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But his eyes were blank, not giving away a single flash of emotion in their dark depths.
This man may look like Theo Volkov, but he wasn’t my Theo. The guy I’d given every part of my heart to, willingly handed over my virginity and every other first a girl had to give away to, the one I thought I would love forever… That Theo wasn’t standing before me.
This Theo stood there with an aura of danger shrouding him. Everything about him screamed “Don’t fuck with me.” There was no softness. No love. No empathy. He was ruthless and frightening. It was as if the man I knew didn’t even exist, and for some reason, that scared me more than the other man standing only a few feet away.
Then the other guy said something that had my head snapping back.
“As her father, I have every right to give her to anyone I want.”
“Father?” I choked on the word, turning my full attention on the man.
I’d never seen this man before in my life. He was leanly built, verging on overly skinny, with a face that reminded me of a wraith. His suit appeared to be just as expensive as Theo’s, yet it looked like it hung off him. For a moment, I wondered if he’d lost weight or if the suit wasn’t his to begin with. Then I quickly decided I didn’t care because this creep just said he was giving me to Theo.
On top of that, he was claiming to be my father.
“I don’t have a father,” I told him, lifting my chin to glare at him. “I don’t have any parents. I’m an orphan.”
He looked down at me dispassionately. “I am your father. I have the DNA tests to prove it from when your whore mother showed up at my door, claiming I’d impregnated her. I paid her off and sent her on her way. She died two weeks later, trying to score some blow. I had no use for a little brat, so you were given to the state.”
My head suddenly felt as if it was going to explode with all the new information I was getting about myself. I couldn’t wrap my mind around it, and right then, I really didn’t want to. “DNA or not, you have no right to give me to anyone. I’m a person, not a piece of furniture you can offer as… What did you call it? A ‘token of peace’? Yeah, fuck you.”
“Tavia,” Theo snapped, pulling my focus to him. “Keep your mouth shut.”
I shot him a glare but, for some reason, shut my mouth.
“If the wolf doesn’t want her, I’ll take her, boss,” Yerik said, trailing his fingers down my neck until he was cupping my left breast.
I struggled against his touch, shuddering in revulsion when he pinched my nipple through the thin lace of my bra.
A rage-filled bellow echoed off the walls and broken windows of the warehouse. Before I could identify that the feral sound had come from Theo, a shot deafened me and something hot sprayed across my face, neck, and chest.
Yerik’s eyes lost focus, and I had only just grasped the fact that he’d been sho
t in the head when he fell to his knees and then on his face at my feet. I stared, mouth agape in horror, too shocked to even scream as blood pooled around him and quickly soaked into my jeans.
Terrified, I looked straight at Theo, ready to barter anything if he would just get me the hell out of there. He stood, his gun still lifted, and I realized he was the one who’d killed Yerik. There was something lethal in his gaze, savage, and I shivered in fear of him.
It all happened in less than a handful of seconds, and then Theo was turning his gun on the man who claimed to be my father.
“Don’t hate me, Tavia,” he commanded and pulled the trigger.
Three shots. Three holes in the man I’d only just found out was my family. Blood sprayed across the dirty floor barely inches from me as someone else started shooting. I felt a sharp sting to my side and cried out in agony.
I’d never felt pain so intense in my life as that bullet slicing through me. It knocked the breath out of me, and I saw stars for a few seconds as I had to fight not to pass out.
Theo growled something I couldn’t understand as he lifted me into his arms and took off running. I was too lost in the suffering to think about where we were going or who was shooting at us. Theo barked something in Russian that I couldn’t keep up with. I wasn’t fluent in it like I was in French and Spanish, but he and Sofia had taught me enough that I could follow conversations if I needed to.
I didn’t realize we were outside until a raindrop fell on my chest, mixing with Yerik’s blood. I looked up at the night sky. The weather had changed rapidly, and now the moon was hardly showing as rain clouds moved in around it, giving the night an eerie glow.
More gunfire echoed behind us, and I yelped in fright when a bullet whizzed by my ear. Theo cursed and shoved me into the back of a car, quickly following me in. Two men were already in the front seat, and one of them hit the gas, causing gravel to spin up as he quickly made our getaway.
The overhead light was turned on, and Theo pulled off his jacket, then his dress shirt. He pressed the expensive material to my side, where blood was gushing like a faucet. “Don’t close your eyes,” he demanded. “Talk to me.”
“What the actual fuck was that?” I yelled at him, then groaned when he put more pressure on the wound. Sweet Jesus, that fucking hurt. “This is a dream, right? I mean, sure, it’s a nightmare, but whatever. What is going on, Theo?”
“I’ll tell you later. For now, focus on not passing out on me, okay, krasotka?” He lifted the shirt then quickly replaced it. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Drive faster, Yury,” he barked.
I felt the car accelerate even more. I wasn’t sure if it was from shock or blood loss, but I began to shiver, and I was starting to feel sick and light-headed. “I didn’t think being shot would hurt this much,” I muttered. A tear fell down my cheek, but I wasn’t sure why I was crying.
