Page 123 of Sinful Wrath

“Oh fuck.”

I’m pregnant.

But I don’t have a chance for the news to sink in as a huge crash reverberates through the house, and I jump, the test slipping through my fingers as I clutch the locket around my neck.

Glass shatters somewhere.

“What the fuck?”

Something’s wrong.

“Mikhail,” I breathe.

I throw open the bathroom door and rush across the room.

Peeling open my bedroom door, I catch the sound of shouting coming from the foyer followed by loud grunts and more crashes as furniture is thrown about.

“Mikhail?” I call out.

A gunshot echoes from somewhere downstairs followed by the heavy thud of a body hitting the floor.

“No!” I sob as I race down the hallway toward the stairs.

The huge window that looks out over the driveway shatters as more bullets are fired, and I fall to the ground, throwing my arms over my head to shield myself.

This can’t be happening.

Not again.

I can’t lose Mikhail too.

Panting, I crawl forward and peer through the railings to see if I can see him.

Every one of the guards has been slaughtered, their blood staining the marble floor, but there’s no sign of Mikhail.

I swallow a sob as I reach for my phone.

I can only hope he’s still in the city. At least that way he won’t have to bear witness to my death if he can’t reach me in time.

My thoughts stray to the positive test and for a moment, an image of what could have been flashes in my mind. Of Mikhail and me cuddling up together in his movie room with our kids as we watch old black and white films.

“Come back for me,” I sob.

My fingers are shaking so badly I can barely unlock my phone, but I manage to load up my call list.

Just as I’m about to click on Mikhail’s name, the deviceis knocked out of my hand, and I cry out as something sharp collides with the side of my head.

There’s nothing but pain before everything goes black.

28

MIKHAIL

I standin the doorway of the damp cell, staring at the lifeless body of Maxim Ivanov.

“Do you think we should send him to Igor as a message?” Feliks asks.

The bullet wound in his shoulder makes his movements a bit stiffer, but Feliks takes it without complaint.

---