Page 79 of Crowned

“Hours. He saw me at lunch, but we didn’t meet until dinnertime.”

He and Elyah exchange dark looks. “Plenty of time for Vavilov to contact his father and tell him that he had seen you in Prague.”

“But I asked him—” I break off with a shake of my head. Of course Maxim would ignore my wishes. He was too excited by the idea of marrying me. When Maxim went missing, his father put two and two together and sent assassins after me.

Elyah pulls his wrist away from his chest and examines it. It’s already swelling, the flesh turning an angry purple. There are bruises on his handsome face as well.

I go to him, my stomach in guilty knots. “You need to go to the hospital. I’ll go with you.”

Elyah shakes his head. “This is nothing. I will have doctor look at it in London.”

Konstantin puts his hand on my shoulder and turns me toward the bedroom. “We’re leaving for London now. Go pack. Don’t argue with me.”

I nod and do what he says, stepping over bodies to get to my room. Kirill stands guard by the broken front door, his gun in his hand.

Konstantin helps me pack, holding a bag open while I fill it with leggings, sweaters, and underwear. His forehead shines with sweat and his eyes are bloodshot.

“Have you got a headache?” He shakes his head, but I know he’s lying. “I’ve got some—”

“Lilia. My headache is the last thing on my mind right now.” He glances at my belly. “Are you feeling all right?”

There are questions in his expression. Am I going to faint? Is my heart racing? I fish a handful of underwear out of a drawer and stuff them in the bag. “I’m fine.”

Kirill brings the car around to the front of the building and he and Elyah help me outside and into the vehicle. Konstantin emerges a moment later with my bags and stows them in the trunk.

Normally Elyah would drive, but he cradles his arm in the front passenger seat while Kirill drives us out of Prague.

“Get your head down,” Konstantin tells me, pulling me over his lap. “We don’t know if we’re being followed.”

There’s a sheen of sweat on Elyah’s brow as he cradles his wrist against his chest, and my heart twists. I’ve never seen him injured before. Despite all those fights in prison, I wonder if he’s ever had a broken bone.

“How far is the airport?” I ask.

“A few hours, but this private airport is safer than the international one,” Konstantin tells me, his eyes darting around the narrow streets as we drive.

My cheek is on Konstantin’s thigh and my knees are curled up. There’s silence in the car for a long time, until Kirill swears from the driver’s seat.

He steps on the gas, and we lurch forward. “There’s someone on our tail.”

Elyah glances longingly at the steering wheel, and I can tell he’s wishing his wrist wasn’t broken. “If they get close, they are going to try and shoot out the tires or run us off the road.”

Kirill breathes out fast as if he’s coming to a decision. “Okay. Then they die first.”

He puts his foot down and drives like a maniac. The car behind us accelerates as well.

I can’t see much, but Kirill takes some turns at a high speed, and soon we’re in the middle of farmland on an empty, narrow road.

“Kostya,” he says through his teeth, and I don’t know what he means.

But Konstantin does. He takes out his gun, rolls down the window, and turns in his seat.

Kirill rounds a bend, and then suddenly slows down. Konstantin takes careful aim, and fires two shots.

An engine races, tires squeal, and then there’s a horrible crunching noise.

Kirill pulls over and he and Elyah get out of the vehicle.

I slowly sit up and see that the car following us has crashed into a tree. Konstantin blew out the tires.

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