Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 70489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
“None of that matters right now. Nikolai showed up at my house, and he’s under my protection. I need you here to help me when someone comes looking for him.”
He was at Lorenzo’s house? This was even worse than I’d expected. “What the fuck is going on? Did you kidnap him?”
“No, he came to me after being beaten by his father.”
I hated that Dimitri’s actions didn’t surprise me. “Someone really needs to off that bastard.”
“We do. So get over here and help me with that.”
Why did I keep letting myself be pulled into family business? I’d swear it was the last time, then as soon as Lorenzo called me, I was right back in again.
“I told you I want out. I’ve got a position at Dumonde University. I’m not your muscle to order around.”
“Dante.”
I could keep arguing, but what was the point? Ultimately, I would give in. How could I say no with Nikolai’s life at stake? Somehow, there was always a good reason to get involved. “Fine, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Lorenzo had called Rafe too, and we arrived at almost the same time. Since Rafe didn’t know how to be serious, he immediately started teasing Lorenzo about tucking Nikolai into bed and soothing him. Then Lorenzo informed us that Remington had forbidden him from touching Nikolai again.
I knew that compared to the men who ran other criminal families, Remington was practically a teddy bear, but I hated that he felt like he could command us to do his bidding. It wasn’t right that he had so much power over our lives. He had a boyfriend. Who was he to keep Lorenzo from being with Niko if that’s what he wanted?
Hopefully, he’s the man who’s going to prevent a war between your family and the Russians.
Still, he pissed me off. “You’re not really going to listen to Remington about this, are you? If you like Nikolai as much as it seems—”
“Stop,” Lorenzo snarled. “Nikolai doesn’t belong in a family like ours. He deserves to get away from danger, violence, crime. He needs a chance to thrive somewhere he doesn’t have to worry about dying all the time.”
“How do you know what he wants?” I asked.
Lorenzo scowled at me instead of responding. I wasn’t going to get anywhere arguing with him, especially when I had wanted to get away from those same things.
“Fine, I get it. Let’s just see what happens.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Lorenzo asked.
Rafe answered before I could. “You’ve never talked about a guy like this before.”
I wanted to push harder and force him to really consider what he wanted. As if I would put up with them doing that to me, but I could tell Lorenzo was close to losing it.
Lorenzo growled. “That’s enough. We’ve got to make a plan. It’s not going to take a genius to figure out this is one of the places Nikolai might’ve gone.”
“Well, Dimitri is certainly no genius, as far as I know,” Rafe said.
“He’s not,” Lorenzo agreed. “But he’s vicious. He needs this alliance. The last thing he wants is for his son not to show up at the wedding. So, yeah, he’ll likely come here.”
Rafe studied our older brother for a moment. “Why did Nikolai come here? Was he that sure you’d protect him?”
Why couldn’t Rafe see how worked up Lorenzo was? “Where else was he going to go? His father kept him isolated. It’s not like he has friends or any of his own money.”
“True, but why would he think an enemy family was going to protect him?”
Was Rafe serious? “Have you met Lorenzo? He exudes protectiveness. He’s the first person most people who’ve met him would come to if they needed protection.”
“He’s also scary as hell when he wants to be,” Rafe said. “But I bet he was gentle with Nikolai. I bet he made it so good for him.”
“Oh my God, shut up,” Lorenzo yelled. “Show some fucking respect.”
“For you or for Nikolai?” Rafe asked.
“Both.”
Despite Rafe’s behavior, Lorenzo agreed to introduce us to Nikolai, but he quickly grew impatient with our presence. Would I be like that if my brothers met Alex? Maybe. Probably. Yes.
“Get started patrolling the house,” Lorenzo demanded. “I’ll join you in a few minutes.”
I saluted him, and he added, “Keep alert. Shoot anyone who looks suspicious or acts suspicious or approaches the house.”
Nikolai sucked in his breath. “Oh my God. You really believe he’ll come for me? He hates me. Why would he bother?”
“He took money from Ivanov and promised him you as a groom for his daughter and—” Lorenzo growled. “I won’t even say it. Dimitri doesn’t have what he owes, so he’s going to come get it. If he doesn’t bring you to the wedding, he knows what will happen to him. Ivanov doesn’t leave loose ends.”