Page 130 of Sinful Betrayal

I glance inside, and Mikhail sits behind the wheel. His hair is caked in blood, and he has a nasty bruise blooming on his cheek.

“Nina.” Mikhail dips his chin at me.

I don’t know Mikhail well at all, but I’m hoping this is his way of calling a truce.

“I’ll be right back.” Anton presses a kiss to my forehead. “Stay with Mikhail?—”

Anton doesn’t have a chance to finish his sentence.

One minute I’m about to climb into the passenger seat of the car, and the next I’m thrown to the floor, and Anton is shielding me with his body as the warehouse explodes right in front of us.

I cry out, clinging to Anton as my ears start to ring.

Scraps of metal rain down around us, and the smell of smoke hits my nose as a rush of heat swarms us from the flames.

“Anton,” I whimper.

“I’ve got you.” He holds my head against his chest, covering my ears from the noise.

I try to focus on the beat of his heart in my hand, using the rhythm to stay calm, to reassure myself that he’s alive and breathing.

For a moment, everything goes quiet except for the ringing in my ears. It’s as if someone pressed pause on the world, and my body is trying to catch up to the reality of what just happened.

I’m alive.

I pull back from Anton to see that the entire structure of the warehouse has collapsed.

I clutch my throat as I realize how close Anton and I came to being caught in that explosion.

Whoever set it off likely did it to ensure that there would be no survivors.

“Oh my god,” I breathe as I slowly climb to my feet.

Men who managed to get out in time start shouting and running toward the wreck.

I catch the sound of Mikhail’s voice as he yells at Anton, but it’s like they are underwater.

“Nina.” It’s Anton garbled voice, but I barely hear him as I stare wide-eyed at the warehouse that has been engulfed by flames. The warehouse where my father was passed out.

30

ANTON

I wantedto make Igor Ivanov fucking suffer for his crimes. I wanted to take my time, slicing him up piece by piece, until I had him begging me for mercy.

I wanted pain to be his final memory, like it was for my aunt and uncle.

So, as I drive Nina away from the wreckage of his warehouse, I don’t feel relief that he might finally be gone. Instead, I feel pure, undiluted rage.

“Anton?” Nina whispers.

She keeps saying my name, as if she can’t quite believe that I’m here.

I know she’s thinking about how close we both came to being caught in that wreckage, and that thought keeps running through my mind too.

I almost lost her,again.

I squeeze her hand, which I haven’t let go off since we got in the car, in the hope that it will bring her some comfort as I drive us to the hospital.

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