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“And there it is. Fucking finally.” I sigh with relief. “For the hundredth time—what do you want?”
Benedict gives me another wolfish smile. “Your ancestral home in Russia transferred into the Bellasio name. In addition to half of your largest properties on this continent, plus half your businesses and profit sharing on every other enterprise you choose to keep in your name.”
I raise my brow. “Is that all?”
“Two more things. You’ll stop coming after my men, period. No more raids, no more shoot-first, ask-questions-later nonsense. And…” He pauses, regarding me with actual seriousness now. “I want Mila.”
Dima and I both jump to our feet. Now, he’s as pissed as I am.
“The fuck you do,” he growls. I subtly motion for him to stand down, but I have no problem letting him speak for both of us in that regard.
“That’s right,” Benedict says with a smile. “Don’t worry—I don’t want to marry her or anything. Just one night will suffice. Honestly, it’s more for her benefit than mine.”
“You son of a bitch,” I snarl. “This is a fucking game to you.”
He spreads his hands wide with that same stupid shrug and that same stupid smile. “You asked. I answered.”
“You certainly are a dreamer, Benedict,” I say, sauntering one step towards him. He and his bodyguard both tense up in unison as I approach. “We’ve known each other a long time, and that’s never changed.”
I extend my hand out to him. He looks dumbfounded by the gesture, but he takes it. I tighten my grip and yank him to his feet hard against me, so that I can snarl into his ear, “Take your demands and stick them up your ass, you pathetic fucking excuse for a man.”
Then I shove him away from me. His man stands there looking shocked and uncertain of the next best move. Benedict lands hard on his ass on the fainting couch, his face purpling into something bright and mortified.
I turn my back on themudakand make for the exit.
“You walk out of here, I will kill the old man!” Benedict yells after me.
I throw him a cold glance over my shoulder. “Go right ahead. He’s not worth as much to me as you think.”
“What are you going to tell your fiancée? Do you really think she’ll be so keen to marry you after you sentenced her father to death?”
“Celine will believe whatever I tell her,” I say with a roll of my shoulder. It’s a half-shrug, half-warmup in case I do, in fact, need to kill him with my bare hands. “Including the fact that you were the one who reneged on your part of the bargain and killed her father before I could do anything about it. Who do you think she’ll believe, Benny? The man she loves, or the man who abducted her and then tried to seduce her?”
I’ve got my hand on the doorknob when I hear the cock of a gun.
All I can think is,How predictable.
59
TAYLOR
Mila glances over at the clock hanging above the cavernous two-door refrigerator. “Isn’t it time for your visit?”
I shake my head, ignoring the plate of gnocchi that she just shoved in front of me. “I-I can’t.”
Mila fixes me with that bold, direct stare of hers. “Listen. I know that people put doctors on some kind of pedestal. But the fact is, they’re only human. And they’re as prone to error as the rest of us.”
I blink at her. “I’m sorry—is that supposed to be comforting?”
“In this case, it should be,” she says. “I know Dr. Baranov put a three-day timer on Celine’s life, but fuck that. Not everyone is the same. Maybe she’ll wake up on Day Five and everything will be alright.”
Everything will be alright.I don’t see how that can possibly be true.
“No. Even if she does wake up, nothing will be ‘alright.’”
“Because of your feelings for my brother?” When she catches my jaw dropping, she holds up a hand. “You don’t have to say anything; I already know. It’s pretty obvious, anyway. The way you look at him. The way he looks at you.”
I blush. “I…I’m having his baby. So obviously, there’s history. Kind of. It’s just a little confusing.”
