Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 66833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 334(@200wpm)___ 267(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 334(@200wpm)___ 267(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
What the fuck are those things? And why isn’t Alexei seeing this through the million cameras he’s got hidden all over?
I cast a frantic look around the room, but I don’t see anything out of place. Yet my brothers must’ve done something to prevent Alexei’s guards from realizing what’s happening. Maybe Konstantin hacked the cameras and is feeding them a false image? Or—
“Let’s go.” Valery’s quiet voice is filled with urgency as he pushes on the cutout glass and makes it fall into the low shrubs outside. “We have less than a minute.”
Less than a minute before what?
I want to ask, but I don’t get a chance as he jumps out after the glass, landing just past the shrubs in the smooth crouch of a cat. As soon as he straightens, Konstantin picks me up and literally throws me to him, ignoring my panic-stricken attempt to grab at his shirt.
Only the fact that they’re my brothers keeps me from screaming my head off as I fly through the opening and land in Valery’s strong arms with a teeth-snapping jolt.
“I’m not a fucking sack of potatoes,” I growl when I get my breath back.
Nobody is listening. Konstantin has already jumped after us, and the two of them grab me like the aforementioned potato sack and sprint for the nearby cluster of trees—just as a huge boom shatters the silence, and scorching-hot air blasts my face and every bit of exposed skin.
I scream instinctively, ducking to hide my face against Valery’s shoulder. Then terror, raw and gut-wrenching, floods my brain with adrenaline, and I begin to fight in earnest as he carries me away from the wrecked mansion and the fire consuming it… away from Alexei, who must still be inside.
No. No, no, no! Howling like a banshee, I claw at Valery’s face, the fierceness of my attack shocking him into loosening his grip on me just enough that I manage to push away and fall onto my ass. Ignoring the jolt of pain, I bounce to my feet and propel myself toward the flames. My feet crunch on melting snow and bits of burning plaster as a single thought cycles through my mind.
Alexei.
I have to find him.
I have to save him.
Arms like a steel beam wrap around my waist, bringing me to a halt mid-sprint. Shrieking, I try to turn around so I can claw at the face of my captor, but it’s Konstantin who has me now and he’s wise enough not to repeat Valery’s mistakes. All I can do is kick backward and scream as he drags me toward the fence and the trees, away from the burning ruins of the place that has been my home for the past two months.
Away from the man I love more than life itself.
A man who may already be dead, killed because of me… because I never managed to convince my brothers that he is what I want—that he is all I’ve ever wanted, even if I didn’t always know it.
“Alina, stop it! You’ll hurt yourself.”
It’s Valery’s voice, tense and sharp. His words barely register through the maelstrom of terror and anguish swirling inside me. All I’m cognizant of is the desperate need to get away and run back into our fortress of a mansion that was supposed to be impenetrable to any enemy yet is burning down before my eyes. And Alexei… Oh god, if he survived the blast, he may be trapped inside, injured and burning alive.
The shriek that tears from my throat is inhuman, a sound of primal rage and torment. Calling on every bit of skill and knowledge I possess, I fight harder than I ever have in my life. I fight like the man holding me is my hated enemy instead of my favorite brother. Like he’s my father trying to kill my mother all over again.
If I had a knife, I would stab Konstantin without a second thought. But I don’t, so I just kick and punch, screaming and twisting, clawing and scratching, bucking and headbutting—all to no avail. Konstantin is a head taller and forty kilos heavier, pure muscle while I still haven’t recovered my full strength.
Relentlessly, he drags me away, and all I can do is scream in helpless fury and anguish as I watch the fire devour the wreckage of my life.
Chapter 31
Alexei
I wait until they’re by the fence before I give the signal to my guards. In a flash, we emerge from the underground tunnels into the cover of the trees and surround my wife and her brothers. The rest of the Molotov assault crew have already been neutralized, knocked out by a neurotoxic gas.
I don’t know what I expected from Alina—maybe some sign of guilt or disappointment that her brothers’ elaborate rescue plan failed?—but at the sight of me, she screams my name and begins fighting Konstantin’s hold so hard I’m afraid she’ll injure herself.