Page 84 of For a Price

I couldn’t stop the feelings from forming even if I tried.

Roman seems to feel the same. He links our fingers together, his breathing steady and his vibe calm and peaceful.

Rare for a man like him. But it’s as if he recognizes these moments between us are to be enjoyed. They’re to besavored.

I’m not sure I’ve ever been so happy…

A feeling that’s cut short minutes later as we turn down one of the last streets near Roman’s penthouse. We can’t make it any closer because it’s cordoned off by a wall of police cars and fire trucks.

I gasp and snap upright. Roman does the same, letting go of my hand.

The building, standing dozens of stories tall, has been set ablaze.

* Bura -Russian card game

CHAPTER 24

Roman

“Take Katerina to the fabrika?*.”

I don’t wait for any input as I open the car door and step onto the street.

The flames wreak havoc, burning far beyond human control, destroying the building second by second.

“Roman!” Katerina calls out, but it’s too late.

My driver obeys my wishes. He pulls a U-turn in the street and heads in the opposite direction. I stride toward the flaming chaos of emergency responders and the tall building crumbling before my eyes.

Someone set it on fire in the few short hours Katerina and I were at dinner.

They had to have known several things.

It was my place of residence. I was not home at the time, and they had to have known what would happen if they did pull off such a brazen move.

Setting someone’s home on fire is no small gesture.

It’s the biggest fucking gesture you can make if you’re trying to intimidate or assert dominance over someone. The person behind this fire wanted me to know they had access to my home;they are ready for the potential retribution I will bring, because they feel they can handle it. They feel they’re more powerful than I am.

My face darkens the closer I make it to the flames. They must reflect in my eyes as I glare up at the crumbling infrastructure.

“Sir, stand back,” orders a police officer, holding his arms out at his sides to block me. “This is a live fire that is in progress. Firefighters are currently—SIR!”

He yells some more as my body slams into his and he goes stumbling backward. Several others rush at me, throwing their arms out to subdue me with no luck. I’m twice their size, and even stronger than that.

I bulldoze through the makeshift crowd until a shaky female police officer draws her weapon and points it at me, cocking the hammer.

“Stay where you are!” she shouts, trying to make her voice more booming than it is. “Move another inch and you will be arrested!”

I stop where I am, fuming no less. Intimidating enough that she and the other officers share uncertain looks. They’re unsure if they should be apprehending me or if they should be backing off.

Reaching into my pocket, I grab my phone and dial Kazan.

“Da?” he says when he answers.

“I need you to meet me at the sovietnik’s base,” I say. “We have an important matter to discuss with him.”

“Such as?”

---