Page 46 of The Bratva's Hostage Bride

As much as I appreciate her stopping by and can understand Luka’s state of mind this morning, shootings at estates are not on my bingo card. Neither was kidnapping or forced marriage.

I need Luka to divorce me.

Now.

I go to my room and pack my bag with a few things before leaving the house. I’m surprised there aren’t more guards, but then again, I don’t think they expect me just to leave. I walk down the open driveway and out onto the road. I use Google Maps to find my way to the nearest bus stop, checking the schedule carefully.

I wait for my bus, and once it arrives, I get on and find a seat. This bus stops right by Luka’s casino. I try to clear my head while the bus drives through Vegas while keeping an eye on the map on my phone so I can hop off at the right stop.

I need to be firm with Luka. Tell him exactly what I want and why I know we can’t be together. I need to make him see reason and annul the wedding. There’s still time to do that. I glance around the bus, and it suddenly dawns on me how out in the open I am.

Who can live like that? Constantly looking over their shoulders to see if you’re going to be attacked.

My phone announces the stop approaching, and I get up and make my way to the front of the bus. As it stops, I hop off, and I’m careful to make sure no one follows me.

I walk up to the casino and look around the parking lot—nothing out of the ordinary. I spot Monty having a cigarette near Luka’s car, and I avert my eyes, not wanting him to recognize me and force me to go home.

I walk into the casino and look around. It looks exactly as it did the night of the party. You would never have said that the place was shot up, not that I saw it post-shooting, but from what I gathered, there was a lot of damage.

I walk further in, but I can’t see Luka. He must be in the VIP section. I don’t know how I’m going to get in there.

A large hand comes down on my shoulder, and I jump out of my skin. It’s Monty.

“You gave me a heart attack,” I say breathlessly.

“Are you looking for Mr. Milov?” he asks. “He’s in the VIP section. I can take you to him.”

“Please,” I say earnestly. “I need to talk to him.”

He nods and leads me to the VIP section, where we pass more guards. I’m surprised the casino is so full in the middle of the day, but then again, this is Vegas—it’s a tourist hot spot.

We walk into the VIP section and toward where Luka was sitting the first night I was here. I see some women near him arguing with each other. The music isn’t on, so I can hear they’re bickering over who gets to be with Luka.

That gets my blood boiling. All this, and the fucker is going to cheat on me. I stop dead in my tracks to listen to the outcome, but I’m surprised when Luka announces that he’s not going to be with anyone but his wife.

I feel a little smug, I won’t lie. But that just raises the confusion inside of me. I want to divorce Luka, but I don’t like the idea of another woman being near him. Surely, I can’t have both. Can I?

I walk up to him, and when he sees me, he stands up. “Hannah.”

“Luka,” I say calmly. “Is there somewhere we can talk in private?”

“Yes, of course. My office. This way.” He puts a hand on the small of my back and gestures the way with his other hand. I walk ahead and hear the girls whining that he’s leaving. That’s right, he’s leaving. With me.

We walk into his office, and he shuts the door.

“Listen, before you go off at me. I want to apologize.” He walks in front of me and leans against his desk. “I didn’t mean to scare you this morning. I didn’t mean to sound angry. I was just so worried about you. I don’t want to control you, Hannah. I just want to be with you.”

I look around his office, crossing my arms in front of me. “I don’t know if this is a good idea anymore, Luka. Asher told me what happened this morning.”

“She let me know after she left. I had a suspicion you would come down here.” He crosses one leg over another and rests his hands on the desk. “I just don’t want you to be hurt, Hannah. I promise that is all I want.”

I believe him. As crazy as it is, when I look into his eyes, I believe him. His eyes are so intense that I look away, but he’s not letting me go that easily. He crosses the space between us and tilts my head up so he can look into my eyes.

“Please forgive me,” he says softly. “I would never want to hurt you.”

“Luka,” I say softly, but before I can say anything further, he plays our little game.

“Hannah,” he murmurs before he kisses me.

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