rude.

I lift my face to glare at him which just makes him grin.

“I like your fire,” he says, leaning back casually in his seat, crossing one leg over the other. His expensive dark suit shifts with the movement, pulling it open to show his handgun strapped under the jacket.

I keep my eyes trained on his, faking a confidence I don’t feel. “Let me guess. You like it because you can’t wait to snuff it out? Am I close?” He purses his lips, and I sneer. “Be more original dude,” I scoff at him.

His eyes finally leave me as he turns away, annoyed. I can finally breathe, even if it’s only for a minute.

We’ve been on this plane for almost ten hours and I’m desperate to stretch my legs but I’m refusing to move from this seat.