Page 22 of Tangled Vows

These words are on the tip of my tongue. They’re about to spill out; yet I keep them in at the last second. My brain is stuck at what he said before that.

“We both want to date you.”

Huge waves of excitement wash over me. My whole body is tingling with anticipation, waves of arousal rolling over me.

I don’t have to choose.

I repeat that a few times in my head, trying to believe it.

I can have them both?

And they won’t bite each other’s head off?

I must be the luckiest woman in the world.

I squeeze my lips together and draw in a sharp breath. Try as I might, however, I just can’t hide my feelings. I grin from ear to ear and clutch his wrist as I lean in. Kissing him on the cheek, I pull back, my heart pounding in my chest.

“First of all, let me say I’m glad you and Ivan didn’t end up fighting over me,” I say in a steady tone. “Second? Dating you both sounds nice. I never wanted to choose between you two. I’ll let you know if anything changes, but I doubt it. I guess I like you guys too much.”

“Fair enough,” he says, taking me by the hand. “You asked me where to. You still want to know?”

“Yeah.”

“To the beach,” he reveals. “No loud venues tonight. Just you, me and the ocean.”

“To the beach, then.” I smile as the two of us pass by his two men at the entrance. We leave the property, my eyes spotting a silver BMW M3 a few yards down the street. Having had a soft spot for sports cars for years, it would have been impossible for me not to recognize one of my favorite ones.

“She’s beautiful,” I tell him, approaching the fancy vehicle.

“I’m glad you like her,” he says, pressing the unlock button on his key fob. “You’ll be seeing her—”

Leonid doesn’t get the time to finish his sentence. In an instant, the ground vibrates beneath my feet. A tremendous blast roars through the neighborhood, a blinding flash forcing me to thrust my arm up to shield my eyes. A huge fireball erupts from the vehicle, sending its roof high into the air. Windows and windscreens alike shatter into millions of pieces as shockwaves throw my body backwards. My arms flailing in mid-air, my eyes open wide.

My back slams into a hard surface, stars filling my vision. My body tumbles to the ground, the world around me fading into darkness. Leonid’s cries storm through my ears, and I come to a stop just inches from the side of a white pickup truck. I blink one last time, watching the flames consume the frame of the car.

Chapter Eleven

Ivan

My buzzing cell phone ruins my sleep.

With my eyes shut, I reach over to the nightstand. My fingers brush the plastic and drag it across the surface before I swipe my thumb across the screen.

“What...?”

“Ivan, it’s me!” I recognize Malachi’s voice. I shake my head and open my eyes to slits to look at the screen. The caller ID confirms it. “Leonid’s hurt—Clare, too! Someone put a bomb in his car!”

“What?!” I yell, my senses awakening in a flash. “What did you just say?”

“Bomb, Ivan,” he repeats. “They weren’t in the car when it went off, but they’re both wounded. We’re taking them to the Mount Sinai Hospital; we couldn’t wait for an ambulance.”

“Fuck!” I curse, tossing the phone across the bed. I jump up and hit the light switch on the wall behind me, my brain moving into overdrive. Son of a bitch... Leonid must have let his guard down. Clare must have distracted him too much, and he got sloppy. Nothing else makes sense. He wasn’t paying attention; that’s how the Armenians managed to plant a bomb in his car. They followed him all the way to the safe house and detonated it at the right time to take him and Clare out.

Everything is a blur during my frantic drive to the hospital. Any vehicles along the way are just obstacles I need to overtake in order to get to my brother and Clare. I torture the horn, keeping my palm on top of it and pressing it every five or ten seconds. My foot is hard on the accelerator, my heart racing like I’ve just completed a fucking sprint.

My Benz rolls through the gate of the hospital, and I have to swerve to the right to avoid an oncoming Cadillac. I ditch the car in the parking lot before pulling my phone out of my jacket pocket.

“Ivan, you’re here already?”

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