Page 87 of Thorns of Love

Or maybe she prefers it that way, my mind whispered.

If she did, she wouldn’t be in a trunk. Jesus, I had to get a grip.

“Where does the tracker show her?” I snapped at Boris.

He turned the screen over my way. “That’s the private airport,” I said, recognizing the area. “Tell the pilot to have the plane fueled and ready. We’ll follow them.”

My phone buzzed. Unknown caller. It rang. Once. Twice. Three times.

Marchetti glanced at me. “You going to get that?”

I pressed the answer button on the fourth ring.

“Hello, Brother.” Adrian’s snarling tone came over the line. “Miss me?”

“Adrian,” I growled. “Where is my wife?”

He snickered. “She’s sitting here next to me.” He let out a heavy sigh. “It doesn’t look like she missed me either. I feel so betrayed.”

“I swear to God,” I hissed. “You hurt her–”

“You’re in no position to threaten me,” he snarled. “She’s going to meet the same end as my parents. Eye for an eye, Brother.”

My heart iced over. His parents. I remembered that night as if it was yesterday. His father. My mother. It turned out, it wasourmother.

The look of pity Marchetti gave me set my teeth on edge. He knew that my odds of getting her back were slim. After all, he lost his wife and mother to a kidnapper. He’d know firsthand how these things end. I blamed him as much as Adrian. I wanted to punch him, beat him black and blue, for not keeping Tatiana inside.

“She has nothing to do with that,” I gritted. “Let her go. You can have me.”

“I don’t think so,” Adrian drawled. “I like this better. Want to see a video of her?” His taunting voice marred my vision with a red mist. The cell phone in my hand protested with a crack at my firm grip. Then it beeped, signaling an incoming message.

I opened the message and I froze. I fucking froze as I watched my wife tied up to a chair, her face covered in tears and her eyes full of terror. A Glock was pointed at her temple, the sheer fear in her blue eyes sending a shattering ache through my soul.

Pain, unlike ever before, exploded in my chest. It didn’t compare to the feeling I felt when I learned she eloped. Or when I saw her utterly happy and in love with Adrian. This feeling tore through my soul with a raw blade and let it bleed.

I finally got her back. After years of waiting for her. And now, I might lose her and just the thought of it made my chest squeeze worse than anything. It had to be the way a heart attack felt.

“What goes around, comes around, little brother,” Adrian purred, satisfied with himself.

Adrian used her. He fucking used her for all those years only to get to me. My father’s words came back haunting me. Adrian should have died that night. Goddamn him!

“I swear to God, Adrian,” I started, my voice cold and calm, despite the volcano ready to erupt inside me. “You hurt her and I’ll hunt you down. I’ll burn down any and all relatives you might have. Starting with your aunt in New Orleans. In fact, I have men on her already. One scratch on Tatiana, and Nikita’s mother is dead.”

He didn’t think I’d find all his relatives. My contacts were very thorough when tracking family trees and digging information. The world was a lot smaller than I initially thought. I found the last members of his family and now I’d wipe them all from this fucking planet to keep my wife and family. Safe.

Click. He hung up. Fucker!

I breathed so harshly, my pulse roared in my ears. Each beat screamed ‘I cannot lose her’ in my brain over and over again. Seven fucking years. I waited seven years. It was our time. She had always belonged to me.

“I know where they’re going.” I strode toward the car, the doors still wide open. “Boris, keep tracking them, but I believe the general direction is Russia. The same parking lot.”

He perked up, already issuing orders to the driver and typing a message to the pilot.

“Take a few of my men,” Marchetti offered.

It was on the tip of my tongue to refuse, but I didn’t know what Adrian had planned. More men might come in handy. If Nikita had turned rogue, I could have other men who worked against me.

Boris and I shared a glance.