Page 45 of Ruthless Bonds

I dropped the phone on the ground, struggling to find my breath. Dove gripped my shoulders and squeezed until I was looking directly into her eyes. She inhaled deeply through her nose and exhaled through her mouth, shaking me gently until I did the same. After a few heartbeats, I felt myself calming down enough to stand and grab a towel from the bathroom. I dropped it over Dario’s head and sat on the couch with Dove, waiting for Kreos.

Time seemed to slow down, each minute feeling like an eternity. There was a pounding at the door exactly ten minutes later, and we both stood. Before Icould even take a step, the door flew open and Kreos stormed in, Gavriil following behind him.

Kreos’ eyes were wild when they met mine, and he stalked over to me and pulled me into his arms. I stiffened for a brief second before letting myself relax in his embrace. I hadn’t been expecting that from him. He whispered into my ear, saying something in Russian that I didn’t understand, but it was soothing me anyways. My head lay against his chest, his heart beating uncontrollably.

“What happened?” Gavriil asked.

Dove typed on her phone and showed it to him.

“He tried to rape her, and you hit him with the bat?” Gavriil walked over and lifted the towel over Dario’s face. “Good.”

Kreos pulled back and touched my face. I inhaled when he touched my cheek, and he clenched his jaw. “Are you OK?”

I nodded, pulling away from him. “Yeah, I’m sorry. I didn’t know who else to call.”

“You did the right thing by calling me.” He glared down at Dario. “Both of you go pack a bag.”

Dove and I stood still, glancing at each other.

“Now, Alora. It’s not a request.” There was an iciness in his voice that suggested now was not the time to ask questions.

We each went to our rooms, and I threw a few more things into my go bag. I didn’t know how long we would be gone, so I grabbed an extra change of clothes and more undergarments. Dove and I met back in the living room a few minutes later.

Kreos watched me closely, and I couldn’t help but be hyperaware of every single inch of my body. Therewas blood on my arms and my pants, and I couldn’t stop shaking. I just wanted to get out of these clothes and forget this ever happened.

Yeah, I don’t think watching a man’s face get crushed in is something you’re just gonna forget.

There was a knock at the front door, and Dove and I both jumped. Kreos held up his hand, shaking his head. “Don’t worry. I’m expecting someone.”

That someone was the gladiator bodyguard guy who apparently was going to be driving us to Kreos’ home. I glanced at him, a question hanging in the air.

“I’ll be there as soon as I can.” I could sense the rage coming off him in waves.

With that, Dove and I gripped each other’s hands and were escorted out to a large SUV. Once on the road, four motorcycles pulled up, two in front of us and two behind, which I realized must have been part of Kreos’ security crew.

I couldn’t tell how long we drove for or where we went because my mind was still reeling. Dove was surprisingly calm now that she was out of the apartment, so that was reassuring for me.

When we pulled up to a giant set of iron gates, my heart raced as I looked around. There was a “Z” emblem mounted right in the middle of the gate with a metal wolf’s head above it. The driveway seemed to go on for miles. It was like a scene from a movie unfolding as we drove up a long, winding road.

Once we got down the road, I gasped at the massive size of his home. This couldn’t even be considered a mansion. It was like four mansions in one. To the left were two large buildings, and to the right, further down the path, was a cluster of smallerbuildings.

How many people lived here?

The car came to a stop at the foot of a vast white staircase, which led up to massive black double doors with the same “Z” wolf emblem on them. There were about twenty armed men standing on each side of the stairs. They all were dressed in black suits with red ties.

“We’re here,” the gladiator bodyguard, whom I’d heard Kreos call Pyotr, said as he helped us step down from the SUV.

Walking past all those men with their guns out was pretty unnerving, but they didn’t even look at us as we passed them. Once at the top of the stairs, two women came forward. One was older, maybe in her sixties, with sleek gray hair tied back in a bun. The other one was younger, with dark hair. She walked with a limp and stared at the ground until the older one clapped her hands.

“Welcome, ladies. I’ll show you to your rooms.” The older woman led the way inside and took us up another extensive set of stairs, Dove and I following behind her.

Of course, the rooms were extravagant with king-sized beds, fifty-inch television sets, and showers that could fit ten people in them. The younger woman, Nadya, went with Dove, whose room was right across from mine, and the older woman, Anya, helped me. Once she got the shower going blissfully hot, she left me alone.

All I wanted was to scrub every inch of my skin. To erase the memory of Dario touching me. I was glad he was dead. I wasn’t happy that Dove had been the one to kill him, though.

By the time I got out of the shower, exhaustion hit me like a ton of bricks. It didn’t seem right to sleep without Dove, so I snuck across the hall to her bedroom and found her blissfully asleep. I crawled in on the other side and slipped under the covers. Within seconds, I passed out.

I awoke at some point in the early morning hours to the sensation of powerful arms carrying me. I nuzzled against the warmth, a moan escaping my lips. A deep chuckle vibrated through the chest I was pressed against, and I realized I was in Kreos’ arms and we were back in my bedroom. I was too exhausted to care or feel embarrassed.

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