Page 201 of Lethal Legacy

I lurch to my feet with her clutch in my hand, my fists balled and knees bent, swaying as I try to regain my senses. I wipe my hand across my face, and it comes away covered in blood.

I turn away from her, trying to breathe, fumbling in my pockets.

She’s going to run now. I know that.

I need to get it together.

I slip the envelope containing the passport, ticket, and cash into her purse.

“The children.” Darya grasps my arm, reaching for her clutch. I let her take it and turn back to find her anger of a moment ago gone, replaced by white terror. “You have to find the children, Roman. The Orlovs are going to take them—”

“What?”I stare at her, first in utter shock, then, as the meaning of her words dawn on me, in disbelief.

A millisecond later, both are eradicated by overwhelming, all-consuming, fuckingfury.

“Youknew?” My voice shakes with rage. “You knew the Orlovs were coming for thechildren, and you did nothing?”

The guilty slide of her eyes away from mine is all the confirmation I need.

Darya knew this was coming. She knew, and she simply let those bastards walk in and unleash hell.

Charming everyone was a lie. Fucking me was a lie. Everything she’s done from the moment she walked out in that dress tonight has been one big, horrible lie.

And I loved her so much, I fell for it.

I can’t deal with this. With her.

I need to find my children. I need to make them safe.

Men are coming toward us through the smoke.

My men.

Warriors who need me to lead them. Who can help me save my children.

Darya backs away from me, her eyes darting this way and that, seeking an escape route. I do nothing to stop her. I look at the torn silk dress I paid for, the clutch held tightly to her belly, and my father’s jewels in her ears, and I wonder how the fuck I could ever have been so stupid as to believe in her innocence.

Dimitry puts his mouth against my ear. “Ofelia and Masha are gone. The Orlovs have them both.”

White-hot rage races through me, hardening immediately into something far darker. Into the single-minded focus I honed long ago, on the streets.

Into the savage killer the fucking Orlov family made me become.

I take one last look at Darya. “You said once you’d never run again unless I told you to.”

She stares at me, white-faced and trembling, and I know she’s as guilty as hell.

My lips curl in contempt. “So go on, then, Darya Petrovsky. Run. Run fast.

“Because if any harm has come to my children, I swear I’ll hunt you down and fucking kill you myself.”

I turn around and walk away from her.

It’s time to forget Darya Petrovsky.

My children are gone—and the Orlovs just bought themselves a fucking war.

Lethal Alliance is out now on Amazon.

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