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He wanted to be able to say that he saw her first and claim her as his in some sort of caveman way. Except he hadn’t. His father had. His father was a very powerful man within the Bratva, which meant it was going to be very difficult to get him to release India in a way that kept her safe. He wouldn’t release her though because he was an asshole who was obsessed with her, which was another matter to consider.
The other women that his father had been with in the past had been a means to an end while he’d waited for the blonde beauty upstairs to be his. He wasn’t going to let her go. Would he wait the usual seven days? Mikhail doubted.
Pushing his way through the kitchen frustrated as hell, he ignored the looks and sneers that he got from his father’s men, and exited via the backdoor. He headed away from the house to the cabin in the trees that he’d spent five years building because, right now, he needed his space away from the b
astards who answered nothing but yes to his father.
He also needed to be able to think—to come up with a plan to get India free. His fists clenched at the thought even though he knew that he’d do anything to get to keep her for himself. It wasn’t just her beauty that he found arousing it was India as a whole. Her smile. The way she looked at him. Her voice sent shards of pleasure down his spine until his arousal throbbed between his legs—a state he’d been constantly fighting since he’d met her just five hours ago—it felt like days, weeks even.
“Do I need to ask?” Hugh snapped him out of his thoughts with his unexpected words, as he continued, “Why are you so distracted?” Hugh raised a brow, leaning over the porch of Mikhail’s home.
“I didn’t know you were here.”
Hugh rolled his eyes. “Avoiding the question, huh?”
He stomped up the steps to the porch, ignored Hugh, and made his way into the kitchen. “I’m not avoiding anything. I’m thinking.” He took a beer out of the fridge and bashed the cap free.
They leaned against opposite counters while sipping the cool liquid. Hugh stayed silent.
Hugh had been his best friend since he’d arrived in America with his father when he was seven years old. Twenty-six years later and they were still friends regardless of the difference between their families.
“It’s a girl,” Hugh commented. “I’ve seen you angry before. In fact I’ve seen you damn right pissed, but I’ve never seen you distracted.” Hugh stepped in front of him. “Should it worry me?”
“No!” He held Hugh’s gaze and repeated, “No.”
Hugh grinned and backed away. “You’re a lying bastard.” His friend drained the bottle of beer in his hands before he tossed the bottle into the recycling tub. “Who is she?”
Mikhail chuckled. “I never said there was a girl.”
“Are you telling me there isn’t?”
“You’re not going to give up, huh?”
Hugh sighed and watched him carefully. “I know what your father is like. So I get why you’d want to protect her . . . but this is me that you’re talking to. I have your back.”
He paused and wondered just what to tell Hugh because if it came to it, he’d run with India, and Hugh would be caught in the crossfire. “It’s best if you don’t know, although if you have plans for a vacation then I suggest you take it now.”
Hugh’s features froze at his words and when he tipped his head to the side, watching him, Hugh said, “It’s the girl your father is obsessed with, isn’t it? She’s the one.”
“I’ve told you—”
“Yeah, I know. It’s best if I don’t know. I know anyway because I’m a genius.” Hugh smirked.
“Will you be serious for once? My father is obsessed with this one. He’s been waiting, bidding his time and he’s decided that now is the time to take her. He’s lied about her to others and he doesn’t give a damn. He will never give her back to her father. Never, Hugh!” As those words left his mouth, he realized how truthful they were.
“I’ll help you!” Hugh stated, getting in his face. “You can’t go up against your father without backup. He’s an asshole and the men working for him are even bigger ones. There is no one you can trust under his roof.” Hugh grinned because he knew he was right . . . for once. “But you can trust me.”
“Oh God!” He groaned and pulled out some pizzas from the freezer. “We’re all going to die!”
Hugh threw his head back and roared with laughter. “You can not keep throwing the broken window back at me.”
He raised a brow and Hugh continued, “Or the car.”
Mikhail waited.
“Or the camping stove, and if I must,” Hugh groaned, “the hot wax.”
Hugh’s amusement widened Mikhail’s smile until the seriousness of the situation hit him hard. “This isn’t going to be like those times, Hugh. My father is going to want blood and I don’t believe he’ll care about whose it is as long as he has India.”
