Page 53 of Thorns of Love

“P-P-Please. Come back to me,” I choked out before raising my eyes to the men who took him. Fury unleashed in me and spread through my veins like wildfire. It was freezing cold, then it burned. It unleashed something I never knew I had inside me. Madness. Hate.

I let out a scream. Then another and another. I screamed until my throat turned raw. My hands gripped my hair pulling on it. My heart bled and mixed with rage, pulling me under until I was fully submerged in it.

I stumbled to my feet. Illias’ hand gripped my elbow, steadying me, but I jerked away from him. Then I fisted his chest, hitting him. Over and over again.

“You killed him,” I screeched, hot tears streaming down my face. “You did it.”

His eyes blazed with fire but it didn’t match mine. His hands grabbed my forearms and shook me. Not hard but my head whipped back and forth, like a rag doll.

Shaking my head, I gripped his suit. “I’m going to kill you for this.” My gaze traveled over all of them. “I’m going to kill you all for this.”

Pain clawed at my chest. I couldn’t tell if it was real or I was dreaming. I couldn’t breathe. I was suffocating. So I screamed again, hoping this anguish inside my chest would ease.

“I’m here, moya luna.” It was a deep voice with a slight Russian accent and husky tenor that pulled me out of the nightmare. It was the same voice. It was the same scent, but I couldn’t think about that now.

As the pain dulled, the scent of sandalwood and citrus rocked me back to sleep.

EIGHTEEN

KONSTANTIN

Aweight pressed on my chest as the first ray of the sunrise flickered through the serene landscape. More snow fell last night so it appeared peaceful. Yet, there was no peace to be found. Not in my body and apparently not in my wife’s dreams.

Tatiana had been thrashing in her sleep, plagued by nightmares, while something else entirely plagued me.

The picture Tatiana claimed she found.

Why would Adrian hold on to a picture showing my mother with his father rather than his parents? Yet the idea that Adrian could be my brother was incomprehensible. How many times had I heard my father brag about having a virgin bride? And Adrian was older so that would have meant my mother would have given birth before she married my father.

And then there was the whole issue with the Yakuza.

Reaching for my phone, I messaged Bitter Prince. No fucking wonder he was bitter, every time he came through, he got fucked.

I typed a quick message to meet him. The reply was instant, except he demanded a meeting on his turf. Smart fucker.

I sent a quick agreement, then headed towards the bed where my wife slept. She mumbled something unintelligible in her sleep, her brows furrowed and her breathing harsher. I smoothed her brows softly and her breathing evened out. She even pushed into my hand, as if she received comfort from my touch.

I’d rather stay here and fuck her day and night, but unless I took matters into my own hands, we’d be looking over our shoulders for the rest of our lives. Tatiana and our children’s lives would be constantly in danger.

So the Yakuza had to be handled and that fucking chip had to be found, then destroyed.

For the interest of the whole of Omertà.

* * *

Two days later, I was in the Philippines.

A weight had been pressing on my chest and I knew it had everything to do with Tatiana. I fucking hated leaving her. But bringing her could be risky. Especially since the Yakuza controlled a lot of this territory.

I was doing this to save her and our children.

We headed straight from the airport to Amon’s. It could be a trap, but I was inclined to think he’d have something to gain from our meeting as well as I did. Boris and two other guards were with me. I’d left Nikita behind with the women.

Boris and Nikita had been with me the longest, so I trusted them more than the others.

“Make sure Nikita is ready to follow through if something goes wrong,” I told Boris. “No matter what, she’s to be handed to her brothers if things don’t go well. They’ll keep her protected.”

“You had to marry a mafia princess,” Boris remarked sardonically. “Her past with Adrian made her a liability all along.”