Page 113 of Sinful Scars

How the hell are we going to get out of this?

Lev might have stocked this underground bunker with supplies, but it won’t be long until Igor turns the place upside down and finds the hidden door.

If only I could have gotten a message to Mikhail?—

“Oh, my god,” I whisper.

“What?”

“Mikhail put a tracker on my phone.”

“I’m confused.”

“After I got my phone back from the bar, he insisted on checking it for bugs as well as putting a tracker on it as he said the location app can be hacked. It was in case something like the kidnapping happened again. But I don’t have any signal here…”

“Mikhail would have planned for that. I wouldn’t put it past him to already be on his way here with Alexei and the others.”

“Do you think so?” A slight inkling of hope starts to build.

“It’s highly possible.”

I don’t miss the curt tone of his voice as he speaks of Mikhail.

“What is it?” I pull back just enough so I can see his face.

“I hate that I’m not enough to keep you safe,” He averts his eyes from mine. “But I promise you, I will do whatever it takes to protect you, Elle. Even if it costs me my own life, I’ll do it. Because without you, my life is worth nothing to me.”

His eyes flick down to mine, and my breath catches in my throat as I stare into them.

Despite everything he’s done, I can’t help but believe him.

“Lev…”

“I love you, Elle. I always have, and I always will.”

28

LEV

I reckonthere’s at least four men up there. I haven’t heard Igor’s voice in what feels like hours, but knowing him, he’s likely left his lackeys on babysitting duty so he can go and get even bigger reinforcements.

It’s hard to tell how long we’ve been trapped down here in my little underground bunker, but I have a feeling Elle and I won’t be leaving any time soon. At least, not until Igor decides to come back.

I can only imagine what he’ll do to us when he learns we’ve been hiding out right under his very nose all this time. I just have to hope that Mikhail decides to check Elle’s location before it comes to that.

I hate that I’m having to rely on the Koslovs to come and get us out of this mess, but right now, we have no other choice.

If it was just me, I would have grabbed one of the guns I have stored down here and walked straight into the line of fire.

But I can’t do that. It would leave Elle completely unprotected, and I’m not going to risk her life like that.

I never should have left my car outside the cabin. I was too focused on getting Elle inside that I didn’t make sure to cover my tracks. It was irresponsible of me, and now it might just cost me everything.

Igor knows that I can’t be far away, and somehow, he knows that Elle is with me. Though I have no idea how.

But I guess that doesn’t really matter. All that matters is making sure he doesn’t get his hands on her.

My jaw aches from clenching it so hard as I tighten my arms around her trembling body.

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