Page 69 of Wicked Vow

Not unless they’re deserving of her.

Not if they hurt her.

I think of the man who had stalked her while I’d had her at the house outside Moscow, of how I’d left him a bloody pulp on the lawn as Natalia stood there trembling. I feel my fists clench at the memory of his face giving way underneath them, and I know that whoever has her, they’re going to suffer a similar fate.

They’re not going to make it out of this alive. And if I have the chance, I’m going to make sure that they die slowly, whoever it is.

“We’ve got coordinates.” Liam’s voice snaps me out of it, as he motions for me to come over to the desk. I can feel eyes on me as I look at the screen, and Liam points out where the plates have been tracked to. “Connor is going to go and round up some guys now to go with you. You need to get there as quickly as possible. Try to sneak in if you can. It looks like it’s a warehouse down near the water. If you can get the element of surprise–”

“I know how to do this.” My voice sounds much calmer than I would have thought. “Get me the men, and we’ll go get her.”

It feels like moving in a fog, as we get into cars and follow the directions Liam gave us. I can hear the ticking in my head, the seconds spinning away that will keep her from being hurt, that will keep her safe, knowing that with every one that passes, she’s more and more likely to be harmed.

The men that Liam and Connor sent with me are good. They follow my unspoken directions as we spill out of the car, silent with weapons drawn as I lead them towards the warehouse, creeping forward until we’re near the doorway. It’s cracked open, the light from outside spilling out into the now late-afternoon light, and I hear a voice from inside, one that I vaguely recognize.

“I’m going to enjoy this,” I hear the man say, his voice low and cruel. “You could have been mine so easily, Natalia. It would have all been so pleasant for you. But now, I’m going to enjoy fucking you here for the first time, in front of my men like the whore you are, and I’m going to enjoy making it hurt.”

“Fuck you,” I hear her spit back, her voice like acid, and I can’t help the smile that twitches at the corner of my lips, as angry as I am.That’s my girl.

“You should think it over,” he says, his voice a low growl. “If you’ll be with me and stop fighting, we can go to the doctor when you’ve recovered from today and get rid of the baby. We can be together. I’ll take care of you, and we can even make a baby of our own, in time.”

I can hear the blood roaring in my ears as my hand tightens on my gun, the full force of the furious, protective rage that I feel slamming into me. All I can think of is what I was told when the man who helped rape and kill my sister came to confess it to me–what those men did to her, how they tormented her, how they killed my nephew after he watched her die. I hear the words in my head, over and over, feel his hot blood splashing over my hands as I killed him all over again, and I know there’s no more waiting to get her back.

I won’t let him touch her. I won’t let her be hurt.

She’s mine.Mine to save, mine to protect, mine to set free. She’s always been mine.

I shove the door open, bursting into the warehouse with my gun in hand, leveled in front of me as I stalk forward. I see the man standing in front of Natalia, his back to me, and he turns towards me at the sound of my footsteps and his men drawing their weapons. I know the men I brought with me are behind me, too, but they’re on their own now. I can’t see anything, hear anything, or think of anything other than her. I see her shocked face as she sees me from where she’s chained to a hook in the ceiling, her mouth dropping open as it makes the shape of my name.

“Mikhail?”

Natalia

They must not have given me much of the drug, because I start to wake up while I’m still in the car that they’d dragged me to.

My hands are bound behind my back uncomfortably, and I open my eyes, feeling my head pound as the car jolts over potholes, finally coming to a stop. I can’t push myself up high enough to see out of the window, but I hear the sound of the water a little ways off, and my stomach clenches with fear.

I can feel tears welling up in my eyes.I didn’t think he would do this. I really didn’t.

I’d believed him. I’d thought he was telling me the truth. I feel sick as the door opens and hands pull me out of the car, dragging me towards a warehouse where I know who is going to be waiting for me, who has finally gotten tired of the game we’ve both played and decided to put an end to it once and for all.

I’m sorry,I whisper in my head as I think of the baby.I tried to keep you safe.

There’s no one else in the warehouse. The men drag me to the center, pulling my bound hands above me and lifting them so that they can attach the cuffs to a hook dangling from the ceiling. I’d almost laugh, if I didn’t think it would make me hysterical. It reminds me of a worse version of the basement, and all I can think is that he’s run out of fresh ways to terrify me.

“Just get comfortable,” one of the men sneers at me as he backs off, leaving me there, twisting in the cuffs as my toes scrape against the floor, and I see the door to the warehouse open.

I steel myself to see Mikhail, for the hurt and the betrayal and the feelings that I know are going to wash over me, make me weak, even make me beg.

But when the man walking inside comes into view, I go very still, shock chilling me to the bone.

It’s not Mikhail that walks through the door.

It’sErik.

He smiles coldly at me as he strides forward, his gaze hard and furious as he walks up to me, stopping a few steps away. “Well, now, Natalia.”

His voice is low and harsh, almost mocking as he speaks. “Would you like to tell me again how you want me to leave? How nothing I do makes you want me? How I should remember whose house I’m in?”

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