Page 83 of Ruthless Bonds

Fear that someone might take her away from me.

But I would never let that happen. I would burn down the entire fucking world first.

“Well, that was a first.” Gavriil arched his eyebrow. “If I didn’t know any better, I would say you’rein love with her.” He shook his head as we walked back to the car. “You know they will try to use her to get to you now.”

I clenched my jaw, nodding. “I know. So we’ll need to destroy them all first. Call a meeting for tomorrow. This needs to be handled immediately.”

“You know she was taking photos, right? Of the men loading weapons into the vans?”

I squeezed my eyes shut, pinching the bridge of my nose as we rode back to my estate. “Yes, I’m aware. You don’t need to be concerned. I have it under control.”

“Everything that involves you and this organization is my concern, Kreos. I just hope you know what you’re doing.”

I could tell my response aggravated him, but he didn’t know Alora the way I did. She loved me. She might not know it just yet, though. If I really thought for even a second that she would turn against me, I would have locked her up in her pretty little cage until she came to her senses. But I knew she wouldn’t.

“What happened with Aleksandr and the border agent? Was it handled?” I wanted to change the topic of conversation. I knew Gavriil, and if he thought Alora was detrimental to me or our organization, he might do something about it. I would hate to have to kill my best friend.

“The agent was replaced with someone more aligned with our interests. We’re all set for shipment now. Our Canadian friends are very happy so far.”

“Excellent.” I pulled out my phone, checked the tracker to make sure Alora was at home. My shoulders relaxed slightly when I saw she was.

“Speaking of Canadians, I have news about thetext Alora received.” Gavriil pulled out his iPad and scrolled through the screen until he found what he needed. “Cheslav tracked the message. It came from a Canadian IP address.”

I narrowed my eyes at the iPad, a location marked near the New York-Canadian border. “Do we think our Canadian friends had anything to do with it?”

He scrunched up his face. “No, but it’s certainly an odd coincidence. I’m digging deeper.”

I nodded as we pulled up to my estate. Nadya was in the foyer, her eyes widening as I and my men marched inside.

“Oh, my goodness, Pakhan. Do you need a first-aid kit?” she asked, concern in her tone.

“No—yes. I don’t know. Just bring it. Where is my wife?” I barked just as Alora came from around the corner to where my office was.

“Kreos.” Her face paled when she saw the blood on me. “Are you hurt?” She rushed over, tugging at my bloodstained shirt. “You said you had it under control, you promised,” she ranted, her eyes glossy with unshed tears.

“Shh,milaya.” I gripped her face with my hands, bringing my lips to hers. “I am OK, as promised. It’s not my blood, my love.” She pressed her forehead to mine, her breath coming out in quick gasps. “It’s OK.”

“Don’t do that again.” She pulled back, smacking my chest. “We were literally just being shot at, and you show up with blood all over you?” Her voice rose with each word.

I chuckled, making her scowl even more. “I’m sorry. Come with me.” She gripped my hand tightly as I dragged her toward my office. “What were you doingdown here anyway?”

She folded her arms over her chest when we got in the room. Gavriil followed behind and shut the door. He walked over to my desk and pressed the hidden button, the safe behind the hidden panel coming into view.

“I was walking around waiting for you to come back. And I thought I heard a noise in here.” She waved her hands around. “The door was cracked and the light was on, and it sounded like footsteps running down the hall too. I don’t know. Maybe I imagined the whole thing.” Her shoulders slumped as she sat down on the couch.

Gavriil pulled out a tablet from the safe, just as Nadya rushed in with a first-aid kit and a bowl, her eyes traveling around the room until they found me.

“Pakhan, let me get this cleaned up.” She limped over, placing the bowl down.

“I’ll do it, Nadya. Go back to bed. It’s OK.” Alora grabbed the kit, standing in front of me like a guard dog.

My chest swelled with pride at her obvious claim over me. I knew she didn’t want another woman touching me, and that included the staff.

“Yes, of course.” Nadya bowed her head, then rushed out, shutting the door behind her.

Gavriil turned on the large television, syncing the tablet to it. “I’ve got video of the hotel.”

Alora focused on peeling off my shirt and examining me for any injuries. She would find none, but I didn’t stop her. Having her fuss over me felt like the right thing to do. She didn’t ask what had happened, and that was probably for the best. I didn’t want to lie to her, but I also didn’t want to tell her I had to gouge out atraitor’s eyes for talking disrespectfully about her.

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