Page 73 of Shackled

I nestle against his chest, feeling the rapid beating of his heart.

“No,” I whisper. “Got anything you need to ask?”

He sighs. “No. I don’t want to lose you, Isabella.”

“We’re going to make this work.”

He nods, stroking his fingers lazily through my tangled hair. “I have to go. That call was urgent. I need to meet one of my men.”

“Javier?” I ask.

“Yeah.”

I swallow. “Can I go?”

Shaking his head, he holds me to his chest. “I wish you could. You’re safer here for now.”

For now.

I don’t want to see him go.

I can’t explain it, but it feels like if I let him go out that door… he’ll never come back.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Lev

Fuck it. He can wait until the morning.

I don’t want to leave her. Not like this.

I fall asleep with Isabella in my arms. I dream we’re back on the island, just the two of us. I roll over, and she turns to me, her hand on her belly.

“I have good news,” she tells me.

“You’re having a baby?”

She nods. “I don’t want to fear this anymore. I don’t want to fear us. I am ready for the next step.”

A sudden explosion shatters our peace. The glass in the window flies into the room. She screams and falls to the floor. I cover her with my body.

I wake in a cold sweat. Isabella’s beside me, wide awake. “Lev? What happened? Are you alright?”

Fuck, it was just a dream. Just a dream.

I am not alright.

I reach for the water on the bedside table and take a sip as she lies beside me and falls back asleep. I look at her flat belly.

She isn’t pregnant.

Where has my mind gone? God, we need to get rid of Javier. The road before us is so fucking fraught.

I stare at the ceiling, unable to fall back asleep, when my phone buzzes. I glance at the screen.

Dmitri Petrov… our mole within Javier’s LSD.

What time do we meet?

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