Page 101 of Untamed

My memory drifts to the times I let my family down, some of them not too recent.

If Ihadn’t,I never would’ve been in California. I might have never met Ember. Still, the sting of being the goddamn black sheep of the family lingers, and I know I’m doing it all over again.

I told Ember this was temporary, knowing full well a temporary marriage to Bratva’s an impossibility.

“Hey,” I call out louder this time. I want to touch her again and drown out the memories of the past and the fear of the future. Turning to me, she gives me a little wave.

“Morning. Hey, aren’t you Russians super superstitious?” When she cocks her head to the side like that, she looks so innocent.

“Yeah, why?”

“Shouldn’t we, like, not see each other on our wedding day?”

“Too late for that now.” I push out of bed and head to her.

“But what if our future is doomed now?” That sweet little pucker between her brows...

Our future.Let’s stay here a minute.

“Then I guess we’d better make use of the time we have together before doom sets in.” I bend and kiss her bare shoulder, where the tee’s fallen down. Her eyes flutter closed as I kiss her neck next, my hands anchored on the warm softness of her hips.

“What time is it?”

“Eight thirty-two.”

Eight.

Eight?

“Fuck!”

I let her go like she’s branded me and turn to head to my phone. “Rafail said to be ready by nine at the latest. Sending a car to take us to the Romanov estate.”

Oh god.

“Rodion!” Her eyes widen in panic as she tosses the brush down and looks around the room wildly. “What do I wear? You didn’t tell me!”

Stifling a groan, she runs into the room and rummages through her things.

“Doesn’t matter. They’ll have everything there.” I’m checking my phone to make sure I didn’t fuck something else up, reading through the messages from my sisters. They’ve got shit sorted with Rafail’s wifePolina and her mother, the Romanov matriarch.

My phone is ringing, Ember’s flying around the room trying to get her shit together, and I’m cursing myself for not getting my ass out of bed earlier. I don’t want to start our day like this.

She’ll fucking lose her mind when she realizes our wedding isn’t temporary, and it feels like all of this is an omen.

“What?” I snap into the phone. Rafail, of course.

I hear him blow out a breath on the line and mentally curse myself for not keeping my shit together. I expect him to tell me to get us outside because they’re waiting for us, but he doesn’t.

“We’ve got bad news, brother.”

Ember looks at me, and I look back at her as I listen. I stand up straighter. If anyone’s going to hurt her, if anyone’s planning on?—

“Yeah?”

Rafail doesn’t speak right away, and that’s what sets me off. He’s not the type to hesitate. Not unless it’s something big—something that could derail everything.

“Rodion.” His voice drops, low and sharp. “Her fucking brother’s here.”

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