Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 76915 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76915 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
No wonder he had known that my shoes were hurting. Or that I had missed meals. He had put me under surveillance from the moment of my arrival. It was such a violation of my privacy, of my personhood, that I nearly fell to my knees.
Just then, I heard a floorboard creak behind me.
“Do you always pose for him?” An unfamiliar voice asked. I glanced over my shoulder. A man stood there. The look in his eyes was chilling. The stack of paintings fell from my hands as I stood, my heart hammering in my chest.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Uranov. And you should be very, very afraid.”
Chapter 47
Anton
It was the morning of my wedding, and my bride was nowhere to be found. I had woken with a smile on my face. I had missed holding her in my arms the night before, but I knew that after today, she would belong to me for real.
Everyone would know that we were together. No man on earth would be in doubt that she was mine. She was already my wife, but that was not common knowledge to anyone but a select few. Now she would be my wife in the eyes of the world, as well.
Certainly, to the people of Moscow, my father, and all the members of the Bratvas, big and small. The other crime syndicates we dealt with, as well, not to mention all our legitimate business contacts.
Today was our coming out party.
But she was gone.
She had just gone for a walk, I suspected. I was in the process of pulling up the feed and the tracking devices that were implanted in all of her jewelry, including her wedding and engagement ring.
And her shoes, though I doubted she was wearing her maid shoes at seven o’clock in the morning.
“Sir,” a voice said. I turned to see my head of security Dimitri looking extremely… unhappy. My stomach turned over.
“Yes?”
“We found something. In the attic.”
The feeling inside me skyrocketed. The attic. My art studio was up there. What would she be doing up there?
And if she had been up there, what had she seen?
I followed him, both of us walking fast enough to be considered a fast jog.
As we got closer, I broke into a full run. What I saw made my heart pound. Her violin was on the floor, the case open. And crushed. There had been a struggle.
Someone had taken her.
And almost worse than that were the paintings. The first one I had ever done of her had been at the back of a stack leaning against the outside wall. The one that had started me on the mad process of painting her late at night.
The one that could only be seen from the video camera in her room. If she had seen the painting, then she knew my secret. And she had clearly seen it, before being… attacked? Killed? Taken?
My blood ran cold. Someone had taken my woman. I could feel in my gut. And before she was taken… she had learned my secret.
I would deal with that later.
All I wanted was her back, safe and sound. Then I could work on getting her to forgive me. And I would get her back. I would make her love me, despite what I had done.
I would. I had to.
I would do anything to save her.
“Where is the footage? Why is it taking so long?”
“Someone tried to tinker with it, sir.”
“How could someone possibly know where to access the security footage? How could this have happened?
“They must have someone on the inside,” he said, making my thirst for furious vengeance rise. His next words gave me hope. “We have backup. It’s coming through now.”
I stepped closer and stared at his phone as the video feed loaded.
My heart did a double flip when I saw who it was. Uranov. You might think my father’s henchman was better than having one of the other families get their hands on my bride. But you would not say that if you knew the man.
I knew he could not and would not hurt me. But that did not extend to Mishka. I was not even sure that the fact that she might be carrying my child would prevent him from harming her if my father gave the order.
But I had to try.
While we hunted her down, I had to try.
I called my father as I ran through the house, holding an iPad with a map on it that had been handed to me as we left the attic. Mishka’s jewelry. She still had it on.
It was moving.
Chapter 48
Mishka
Istared at my hands, knowing that even if I could release them from the painfully tight zip tie, I would not get very far.
I had to try. I had to be ready. I knew Anton would come for me. I knew he would find me.