Page 110 of Sinful Promise

Roman, Francesca, and Irina crack up. Dmitry, Nikolay, and Alex are laughing, too.

“What’s so funny?” I ask.

Roman comes close to me and leans in close. “That knot is used for bondage,” he whispers.

My eyes must have grown ten sizes larger. “Oh.”

The house is in a shambles.

“Lucky for you, Roman, your wine collection is safe,” Alex says, looking around.

“It can all be replaced,” he replies. He turns to me. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. I even shot a guy. He’s in the kitchen. I made sure he wasn’t getting up again.”

“Good girl.” He beams and pulls me into his arms.

The tension in my body evaporates. I’m safe.

“Andrian is dead, and your brother is being traded to your father for a million dollars,” Roman informs me.

I'm blown away. Speechless.

Albert won’t look at me as Roman’s men escort him out of the house. Vlad enters, and I’m stunned.

“What’s going on?” I’m confused.

“I helped Roman. I never wanted you to go to Andrian. I hated him.”

I hug him. “I thought you hated me.”

“It was a cover to eventually get us away from Andrian.” My brother hugs me back.

I cling to him in shock.

“Hey, we have to get moving. The cleaners are coming to deal with all this. We need to get the fuck out of here,” Alex informs us, ending a conversation with someone on his phone.

* * *

As we allshower and change to attend the gala, Roman fills me in on the back story. It appears that Vlad is the one who helped me escape the church.

Roman sent men to Belarus to find Vlad. He confessed that he had convinced Albert to chase me in the car but pretended the car didn’t start because it was old. He also downloaded a virus on my father’s computer so he wasn’t able to get GPS tracking on the chip in my ring until long after it was off the grid.

“He never told you about the chip because he knew it would push you over the edge, and you’d never be allowed out of the house.” Roman ends the story on this note.

“Jesus,” I huff, gliding a blush stick over my cheeks. The shimmery formula catches the light in the room and makes my face shine.

I step into my gown and zip it. Roman is dressed in a tux and smells like summer with a hint of tobacco.

“You are so beautiful, Dasha,” he says. “I’m really impressed with your shooting, too.”

I roll my eyes. “Just what I wanted to hear.”

He pulls me close. “It’s a compliment. I’ve never had these feelings for anyone else. You know me. All of me, the billionaire and the criminal. What do you think of it?”

“Like it’s a few bars above what I’ve ever known in all areas, and some of those areas are heavenly.”

“Okay,” he replies.

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