Page 52 of Unleashed

He pauses, looking at me with something between surprise and suspicion. But before he can answer, his phone rings, shattering the moment. His face goes dark as he listens, and I catch only fragments of the conversation before he hangs up.

“Romanovs… cartel… missing sister…”

The words chill me. They strike something deep, something that pulses with familiarity, even as it leaves me more lost than ever.

“Romanovs?” I whisper, my voice barely audible, but Rafail’s grip on me tightens as he meets my gaze, his eyes cold, guarded. "We need to movenow," Rafail says, taking my hand.

"What happened?" I ask, hobbling toward the car on my crutches, but he has no patience for my slowness. He sweeps me up off my feet and holds me with one arm against his chest while he takes my crutches in his meaty hand.

"A rival group is moving against us. I feared this—that once word got out I was married and we left the house, we’d have some pushback. We have no fucking time to waste. I need to move. We need to secure you and everybody else at the house."

My heart pounds. Is this the new life that I lead? Leaping from question to question without ever having answers? Moving from one dangerous scenario to the next?

My leg throbs under the weight of the cast as he speeds back home in silence.

“We had a driver on the way here.”

“We did. I dismissed him. We need to drive fast, and that’s on me.”

I nod silently, gripping the door until my knuckles turn white. He drives at a breakneck pace, breathtakingly precise, pressing the gas without a hint of hesitation. Each curve is taken with terrifying speed, his control effortless, as if he knows exactly how far he can push us. The sharp turns press me into my seat with the force of a roller coaster. It’s not just the speed that astounds me—it’s the sheer certainty in his every move as though the rules don’t apply to him.

It's exhilarating yet terrifying. My mind races as the car’s wheels spin, and we hurtle toward home.

Whyis he still wholly unfamiliar to me? Even if he was someone who I was running from, I should have some recollection of him… Shouldn't I?

The doctor’s words linger in my mind.

There’s no promise of a full recovery.

Your memories are fractured.

Stress, trauma, trying too hard… all can complicate your recovery.

The sound of booming gunfire shatters my thoughts. Instinctively, Rafail grabs for me and shoves me to the floor while keeping effortless control of the car. I scream, and my leg slams against my cast.

An explosion rips through the air just behind us, and Rafail turns the wheel so hard I’m pressed to the ground with the weight of gravity. My heart thunders in my chest, adrenaline flooding me as the sound of bullets ping off the car.

"Stay down!” Rafail barks at me, his voice sharp and controlled. Panic rises in my chest. I’m shaking. I watch as he continues to effortlessly guide us to a stop. My mind reels.

We’re being shot at, and instead of outrunning them, he’sstopping?I watch in breathless silence as he pushes my head down with one hand and opens the glove compartment. It clicks shut. I stare up at him holding a huge black handgun, its cannon-like barrel glinting in the overhead light. My mind snaps to attention because I know exactly what it is—aDesert Eagle. I’ve held one before, its recoil so strong as to make it almost unusable except to the strongest and most capable of shooters. The way he casually wields it makes it look like a child’s plaything in his hand, his finger already on the trigger as his dark eyes narrow with cold decision, the promise of violence spiraling out of him like an uncontrollable wave of hatred and death.

I cling to his arm and watch him scan our surroundings.

Why is this… vaguely familiar to me? Why do I feel this has happened before? A memory flashes through my mind, familiar faces I can’t place, and a name…

Polina…

Myname.

It was my name from a different place in time. I feel as if I've been rebirthed into a second life, as if I've been reincarnated into who I am now.

Voices sound all around us, but my head is spinning as I try to focus.

“Stay down,” he growls. His body presses against mine, keeping me behind him. One hand is flat on my chest, holding me in place before he goes back to gripping his gun with deadly precision.

Tires screech toward us. My heart stutters, and he throws me his phone. It’s on speakerphone, Semyon’s name at the top. “They’re coming in at three o’clock,” he yells. “Stopthem.”

A deafening boom like a cannon sounds ahead of us. Someone screams with maniacal glee, and Rafail shakes his head, cursing.Rodion.

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