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The man nods and skips a page. “Love is the joining of—”
“Nope.” Alexander circles his finger in the air. “Skip that shit. Get to the meat.”
The officiant looks flustered as he skips ahead even more. Then he looks up at Alexander, a question in his eyes as he continues. “Do you, Mikhail, take Cordelia to be your lawfully wedded wife?”
Mikhail looks into my eyes, his chin raised. “I do.”
Holy shit.It feels impossible that this is happening. Should I stab him now? I feel the tip of the letter opener pressed against the spot above my heart. If it starts beating any faster, I might accidentally impale myself first.
There are too many people. Alexander is standing behind me, probably to make sure he can sneak attack me if I try to fight. Plus the guards outside the room. They can be here in a second.
It’s happening.
And I don’t see a way out.
The officiant clears his throat and turns to me. “And do you, Cordelia, take Mikhail to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
No. Hell no.
The words ring in my head loud and clear, but my mouth stays closed. I stare at Mikhail, silently begging for him and the rest of this situation to just disappear.
But he doesn’t.
“Come on, Cordelia,” Alexander whispers. His words hiss against the back of my ear. “Don’t leave us in suspense.”
This is it.
There is no way out.
I don’t have a choice.
I squeeze my eyes closed and swear to myself that I’ll be free again… one day.
Then I open my eyes and meet the gaze of the monster I’m being forced to marry. “I—”
Before I can finish, the ground quakes and the French doors behind us rain glass.
36
IVAN
The explosion is bigger than I expected.
I peek over the concrete half-wall I took cover behind and see the double doors from the patio to the house are now blown out. Alexander McAllister is looking into his backyard to the smoldering motorcycle parts laying in his singed grass.
“Rooster really knows how to rig a bomb,” Yasha remarks.
“I hope he can fight half as well,” I add as McAllister’s security guards flood the backyard.
I catch a glimpse of white through the shattered door frame.Is that Cora?I don’t have time to find out before Yasha and I are surrounded by guards.
Yasha takes out a guard in front of him with a single shot to the head. Then he ducks, lands a blow to another guard’s stomach, and presses his gun to the man’s neck.
The men in front of me hesitate, wondering whether they should focus on me or help their colleagues. I quickly solve the dilemma for them. I fire two weapons at once, bringing both men to their knees.
“Keep moving. I’ll finish them,” Yasha barks.
So much for sneaking in and out without bloodshed.
