Page 8 of Protected Hearts

In a slick move, the man next to him withdrew his weapon and trained it on Oaks.

He’d been on the other end of a barrel more times than he could count, and he didn’t even blink at the threat. He withdrew his wallet and flipped it open. Swiping a finger into one of the pockets, he picked out the exact ID he needed.

Without glancing down at it to ensure he pulled the right one, he held it out to Vanya with all the confidence that he employed in the days of special ops missions.

The name on the ID brought a wolfish smile to Vanya’s face, and no wonder. Oaks had spent months cultivating that identity to use in cases just like this.

The man on the ID had a dark reputation and a darker past. It also carried enough weight to get what he wanted.

And what he wanted was the woman.

Chapter Three

In what felt like nanoseconds, Shiloh was laced into the corset dress. It crushed her ribs so tightly she couldn’t breathe. Tons of feathers clamped around the high neck and hugged her from the thighs down. Even the stupid sleeves were ringed in feathers.

Her state of discomfort was bad enough, but what was the military guy from the street doing here? WithVanya?

Her mind did a loop the loop, and her stomach plunged on another trip on the terrifying rollercoaster that had become her life.

Plastering her palms over her chest, she wheezed, “Can’t…breathe!”

The two women who’d squeezed her into the dress looked at her impassively. It had taken Shiloh all of two seconds to surmise that she had no allies in them, and now her belief couldn’t be more accurate.

One of them walked forward and took her by the arm. The other opened the door, granting her a direct view of the room across the hallway.

Two men stood with their heads together, and they didn’t give her a moment’s notice.

As she was shoved into the room with them, they broke apart.

Her heart took off at a rapid pace, threatening a heart attack any moment despite her young age.

Oh god. Vanya wore a fine suit. He was her groom.

Fuck no.

She wasnotmarrying this man. She would rather be hitched to William—at least she had enough dirt on him to force him to let her go. Vanya was a wild card.

She shifted her stare to the man beside him, the one piercing her in his deep gray, too-familiar stare. The man from the street.

Vanya said something to him in Russian, and the man responded in kind.

Shiloh’s gut clenched hard enough to force a sour taste into her mouth.

He wasn’t American at all. In that moment of desperation when she was trying to escape William, she’d made the wrong decision asking him for help.

Alarm made her breaths come fast and hard. She was going to hyperventilate, and she would die in a shroud of feathers.

Vanya caught her attention. “Change of plan. You’re going to marry Matvey.”

Matvey? Why did that name sound so familiar to her? Was he one of William’s colleagues she’d never met in person?

She took a step back. Why, she had no clue, because running in this tight dress was impossible. Escape, futile.

The devil she knew and the devil she didn’t were in cahoots. Not even William—if he was even still here—would be able to save her now.

The muscled man moved to stand in front of her. His penetrating gaze seemed to sharpen on her, sending even more dread through her system.

When he took her hands in his, she didn’t even realize another man had joined them in the room. When she saw how he was dressed, dizziness made her head swirl.

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