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“Don’t you think I know it?”
“Of course I do, Ilya, but you’ve already missed her birthday and you were almost killed.”
“Exactly why it’s not safe yet.”
“Make it safe.” He ends the call.
Before I head to the helipad, I address my men in one large group. “Keep an eye on my bride. Do not touch her; do not let her leave. If a hair is harmed on her head, it will be yours, understood?” My men knew my word was gold and Natalya was my everything. For the past year I’d been planning for her arrival until that bastard struck.
“Yes, sir,” they chime in as a group.
I step onto the helipad and take the helicopter to our family’s private landing strip, flying out right away because I need to see my father for his advice. I would bring Natalya with me, but the risk of bringing her out in the open with her parents’ men as well as Fratelli out there is too dangerous. She’s safe where they can’t get to her.
It takes me four hours to get to my parents’ and I second guess leaving Natalya every second that we’re apart. Perhaps I should have let her visit continue because I never finished the deal for my father, and now he’s going to be pissed about that. I shake my head and scratch that stupid thought. Hell if I was going to let Natalya be seduced by my best friend who has charm falling from his lips every single time a woman enters the room. He was on my side and wouldn’t intentionally try to steal her, but he had a way about him.
“Where is Father?” I ask, entering the house in a hurry practically sprinting.
“In his office,” my brother says. “Alone,” he adds as I go down the hall in a mad dash. I forget that he and my mother could be completely occupied and that would force me to wait. Knocking rapidly, I don’t wait for an answer. Storming in, I take a seat nearly tipping the leather chair backward.
His eyes widen like saucers with concern. “What’s going on, son?”
“I crossed the line, but Drago crossed it first.”
“What do you mean? Drago? Your godfather and my best friend?”
“Yes. I kidnapped Natalya.” I jump out of my seat and pace in front of my father’s desk, running my fingers through my hair.
He rubs his chin. “I heard they were coming soon, but I didn’t realize they’d arrived already.”
“Anatoly told me they were coming to meet with him, just her and Mrs. Romanov, as a potential suitor.” I slam my hand on his desk.
“What?”
“Yes.”
“Well, well.” He thrusts his hands through his hair.
“This puts a riff in our friendship.” That’s an understatement.
“It does, but it doesn’t change anything. Natalya is mine, and I made it so. He has called me, but I haven’t answered it just yet because I wanted your advice.”
He releases a harsh breath. “What are your plans with her?”
I thought that was obvious. The look of insanity on my face. The risk of war with our closest family. “She’s never leaving Russia again, unless we travel together as husband and wife.”
“Well, then, I don’t see a problem. I will speak with Drago, but damn it, you couldn’t have just spoken to him?”
“I spoke with him before. I secured her safety, sent people to protect her, kept track of that stupid cunt while I hunted down our enemies, and this is how he repays me.”
“Enough, Ilya. Please take caution. She’s his baby girl, and daughters are precious. He loves you, but maybe he wanted to give her a chance to choose.” I clamp my lips shut, my face heats with rage. The thought of her wanting anyone else causes my blood pressure to rise and my jaw to clench.
“She chose me, damn it.”
“I will talk to him. Where is she?”
“In my bed, where she belongs.”
“God, we need a wedding sooner rather than later.”
