Page 112 of For a Price

“It’s only a graze. But I asked you a question first. Are you alright, Katerina? Are you hurt anywhere?”

Again, she can’t seem to meet my gaze. Instead of diverting to my wounded arm, she closes her eyes altogether. “I… please let it be over.”

Her voice cracks getting the words out.

I decide not to push her on it.

We’re speeding away in the Hummer and some of my men are within earshot. She’s still in the degrading outfit they’ve made her wear… which isn’t much of an outfit at all. I tug off my crewneck t-shirt and pull it over her head to cover her up. The fabric is tight and clingy on my broad, muscular build but like a loose dress on her.

For the rest of the ride, silence engulfs the Hummer.

No one follows us. We’re able to leave the city of Easton without any trouble.

Which tells me the leadership at the Midnight Society decided it was against their best interest to put up more of a fight than what happened in the theater room. It tells me likely out of respect for the pakhan they let one of his captains escape.

…unless it was the pakhan’s orders that made them stand down.

He had been so cool and unfazed through it all that there’s no telling what the fuck’s going on. Why was he visiting the Midnight Society in the first place?

He claimed the shows were very good.

It’s true that the bratva participates in the flesh trade like many organized crime syndicates do. But we usually do it without the fanfare of live shows, where human beings are sold at auction.

One thing has become certain through this situation.

The secret I was seeking to protect is out now.

He knows Katerina is mine. He could possibly know she was involved in the kidnapping attempt.

It’s a precarious position to be in, both the pakhan and the sovietnik aware of my greatest weakness of all.

Once we finally reach the latest base of operations me and my crew will be using, we get out of the Hummers and head inside. Kazan is at my side almost immediately, briefing me about the mission he’d gone on to collect info about the sovietnik’smovements.

I’m only half-listening. I stop short and look over to make sure Katerina’s with us.

She’s several steps out of pace, trailing behind like a reluctant kitten. I can’t listen to intelligence briefings when she’s like this.

Though she’s said nothing specific, I can tell she’s unwell.

“I’ll find you in the war room,” I say to him. “I have other things to address first.”

“Zver, we really need to?—”

“War room, Shram. You fucking heard me the first time.”

Once Kazan and a couple of my other men have walked off, I grab Katerina’s hand.

“Come, devochka. I’ll show you where we’ll be sleeping.”

Holding her hand in mine marks a first time in my life that I’m confronted by a sobering truth I thought could never come true. I could possibly lose this fight because I’ve allowed my feelings to color every move I make.

Rather than attend a crucial intel briefing, I’m choosing to spend alone time with her. Is there any clearer sign?

Yet as I steer Katerina toward our private chambers, I regret nothing.

I’m a powerful man who has made an age-old mistake. I’ve allowed myself to fall in love with a woman. Even if she might not realize it yet.

* Poydem -let’s go

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