Page 16 of Ruthless Vows

“Find her. As soon as possible.”

I’m about to return to the suite when Ruslan’s phone rings. He answers it, and after a couple seconds of listening to what’s on the other side, his eyes meet mine.

“We’ve got to return to Chicago. Your brother’s caused trouble again.”

Those words are completely effective in pushing all thoughts of Lucia to the back of my mind. Family has always been a complicated subject to me. Especially considering my one and only family member has made it his life’s mission to be a constant pain in my ass.

“Let’s go.”

I leave New York an hour later. If Lucia chose to leave, then she must not be interested in pursuing anything further between us.

Which is a damn shame. And problematic for me. I’ve never been good at letting go of the things I want.

And now that I’ve had a taste of her, it’ll be nearly impossible for me to forget about her. If I want to have her, though, I needto be strategic. Lest I start something that could ruin everything I’ve ever built for myself.

CHAPTER 5

Lucia

Pressing my phone against my ear with my shoulder, I slam my car door shut while holding a cup of coffee with my other hand.

“You’re being dramatic,sorella,” I say, shaking my head.

My sister probably called as soon as she woke up this morning. I’ve been up for a couple of hours. I had to be, considering my plan to sneak out of that hotel room at the crack of dawn. I feel a little terrible about it, but it was the right thing to do. Mind-blowing sex or not, Ivan Volkov doesn’t seem like the kind of man I should be entangled with.

I had a night of fun that I can look back on fondly. That’s all that matters. I don’t regret what happened, I just don’t fancy being caught in a web with a man who has so much darkness surrounding him.

“Dramatic?” Aurora screeches. “You’re the one having sex with men you don’t know.”

I sigh softly. Owing to the fact that Aurora was instrumental in raising me, she sometimes acts more like my mother than my sister.

“It’s called a one-night stand, Rory. Look it up. They’re fun, you should try it sometime.”

“Not only am I married, I would also not ever be caught dead doing something so reckless,” my sister scolds.

“You’re judgy this morning,” I say on a laugh. “Pregnancy hormones?”

“No! And I hate that every burst of emotion from me these past few months has been relegated to being caused by my pregnancy. I’m a human being; I can be pissed without it being related to the child currently growing in my belly.”

“Okay, fine. I apologize. You’re allowed to be as angry as you want at me. It has nothing to do with my precious nephew.”

“Exactly,” she mutters. “Now back to your behavior, missy.”

I lean against a pillar in the underground parking garage, deciding to finish this conversation before heading up to my office.

“Aurora, let it go.”

“No. You seriously need to learn to be careful, Lucia. What if that man had ended up being a serial killer? You said he had bodyguards. What kind of person moves around New York with bodyguards?”

I shrug. “A rich person. Oooh, maybe he works in government, a politician?”

“You gave you a name, right? Look him up,” Aurora suggests.

“I already tried. Nothing came up.”

“And that doesn’t raise any red flags?”

“Of course it does,” I answer cheerfully. “Which is why I’m not going to see him again.”

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