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“I’m conflicted, my love. On one hand, stowing you away would ensure you are safe from our enemies, but—”
Veronica didn’t allow him to continue. She pressed a finger to his lips, then kissed him. His wife tasted of strawberries and just a hint of the cherry liqueur they had earlier.
“Very well,” Nikolai said after the kiss. Veronica was a stubborn soul and besides, they would present a united front if the media captured them in public together.
“Let us enjoy these wonderful moments together,” she said, closing her fingers over his cock. Nikolai didn’t disagree with her. Veronica might have started out as a novice when it came to intimate matters but she learned quickly.
Chapter Eight
“Have a safe journey home, sir,” said one of the stewardesses as Nikolai helped Veronica down the stairs.
Veronica glanced at the slender blonde woman in a uniform. Her smile seemed strained. Suspicion wormed inside her but Veronica quickly dismissed it. Now that they were back on city soil, she was becoming paranoid again.
They had only been on Nikolai’s private island for the weekend, but what a wondrous worry-free weekend it had been. The island staff and custodians were incredibly welcoming, warm, and more importantly, loyal to Nikolai. There, they didn’t need to watch their backs. Back in the city, it was a different story.
“Is there anything else we can do you for you, ma’am?”
Veronica realized the blonde stewardess had spoken. Her smile faltered when Nikolai turned to look at her. She let out an audible sigh of relief when Nikolai paid her no further notice. Her husband’s eyes were purely on her.
“Nothing, thank you,” Veronica said to the woman. Was it her imagination or did the stewardess’s blue eyes look suddenly cold and calculating? Veronica probably had too much wine during the short flight.
Veronica and Nikolai descended the stairs. Yuri waited for them next to Nikolai’s favorite black BMW, along with their usual driver. Relief settled in her chest.
Only a few steps to safety. Then they would be home. Veronica gave the private airstrip a quick glance. Their plane was the only one there. There was a small brown building to the left. Customs, she assumed. Nikolai might own the jet, but not this private airport. Her husband wasn’t that rich or greedy.
“Did you forget anything on the plane?” Nikolai asked, still holding her hand.
Veronica shook her head. How could she tell her husband that something didn’t feel quite right? Veronica tried to remember when she last felt the same flicker of unease. The answer came to her soon enough—when she entered her father’s office.
“Nikolai,” she whispered, suddenly gripping his hand.“Something’s wrong.”
The moment she said those words, a tiny red dot appeared in the center of Nikolai’s chest. The world moved in slow motion. Veronica suddenly pictured her father’s face, exploding in a sea of bone, blood, and brain.
Veronica jerked awake. This time, she refused to remain a helpless victim, a defenseless lamb going to slaughter. Pitching her whole body forward, she tackled Nikolai to the ground just as a shot went off. A second bullet scored the car’s windows, but failed to shatter it. Thank God, Nikolai made sure his windows were bulletproof. More shouting and gunfire erupted. Nikolai tugged her to him and nodded to the car.
“Yuri, open the car door!” Nikolai yelled.
Veronica could see Yuri was preoccupied, trying to identify the shooter. Their attacker had stopped firing but she was certain he or she was still out there, from an excellent vantage point.
Nikolai’s driver somehow managed to get the door open. Nikolai shoved her unceremoniously inside the backseat, his face a mask of pure rage it almost frightened her. Then Veronica remembered that this was the man she married, and Nikolai swore he would not let anything happen to her. The sniper fired and she screamed when it hit Nikolai in the left shoulder.
She gripped his arm urgently. Nikolai didn’t even react to the gunshot wound. He had one hand inside his jacket, probably reaching for his gun. Did he intend to join the fight? That would be crazy.
Veronica couldn’t lose him. Death had cruelly taken her entire family from her. If Nikolai was added to that list, Veronica would fall apart. She didn’t think she would ever recover from such a fatal blow. Veronica tried to find the right words to dissuade him from his foolish action.
“Don’t go out there. You’re no useto anyone dead.” Her last words seemed to snap Nikolai out of his rage.
Nikolai curtly nodded and joined her inside the car, shutting the door closed behind him. He opened the window a little and yelled,“Get back inside! We retreat for now.”
“You’ve been shot,” she said, trying to keep the panic out of her voice.
“I’m wearing a bulletproof vest underneath,” he assured her. Nikolai cursed as he looked out the window.
Veronica took her attention away from her husband. Yuri had been shot in the chest and the driver was hastily dragging his body toward the car. A well-aimed shot buried itself right between Yuri’s eyes.
“Leave him, I’ll have someone retrieve his body later,” Nikolai said.
The driver obeyed her husband’s orders and hastily returned behind the wheel. Veronica stared at Yuri’s corpse with sorrow. She hadn’t known Yuri well, but she knew he had served Nikolai for a very long time, a decade if she recalled correctly.
