Page 18 of Forced Marriage Vows

“Your sister’s here, isn’t she? And we could catch up when you arrive. I actually have to talk to you about some stuff,” I reply vaguely.

Anthony falls quiet for a couple of seconds. “What stuff?”

I sigh. “You’ll have to come home eventually, Ant. Something big is about to happen. I can’t tell you over the phone.”

“If it’s about the Bratva, it doesn’t concern me.”

“It does, though. You know it does. Just trust me on this, alright? I’ll explain everything in person.”

He blows out a breath. “I’ll think about it.”

“Let me know when you plan to leave. I’ll send the plane. Alright?”

He doesn’t reply for the longest moment.

“Anthony?”

“I have no idea what the hell is going on,” he starts, his tone serious. “But whatever it is, keep my sister out of it. Are we clear, Mikhail?”

I grit my teeth. “Just come home.”

He hangs up and I run my hands through my hair in frustration.Yeah, I’m definitely fucked.

It’s easy to make plans and have a certain understanding of how those plans are supposed to go. Unfortunately, in reality, something always goes wrong—and once that happens, it’s impossible to predict what happens next.

Ivan calls me later that day, and while he sounds like his calm, easy-going self, there’s a slight note of panic in his voice.

“Igor knows,” he grits out. “He’s making a run for it.”

Something chilly spreads through me at that. And then the only thought at the forefront of my mind is to get to Anastasia.

CHAPTER 7

Anastasia

Fear’s not a feeling I’m accustomed to. Not when I’ve spent most of my life living in bubble wrap. My father ensured I was safe and protected, far away from the scarier parts of our world. I’m starting to think that was a mistake. Because when it all goes to shit, I’m wholly unprepared for what happens next.

“Listen to me very carefully, Ana. The meeting point is at Galena,” my dad says, listing directions to our family’s safe house. “I want you and Coda out of that house in ten minutes. Tell him to drive and keep driving. You can’t let them catch up to you.”

“Slow down, Papa. Who?” I ask, my heart racing in my chest. “You have to tell me what’s going on.”

He curses in Russian before his attention is pulled away by someone calling his name in the background. He trades a few words with this person, and I’m able to glean that he’s already out of the city.

“Papa, where are you? Are you hurt?”

“For now,zvezdochka. I’m safe for now. But it won’t be long before they come after me.”

“Who?” I ask on a sharp exhale. “Who’s coming after you?”

I whirl around when I hear the sound of the code to my apartment being entered. My stomach churns, a sick feeling washing over me.

“You can’t let him have you, Ana,” my father tells me.

“Who?” I whisper, watching the door of my apartment carefully.

“Mikhail Morozova.”

Every muscle in my body goes rigid just as the door swings open.

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