She breathes out noisily before dipping her chin in defeat. She’s well aware that my pledge of protection doesn’t stop at her. It includes anyone important to her. My oath to guard her is the only reason Carmichael didn’t perish by my blade the past year. He’s an insolent, foolish man, but Justine also considers him a friend—regrettably.
“Now go and pack. We leave in thirty minutes.”
My voice is more commanding than the one I generally use on her, but with my worry rising, so is my impatience. I trust my team; they are stronger and more ruthless than they’ve ever been, but that doesn’t mean I can relax. With a chunk of my crew following our expedition to Hopeton, my empire will be left open for infiltration.
Unfortunately, that isn’t my greatest worry.
My undogged reputation is notorious in my industry, but a new fool is born every hour. They’ll be quick to jump if they believe they have a chance of succeeding me, but they’ll discover just as quickly what happens when you provoke me. My skin won’t be the only thing I’ll shed if they put myahrenat risk. Bucket loads of blood will be shed along with it.
My tightened jaw slackens when Justine presses her lips to mine. Her kiss is only a peck, but it wipes the worry from my gut as quickly as it raises my cock. Only she can free me from the turmoil I’ve lived in since birth. When I am with her, nothing but her matters. Not a single fucking thing.
Justine pulls back from our embrace by standing to her feet after sensing my swift change in composure. Ignoring the growl quickening her pulse, she makes a beeline for the door. She’s halfway across the room before she abruptly stops then spins around to face me.
Although she doesn’t speak, I can hear the words her mouth is failing to produce. She doesn’t want the man responsible for scaring her brother punished, but she’s not letting him off scot-free either. She’s merely giving him a chance to prove himself, her wish to see the good in everyone awarding him mercy he’d never see from me.
I’ve executed men for less, but that’s not how queensgarner respect. Justine will gain his honor, and he’ll serve her all the better for it.
“He won’t disappoint you again,Ahren.I’ll make sure of it.”
My cock hardens to the point it is painful when Justine mutters, “If he does, I’ll serve him his punishment directly.”
My chest swells with savage pride. There she is. My queen is on her throne, ready to rule our empire alongside me.
God forbid any man who dares cross her.
5
Two SUVs leada fleet of five through the streets of Las Vegas as we make our way to a private airstrip on the outskirts of the city. The number of armed men surrounding us is nothing out of the ordinary—Nikolai is as pedantic about security as he is about fucking me to the brink of insanity—but his silence isn’t a regular occurrence.
He hasn’t spoken a word in over forty minutes. At first I thought his silence centered around my anger over one of his goons rough-handling my brother, but as the minutes ticked by, I realized I had it all wrong. He’s not angry. He’s panicked.
That’s as foreign for him as the pleasure I got from anal penetration.
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. I have a heap of unknown hormones running rampant through my veins, so additional nerves are bound to be present.
Realizing now is as good a time as any to share the secret I’ve been keeping the past twenty-four hours, I hand Nikolai the box I slipped into my purse upon exiting the courthouse late yesterday afternoon.
He stares at it for several moments, unsure of what it is.
“It’s your birthday present. I meant to give it to you last night, but with everything going on, a suitable time never presented.”
When he gives me a look, attempting to tell me for the tenth time the past twenty-four hours that his birthday isn’t for another two weeks, I cut him off with a glare.
“I can’t hold this secret for another two weeks, Nikolai. I’m shocked I’ve kept quiet this long.”
With his curiosity as piqued as his brow, he pulls off the scraggly piece of string curled around the box before prying off the lid. Time comes to a standstill when he glances down at the white stick with two blue lines glowing in the middle.
“It’s a pregnancy test,” I advise him, unsure if he’s seen one before.
He probably has, but I prefer keeping my head stuck in the sand when it comes to him and any woman he associated with before me. I don’t handle jealousy well.
The longer Nikolai stares at the pregnancy test, the redder his cheeks glow. They match the color Roman’s held when I asked him to purchase me a test while Frederick’s trial was in recess. He wasn’t happy with my request, but when I said he could either purchase the test for me, or I would sneak away from his watch to buy one for myself, he chose the option less likely to have him slayed by Nikolai.
Away from Nikolai and Roman, I am inconspicuous to the media, but when I’m in their realm, I am hounded as viciously as the paparazzi forever tailing Nikolai.
In the beginning, it was great for business. Wrongly believing I had Nikolai’s conviction quashed, clients came out of the woodwork to secure my representation, hoping I’d achieve the same outcome for them. It’s a pity for all involved they didn’t have access to the extremely large lump sum payment Nikolai required to walk free from conviction.
Although I could have accepted the numerous offers handed to me, there is only one set of clients I’ve stepped outside of the Popov entity to help. They are the ones who can’t afford the representation they deserve, boys like Frederick whose hearts were in the right place, but they couldn’t find a legal way out of their situation.
