Page 60 of Vengeful Embers

“It stopped being about that a while ago. I care about you. More than I should.” Konstantin repeats what he said the night before.

“Why is he coming?” I ask. “Is he after my baby now because Irina hasn’t produced an heir?”

I see his eyes widen in surprise, and I tell him, “Yes, I know about that.”

“He does want Gavriil’s baby.” Konstantin confirms. “But he wants more than that.” His voice is tight as his eyes meet mine. “You have to disappear for a few days while he’s in town. When he doesn’t find you here, he’s going to go to Vegas.”

“What more does he want?” My brow furrows while my brain is still stuck on that part of the conversation.

Konstantin’s jaw clamps and the muscle on the side ticks. “He wants you, Tara.”

My heart drops. “Why me? I’ve never met the man.”

“Yes, you have,” Konstantin’s voice lowers. “Now, please, Tara. Do you have someone you can go to and lay low until I can get him back to Russia?”

I nod. “I know someone.”

“Good. I’ll need your phone.”

I don’t even ask why; I just give it to him, as my brain is trying to work out when I met Ruslan Dragunov and why he wants me as well as the baby.

Konstantin hides the phone under the pillow and then ushers me to the elevator. At the elevator, he kisses me like it’s goodbye.

“You were an assignment. But you became something else. So much, much more. That’s the truth, no matter what happens next.”

I nod, stunned by his words, and my head is spinning.

As the doors close, Konstantin turns and pulls off his shirt.

My heart stops.

A dragon coils around his torso. I’ve seen a dragon like that before. It’s the same as Damien’s.

What am I missing?I feel like the answer is right in front of my eyes, but my brain is refusing to acknowledge it. As soon as I’m in the lobby, I’m ushered to an SUV waiting outside. As I slide into the backseat, the door closes. The SUV starts to pull off, and another pulls up.

The SUV turns to head down the drive and a man steps out of the newly arrived vehicle.

Tall. Dark-haired. Dangerous… gorgeous… My breathing becomes shallow. My eyes widen.

Damien.

My mind whirls. What is he doing here? Was it even Damien? My mind feels like it's been stuffed too full of information, information it doesn’t want to process. I know there is something I’m forgetting. My mind whirls back to that night at the bar.

I see Damien introduce himself,I’m Damien Romanov!

Romanov! My eyes fly open. The tattoos!

Later, on the jet, as the pilot hands me my shiny new burner phone, I ask him, “Does Konstantin have a brother named Damien?”

“No. But his cousin uses that alias.”

My blood runs cold. “Alias?”

The pilot nods.

I stare out the window as the plane takes off.

“Apple juice, Miss Craft?” The air stewardess makes me jump. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

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