Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 52062 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 260(@200wpm)___ 208(@250wpm)___ 174(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52062 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 260(@200wpm)___ 208(@250wpm)___ 174(@300wpm)
"Everything is in place," he says. "The men are positioned. When The Wolf arrives—"
"I need a moment with Holly first." I cut him off.
He nods and steps aside.
I make my way to her room but pause outside the door.
My hand hovers over the handle, and for a moment, I consider walking away.
Because once I open this door, I'll see what I've done to her written all over her face. The devastation and the betrayal. All the pieces of her I shattered yesterday when I told her the truth about her family.
And some cowardly part of me—the part that isn't pakhan, that isn't the ruthless asshole everyone believes me to be—doesn't want to see it. Doesn't want to watch her look at me like I'm the monster who destroyed her world.
Even though I am.
But that's exactly why I have to open it.
Because she needs to know that no matter how badly I've hurt her, I will always show up. I will always find her when she needs to be found.
So I grip the handle and push the door open.
Holly is sitting up in bed, wrapped in blankets. Her face is pale, her eyes red-rimmed from crying. When she sees me, her expression almost buckles under the weight of holding back her tears.
“I’m sorry I ran.”
“My love…” I drop beside her bed.
“I got frightened. It was stupid.” Her face cracks. “Thank you for finding me. I was so scared.”
“I will always find you.”
“I know.”
I slide onto the bed beside her and gather her into my arms. She comes willingly, tucking herself against my chest with a broken sound that tears me apart.
Her face presses into my neck, her breath warm against my skin.
My heart hammers so hard I'm certain she can feel it. The terror I've been holding back since I found her in the snow.
I could have lost her.
The woman who's become everything.
For a long moment, we just hold each other.
“The Wolf is on his way,” I say softly.
I feel her stiffen, then she lets out a rough exhale and nods.
“But you will be safe in here. I have two men right outside that bedroom door. Noone is getting in.”
She lets me go. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”
I cup her face. “This ends today, malyshka. I won’t let anyone hurt you ever again.”
I brush my lips to hers and then let her go.
I am ready to make good on that vow.
I leave her and walk toward the door.
"Nikolai."
I stop, my hand on the doorknob.
"Be careful," she says quietly.
I look back at her, and for a moment, our eyes meet. In hers, I see fear. And beneath it, love.
I walk out, closing the door behind me, and prepare to face the monster who's been hunting the woman I love.
35
HOLLY
They're here.
I stand at the window and watch two black SUVs carve their way through the fresh powder, their headlights cutting into the gray afternoon.
A cold, sharp fear lodges itself between my ribs and spreads through my chest like ice water.
The SUVs stop in front of the lodge, and six armed men in black tactical gear pour out like ants. Followed by two men dressed in expensive coats and large fur hats.
The first is older. Tall and wide, with a face carved from granite. Even from this distance, I can feel the coldness radiating from him.
An instinctive recognition slams through me. Even though I've never seen this man before in my life.
But something buried in my DNA recognizes him anyway.
Predator.
Monster.
My grandfather.
The second man is younger, handsome in a cruel sort of way. Less overtly intimidating, but there's something in the way he moves that sets my teeth on edge. Like a predator wearing human skin.
A woman climbs out of the car and joins them. She’s young and glamorous and looks like she’d rather be anywhere but here.
I watch them cross the snow toward the front porch, their boots leaving deep tracks behind them. Then they disappear from view beneath the overhang, and I'm left staring at nothing but falling snow and armed men securing the perimeter.
I'm shaking so badly, I have to grip the windowsill to stay upright.
This is really happening.
I close my eyes and think about my mom. About her wild heart and spirit, and the courage she showed to defy this man. And when I open my eyes again, I know her strength is with me.
Nikolai was right.
Today this ends.
After thirty years, it fucking ends.
36
NIKOLAI
Yuri Orlova. The Wolf.
The great room feels smaller with him in it.
He stands near the fireplace, his coat still on, his cold eyes sweeping the room like he's already calculating how to dominate the space. Mila, his wife of four months, lingers behind him, looking at her phone with the kind of disinterest that comes from being with a man you despise.
Ivan, his right hand man, positions himself slightly to Yuri's left, his gaze sharp and assessing. While Yuri's two bodyguards flank the door, mirroring my own men on the opposite side.