Page 45 of Devious Madness

“Rurik, tell me you understand me.” I drop my hand from his arm as he continues to drive in silence.

He’s just going to be a stone wall now because he didn’t get what he wants. Very mature.

As we pull up to the house, parking behind an idling SUV my jaw nearly hits the floorboards. It’s the most beautiful house…no, castle…I’ve ever seen. Outside of storybooks, anyway.

“Is Megan inside?” My hand is already on the door handle as the front door of the house opens and woman bounds out and jogs down the stairs. She pauses only for a second and waves in our direction before climbing into the back of the SUV in front of us.

“She is, but before?—”

I don’t wait for whatever crazy thing he’s going to say next. I throw open the door and run up the steps. I’m free!

Megan’s inside, and she’ll get this Alexander, whoever he is, to tell Rurik, it’s been nice, but he can go away now.

The door’s unlocked, so I shove it open, hurrying inside into a foyer made for royalty.

“Megan! Megan!” I scream her name, looking frantically for where I want to search first. I yell up the winding staircase, since it’s right there, and then again down the hallway.

A moment later, Megan steps out of a room and is right in front of me. Well, a few feet, but right there.

“Megan!” I sprint to her, tackling her with a bear hug and squeezing her tight. “Oh, thank god!”

She’s laughing and hugging me back. But before she can say anything, a set of bear paws grabs hold of me and pulls me away from her.

“Oh god, he’s just as big as the other one!” I blurt when I’m met with the stone-cold stare of—I assume—Alexander. His expression alone could send someone into cardiac arrest.

“Alexander.” Rurik’s voice penetrates the chaos of the moment. “I would appreciate it if you would let go of my wife.”

“You have to stop saying that!” I yell at him, but at least it gets Alexander’s huge grip off me.

“What the hell is going on?” Alexander’s booming voice mirrors Rurik’s when he gets all up in his anger feelings, but it doesn’t do the same thing for me.

There’s no electricity flowing through me at the sound of Alexander’s voice.

Hmm. Weird.

Rurik shuts the front door and calmly walks over to us. Grabbing me by the elbow, he drags me to his side, throwing a possessive arm over my shoulders.

This man has a real problem with listening.

“It’s Mira.” Megan beams and rushes forward again, pulling me out of Rurik’s arm and hugging me. “I was so worried! What the hell have you been doing?”

She pushes me away just enough to look at me with a set of what I lovingly refer to as her mom eyes.

“And what happened to you?” She grabs my chin, which makes me wince because her fingers dig right into the bruise getting uglier by the day. “Your throat!”

“I’m fine! Really.” I push her hands off me.

“What happened.” Alexander doesn’t ask; he demands as he takes a protective step in my direction.

I don’t know this man in any form, but I get the feeling my connection to Megan means I have a protective barrier around me.

“He didn’t do it,” I add.

“She tried to stop a bar fight and got hit.” Rurik explains with a shrug. “I took care of it.”

Alexander gives an approving nod, like he knows what that means, and he’s appreciative.

“Was it a knife fight?” Megan demands.

---