Page 15 of The Russian's Kidnapped Bride
“Christ, Mikhail…” he mumbles, letting me hear the slight defeat in his tone.
“How was I to know she’d end up stumbling onto the scene?” I say back, hoping to find any kind of defense for myself. “She wasn’t supposed to see anything—nobody was. But she did, so now I’m asking how you want me to handle this.”
“She’s seen too much clearly,” Roman returns, and the sound of him shifting in bed, followed by his distant footsteps, reaches my end. “You know the protocol as well as anyone else.”
“I do,” I affirm, trying to take it seriously, given the potential risks of it all. “But I want to be certain. You’re passing the reins to me?”
“Yes, yes,” he murmurs, followed by the sound of familiar cooing in the background. “Handle it quietly—make it clean. You don’t need my permission.”
I pause at that. Even though I know he’s being sincere, I can’t help but ask, “You sure?”
“I have one child to watch over…I don’t need to babysit you, too, Mikhail,” he remarks, leaving no room for doubt. “Do what you have to and put this shit to bed.”
Without another word, he ends the call, leaving me in the room's silence.
Roman rarely gives free control to anyone, but he just did.
Meaning I can do this however I want. The possibilities are endless.
Standing, the idea is already forming in the back of my mind. I know it’s brash and impulsive, but it clicks into place so quickly it feels almost like fate if I believed in that kind of thing.
Lily is a liability, but now, she’s my liability. Maybe it’s selfish, but I don’t want to let her go.
I don’t want her to vanish again—not when I spent long enough thinking about her and wanting to see her again.
That irrational part of my brain wants to keep her, and regardless of how crazy that might be, at least the solution in my mind will help me do exactly that.
My steps echo down the hallway, and I gesture for the other two guards to join us. Reaching Nikolai, I give him a nod.He opens the door, letting me in first while the others hover on standby.
Lily looks up at me fast, and I don’t miss the panic behind her eyes through her glasses. She freezes at the sight of me and goes to speak, but nothing comes out.
I don’t say anything at first either, letting myself see the potential outcome of my plan unfolding in my mind.
I doubt she’ll like what I’m thinking, but it beats the alternative. Maybe she’ll understand that with time, maybe not.
Either way, I step aside and motion towards her with my head while I keep my hands in my pockets. “Get her up.”
Her eyes widen. “What? What does that mean?”
Nobody answers while they move forward and go to grab her arms. She jerks back instinctively, looking almost wounded as she slips into a more defensive approach.
“Don’t touch me.”
“Take it easy,” I murmur, making sure to stay within her sight. “You’re just being moved somewhere a little more comfortable.”
Despite my vague answer, she stops struggling enough to look at me with disbelief. “Where are you taking me? You said you weren’t going to hurt me.”
I don’t like the sight of her fear, but I know it can’t be helped at the moment. It’s only temporary, anyway. Soon enough, she’ll see that I’m not a monster.
The two guards help Lily to her feet, using enough force to ensure compliance, but not enough to cause any harm. If they did, they’d have to answer to me.
“And I meant it.”
Once she’s stabilized, she searches my face, and her voice cracks slightly. That desperate plea in her eyes isn’t missed by me. “Please, Mikhail…”
An involuntary thrill runs down my back at the sound of my name leaving her lips again, and I remind myself to keep it together. I can’t lose my mind here.
She has no idea how dangerous it is for her to say it like that. Not when I’m already in far deeper than I should be.
