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She sighed. “My dad’s being overprotective as usual.” She scowled and looked around the presidential suite. “Who was that big asshole who jumped me? I want to make sure I kick him in the balls if I see him again.”
I tsked at her language, which only made her roll her eyes at me. “That was my bodyguard, and you won’t get the chance. We’re heading back to Miami, where I can hide you until the threat is neutralized.”
Her eyes softened, and she looked at me while biting her lower lip. “I don’t want you to waste your time, Mikhail. There’s no threat. This is nothing.”
I laughed at her blatant attempt to manipulate me. She knew me as well as I knew her. I’d have to be extra careful not to fall for her tricks. I quickly grew serious, shaking my head at her.
“It’s not nothing. I looked into it, and nobody’s overreacting. You have a widespread bounty on your head, not the kind where you get a neat and tidy bullet in your skull. Novikoff found out about your little surveillance operation and wants you brought in so he can teach you a lesson before the bullet. You’ve been around long enough to know what I’m talking about, Evelina.”
Her pretty face lost all its color. At least she would finally take me seriously now and stop making a fuss, but I wasn’t as pleased as I should have been when my scare tactic worked. She looked rattled to the core, probably remembering some of her own father’s gruesome interrogations. I had to stand up and move away. Sitting two feet away from her on the bed wasn’t far enough to quell the urge to reach out and soothe her fears away. If I was being honest with myself, I was dying to touch her—no reason necessary.
I needed to get that under control. Fast.
“I don’t want to go back to Miami,” she said. “I’m so close—”
The irritation at myself made me snap at her and cut her off. “You don’t get a say.” I pointed to the giant suitcase on the rack with my folded vacation clothes. “I can easily knock you out again and stuff you in that to get you on the plane if you insist on not cooperating.”
Once again, I was bluffing, but she actually gave me a horrified look that cut me to the bone. As if she believed I’d ever put her in a suitcase. And idiot that I was, I started to apologize when she jumped up and darted toward the door. She managed to get it open and out into the hall before I could react because I was so stunned she would try something like that.
When I got to the door, she fled past my confused bodyguard and toward the emergency stairs.
“Should I go after her?” he asked.
“Yes,” I told him, raking my hands through my hair. “Try to be gentle this time.”
We were on the top floor of a thirty-eight-story building. She wouldn’t get far with Andre on her heels, but of course, she had to try. With a nod, he took off at an easy jog, slamming through the door after her. I probably should have gone, but I couldn’t make myself get rough with her, and I knew she’d put up a fight. That was just Evelina, never giving up.
When I learned that she had managed to infiltrate the Novikoff organization far enough to get caught, I was impressed. She’d always been smart, but it seemed like her skills had become highly advanced over the past years. She had always desperately competed with her brother for Oleg’s favor, even though Leo was totally unaware of any competition going on.
I would have felt a pang of sympathy for her having to give up all her hard work if it weren’t for my sour mood continuing to linger. One way or another, she would make my life hell until her father could get over from Moscow and take her off my hands.
The bad mood only worsened when Andre returned with her slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, unconscious again. I swore, and he hurried to defend himself.
“She knocked herself out,” he said. “Thrashed around so much she got out of my grip and conked her head on the railing. We should probably use this opportunity to get to the plane, though, don’t you think?”
I swore again. He was right. There was no way she’d go of her own accord, and I didn’t want her drawing attention to herself. It was imperative no one found out she was with me and where we were heading.
I reached for her, motioning for Andre to grab my suitcase once I had her cradled in my arms. She almost looked sweet and innocent, with her long lashes brushing her cheeks. My loyal bodyguard met me in the hallway only moments later, waiting for instructions.
I groaned, looking toward the emergency exit. “Now we have to use the stairs again instead of taking the elevator like civilized people.”
Chapter 5 - Evelina
Once again, I woke up in a strange place, this time with my head pounding. The sound that filled my ears was soothing until I placed it. Was I on a plane?
I sat up, grabbing my throbbing forehead but taking in my surroundings in a couple of pained blinks before I flopped back down from a wave of dizziness. What in hell had that bodyguard done to me? That didn’t matter now. Because it was clear I was on my way back to Miami.
Yes, I was on a plane, not just any commercial airline, which certainly wouldn’t have allowed Mikhail to carry an unconscious woman. He was powerful, but even his kind of power had its limits.
This was a private jet, and a reasonably large one, with shiny dark wood trim and pale gray upholstery. The window shades were all drawn, but a single lamp cast enough light to see a stainless-steel rolling bar pulled up to the big reclining chair across from the couch I was stretched out on.
Mikhail sprawled on it like it was a throne. His legs wide, and a half-empty glass in one hand, the bottle he’d been obviously pouring from in the other, and his eyes downcast. He’d removed his slim-fitting suit jacket and opened several buttons on his snowy white shirt to reveal tanned skin and a smattering of chest hair beneath it.
Damn it, he looked good. Apparently, sunny Florida agreed with him. I wracked my brain to recall if Kristina had ever mentioned him setting up a base there. None of my cousins ever mentioned it, so at least they weren’t at war with each other, which was a relief since he and my father were good friends. If I had known he was based in Miami, I don’t think I would have ever wanted to visit so badly. I certainly would have left the second I found out. He noticed I was awake and looked up at me from whatever he’d been musing about in the bottom of his whiskey glass. When did he stop drinking vodka?
Why did I care?
He raised an eyebrow at me but didn’t speak. Which was good because I had enough to say for both of us. I pushed aside my mixed-up feelings and concentrated on the burning hot disappointment in my gut. Holding onto my forehead, I flung myself at him, ready to cause enough of a ruckus to bring the plane to an emergency landing if I had to.
