Page 116 of Thorns of Lust
Leaving my bedroom, I roamed the hallways of our Russian home. I was packed and ready to leave. I’d have to go back to our penthouse and search every damn inch of that place. I was eager to solve the riddle and put all this behind me.
Although it was a mystery as to what exactly it was that I’d be putting behind me. Adrian?
I was so deep in my thoughts, I hadn’t noticed Isabella until she was right in front of my face, the look in her eyes frantic. I glanced around her for Nikola but he was nowhere.
“What happened?” I asked, alarmed. “Is it the kids?”
She shook her head. “No, the meeting–”
Her voice failed her, but the panic in her eyes spoke volumes. Alexei and Vasili went with Sasha to meet Branka’s brother. It couldn’t have turned into a full blown war. Could it?
“Branka has been shot,” she breathed.
“How?” She was fucking meeting her brother. Killian wouldn’t have lost his shit and shot her. Right? I should have tagged along. Goddamn it! Why in the fucking hell did I ever listen to men?
“Maxim Konstantin shot her.”
I gasped in shock. It was the last thing I expected.
“What? Why?”
“He aimed for Sasha. I don’t know.”
None of this made any sense. Did the Konstantins start a war with the Nikolaevs on purpose? Was this the result of my brothers rejecting Illias? Shit, maybe I should have told them all I’d marry him. After all, the sex was great, at least.
I immediately mentally slapped myself. Focus on the present. Branka was shot.
Holy fuck, Sasha would go ballistic. If Vasili wanted peace, he wouldn’t anymore. He’d support Sasha going to war against the Konstantins. Even Alexei would be fully on board now.
Doubt sprung in my mind and made its way into my heart.
Was that Illias intention all along with me? Getting close to me so he’d strike my family? Maybe it was the purpose behind his interest all along. Doubt was like poison slithering through my veins and my mind.
“You think the Konstantins started the war on purpose?” I asked Isabella. Not that she would know.
She shrugged. “Why would they do that?”
That was a good question. It wasn’t as if Illias needed the excuse to start a war. He could have gone after us all along.
I shook my head, focusing on the problem at hand. We had to make sure Branka pulled through. “Tell me what you need me to do,” I demanded. I couldn’t help her with medical stuff, but I was certain I could help withsomething.
“Aurora is staying with the kids,” she continued. “Can you help her with them? I’m going to go to the hospital.”
I nodded, staring after her in shock.
Strangely, the man with dark eyes and even darker soul rolled through my mind. I wanted to make sure he was alright and that alone made me a traitor to my family.
THIRTY-FIVE
TATIANA
Three weeks since this whole ordeal began.
Branka spent two weeks in a Russian hospital. Then she and Sasha went back to our home there, while I returned with Vasili and Alexei to New Orleans.
Now that we knew she’d pull through, we all breathed easier. I feared the state of our family, namely Sasha, if she hadn’t. Thankfully, we’d never find out how that would look.
Although we now had a different problem on our hands.
