Page 55 of About Love and Revenge

This time it's not working.

At night, in the bedroom, with my eyes either closed or open, it's her face that I see.

How she gave herself to me without any shame.

Surrendered herself, passionately.

I need her.

I should go home when the plane lands in New York, but I know I won't.

At least for one night, I will leave my past locked away. I don't want to go home and find the emptiness that is my life.

I look at the clock. I'll arrive in Manhattan at dawn.

Will she welcome me?

I don't have much time to think about it, because my cell phone rings and I see it's Grigori.

“Something’s happened.” He doesn't need to say anything else to let me know it's about Elina.

“How is she?”

“At home, but I think I'll take her to a hotel.”

“Don't beat around the bush. Tell me at once what the hell happened.”

“She's not talking to me, and she refuses to see a doctor.”

“Doctor?”

“Someone broke into her apartment and almost kidnapped her. When I went to check on her earlier today, she asked me to take her to a fair that she had seen in a movie or whatever. None of the men assigned to escort her bothered to leave anyone guarding the apartment, and when they returned, only two of them went upstairs with her.”

“Fire them.”

“Calm down. I’ve already solved the issue. Apparently, they thought there wasn’t any danger, but they weren't being paid to assume anything. They failed.”

I unbuckle my seat belt and pace around the plane.

“To make a long story short, there was a big fight because our people were outnumbered.”

"How did they get into the building? What about the doorman? The cameras?”

“We don't know yet.”

"How did they stop them from taking her?"

“Your . . .girlis a warrior. She fought as long as she could, which gave one of our men time to warn the others, but when they got there, the invaders managed to escape. As for their identity, I'm pretty sure they came at the sheik's order.”

“How hurt is she?”

“She’s got scratches on her face and arms because she fell when she struggled to free herself from her attackers, but I can't be sure about the rest. I'm with her, but she refuses to talk to me.”

“Take her to my apartment. It's not safe to leave her there or in a hotel.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Yeah. Say it's a direct order from me.”

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