Page 56 of Beyond the Temptation: Vol 2

“Bring me the Gaheris girl.”

Fire erupts from my pores. “Absolutely fucking not.”

Her low chuckle slithers across the line. “I do not wish her harm. I simply would like to toy with Nikolai for a bit. After all, he slayed my second-in-command without so much as a courtesy call. I could have easily taken the hit on his precious child myself.”

I curse under my breath. Her grudge against Niko spans decades. She would’ve been well within her rights to accept the hit on Zasha, but much like Ava, the queen of Moscow considers flesh trade to be beneath her. If anyone can simultaneously flush out this bastard while trying to backdoor us both, it’s Oksana.

“Allow me my fun,” she says, her droll tone hitting a serious note, “and I will help you track this source you seek.”

“Fine,” I bite out.

“I will see you when you land in Moscow.” The line goes dead, tension hanging in the air as unspoken and volatile as it was twenty-five years ago.

I’m not sure how long I stand in silence, but it’s long enough that Zasha is asleep by the time I walk back inside. Trudging upstairs, I open the guest room door and watch her dream.

For the moment, we’re aligned, but now that the Karpov Bratva is involved, anything can happen. I owe them a blood debt, and if I’m not careful, the payment will be Zasha.

CHAPTER TEN

MIKHAIL

Dawn is still struggling to break over the horizon as I lumber down the stairs and into the living room, my backpack slung over my shoulder. I’m a few feet away from the front door when a hand brushes my shoulder.

“Where are you going?”

Years of training kick in, and I grab the wrist, twisting until the intruder is bent over the coffee table.

“Mik!” Zasha shouts. “You’re hurting me.”

I blink, releasing her as if I’ve touched fire. However, Zasha quickly recovers and comes barreling toward me.

“I asked you a question.”

“Moscow.” That’s all I should say, but my mouth keeps moving. “I have a contact there who can help locate the source of the hit.” I throw my backpack over my shoulder. “You are safe here. I swear it.”

There’s a moment of weighted silence before it’s crushed by the sharp clarity sweeping across her eyes. “You called my father, you son of a bitch.”

“No, I have not.” Not yet, at least.

“Mik!” She grabs my arm as I reach for the door.

Spinning her around, I slam her back against the wood. “This is where we end, lisichka. You may be royalty here, but in my world, you are a payout.”

“So you’re just leaving me here?” she screeches.

Lights flicker on as a pissed-off congressman stumbles into the room, half-dressed and pointing a gun. “What the hell is all this?”

One look into the eyes of a man who knows not to question me is all it takes. Before Zasha can move, Daniel has a hand around her waist and is pulling her back as she claws at his skin.

“Let me go, you bastard!”

“She’d better be worth it, Drozdov,” he warns, grunting as she kicks him in the shin.

I glance at my lisichka one last time. “She is worth everything.”

By the time I make it to the airport, Niko is blowing up my phone with calls and texts, each one becoming increasingly more violent. I delete the last message, preferring not to re-read how he plans to sever multiple parts of my body and shove them down my throat.

It’s safe to assume he’s seen the video.

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