Page 106 of Thorns of Love

Alexei did exactly that.

And all the while, my husband’s heart beat steadily under my palm, holding me together.

My villain had turned into my king. My hero.

THIRTY-SEVEN

KONSTANTIN

Fierce. Fearless. My queen.

It wouldn’t be easy, but then nothing worth having was. Sofia Volkov, our enemy, would pay for this. I was many things, but forgiving wasn’t one of them.

Alexei lost the men following us, but we remained on high alert until we got home. Vasili and Boris already waited for us there. They must have just arrived themselves. The moment we pulled up, Branka appeared at the entrance too.

She ran into Sasha’s arms. “God, I was so worried.”

“Ah, kotyonok. Didn’t we talk about useless worries?” The slightly psychotic brother became a kitten under his wife’s gaze. She should call himkotyonok, not the other way around. Honestly, it would be comical if we weren’t just attacked while getting discharged from the hospital.

Leaving them all behind, I took the stairs two at a time until I reached our bedroom. A fire already burned, I noted, satisfied. The staff learned Tatiana’s likes and dislikes in the matter of a day. While they were barely ever seen, they were efficient as fuck.

Just the way I liked it.

I carefully placed my wife on the bed, then covered her up. Her tremors subsided, but she was still pale.

“Are you okay?” I asked, crouching beside her and holding her hand in mine.

She nodded. “Yes. The car chase… It freaked me out. If you get hurt, I couldn’t–”

Her neck bobbed as she swallowed. “I’m not hurt.Weare not hurt.”

She let out a heavy sigh. “It’s so stupid. Suddenly, I was back at that accident, and it felt like déjà vu.” Her eyes shimmered like the surface of the clear blue sea. “I won’t survive losing you, Illias. Just make sure you always come back to me. Okay?”

I groaned, her words hardening my dick. She was all I ever wanted and more. There was nothing I wanted to do more than slide between the sheets and stay in bed with her.

“I promise you,” I vowed. “I will always come back to you.”

But there were answers I needed. Threats I had to eliminate. Starting with my aunt. I needed to know what agreement Adrian had with Sofia Volkov. The chip was destroyed. There were no chances of resurrecting it.

Then why did Sofia Volkov attack today?

“Should I send Branka to sit with you?” I didn’t like the idea of leaving her alone. Not now.

But my queen smiled, her strength shining through. “No, let her be with Sasha. I’m going to take a nap with our twins.”

Another kiss on her forehead.

“I’m going to be back.”

* * *

An eye for an eye. Blood for blood.

The moment I stepped into my dungeon and saw my aunt, Jane Ford, hanging from the ceiling with her wrists tied, my gut clenched.

I didn’t like seeing women in pain. In fact, I fucking hated it. My father was crazy about Mama, and as far as I knew, he never hurt a woman. Until the night she betrayed him and he put a bullet in her head.

It was his undoing and things went downhill from there.