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I get to explore the city, even though I do have to keep Lurch around all the time. That isn’t his real name, of course, but that’s how I’ve come to think of him. He’s a hulking figure that follows me everywhere I go. I’m supposed to feel safer with him around, but it feels more like I’m walking around with a piece of luggage that’s too heavy for me. He just doesn’t quite fit in.
I look up for him now, knowing he’s sitting in the grass somewhere playing on his phone. If I were him, I’d leave me here and go do something fun for a few hours. Johnny would kill him, though. I at least hope he gets paid very well.
It’s time to throw him a bone. I’ll go back to the apartment and let him go do something interesting. When I stand up and brush myself off, though, I don’t see Lurch anywhere.
“Mario?” I call out, using his real name.
I did accidentally call him Lurch once, and he didn’t talk to me for three days. I’m not making that mistake again. He doesn’t answer me, and I suddenly feel like something is very wrong. He wouldn’t walk away when he’s supposed to be watching me. As many times as I’ve wished I could shake him off, he’s proven that he’s impossible to get rid of.
So where the hell is he?
An uneasy feeling spreads through my stomach, but I tell myself it’s nothing. He probably just wandered off to get something to eat. The penthouse isn’t far. I’ll just walk myself back. I pick my way carefully through the copse of trees, when someone grabs my arm.
I scream, losing my balance and crashing against the figure. I look up, hoping it’s Mario, but my stomach sinks when I see it’s not him. It’s Niko.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I ask him coldly.
When he looks down at me, there’s a wild look in his eyes. There’s something very wrong about the way he’s staring at me and the way he’s grabbing my arm. It’s too tight. He’s hurting me.
“Niko, let go of me,” I scream, but his hand moves to my mouth, covering it so I can’t be heard.
“You are mine,” he growls. “You belong to me, and you always have. I’m not going to let you be the whore of that criminal for one more day.”
I try to pull away from him, but he’s too strong. I’ve never known Niko to be like this before. Until we found out we were getting married, he mostly treated me with indifference. I was just his best friend’s little sister.
Now, though, he looks crazed and terrifying. I want to get away from him, but even if I can wriggle out of his grasp, I can’t outrun him. He and I both know that.
CHAPTERSEVENTEEN
Ivan
An uneasy feeling spreads through me when Mario doesn’t pick up for the fifth time. I got home early from work, and Kat wasn’t here. It wasn’t so unusual, I knew she liked going to the park during the day. But it’s been almost two hours, and she still isn’t home.
Maybe I’m just being overprotective, but something in my gut tells me this isn’t right. There was another big attack on one of my subsidiaries this morning, and another package was at my door when I got home. Alone, I wouldn’t worry too much about these things, but all of them together make me nervous.
I call Mario again, and when he doesn’t answer, I look at her phone's location. It says she’s still at the park, which should calm me, but I feel in my gut that something isn’t right. I call a few of my men and ask them to meet me at the penthouse. Perhaps it’s irrational, but I can’t shake the feeling that Kat is in trouble. She’s not answering her phone either.
A few minutes later, five of my best are at my door, ready for whatever I ask them to do. That is one nice benefit of being head of the branch. I can get my men to do whatever I need with no questions asked.
I tell them the situation, though, wanting to emphasize how important it is that we find Kat and bring her home safely. They know how much she means to me. They’ve seen how I’ve changed over the last few weeks.
I’m constantly worried about her, and I’m up to my neck in frustration at her father and his branch. If he wants a fucking war, I’m happy to bring it to his doorstep with the stipulation that Kat is safely away from the bloodshed. She means more to me than anyone I’ve ever known. I can’t lose her. It would destroy me.
The six of us leave the apartment and walk over to the park, intent on tracking down Kat. We walk over to the location her phone indicates, but when we arrive, there’s no sign of her. Shit, shit, shit. This is so bad. I shouldn’t have waited. I should have come earlier.
“Fan out,” I tell my men. “She has to be around here somewhere.”
Despite the sureness in my tone, I’m terrified I’m wrong. I’ll never forgive myself if she’s hurt, or if her family abducted her. They wouldn’t hurt her, surely. But I think back over the notes she’s been receiving over the last several weeks. I think of the chilling words contained inside, and the rage bubbles up inside of me.
Her family wouldn’t hurt her, but Niko would. He wants to. He believes she was wrongfully taken from him, and maybe he’s right. But she doesn’t belong to him, and she never did. She’s mine, and it’s my responsibility to keep her safe. I’ll kill him if he has her, then I’ll deliver his head on a silver platter to Dimitri.
That should send a pretty fucking clear message about what I’m willing to do for her.
“Boss,” one of my guys calls out from one of the thickets around the clearing. “You’ll want to see this.”
I run over to him, and when I see what he’s found, I want to vomit. There’s Mario, just coming to. He looks like he was knocked out, and he slowly sits up, looking dazed. When he sees me standing in front of him, his eyes fill with panic.
“Fuck,” he yells. “Where’s Kat?”
