Page 109 of The Mistake

“You knew,” I said.

“Stuart planted the information.”

This made me spin around. Thinking back to two years ago when we had tortured Stuart.

“You did it on purpose.”

“Charlottewas never going to die. The Beast and The Butcher had already agreed to go in. To find out what they planned.”

“When?” I asked.

“Yesterday.”

That was when Ivan knew they were going to take her.

My hands clenched into fists and I felt so fucking angry. “You put my wife in danger. Hubert is dead. Our dog nearly died.”

“And in doing so, we just took out the problem of your cartel. The Irish have gone from here. They’re not your problem anymore, but the cartel have been pesky little bastards for as long aswe could remember. Right now, they’re all retreating, which is what we needed. Charlotte was never in any real danger.”

“Look at her,” I said. “See how she looks. You’re telling me that’s no real danger?”

“The Butcher and The Beast stopped them from rapingher. They made sure she was still intact. They were going to start tearing her apart. I sped things up. Made the meeting happen. Made them stop.” Ivan looked into the room. “I won’t ever let anything happen to Charlotte again, but I had to draw them out, and she was the only way to do it. When you’ve calmed down, realize what happened, you’ll see it made sense.”

I did see it made sense. The cartel had been a pain in the ass for as long as I’d been a brigadier. I’d lost good men to them.

But my wife…

“Goand be with your wife, Ive. She needs you.”

I wanted to yell at him some more, but instead, I went into the room and waited for my wife to open her eyes.

****

Charlotte

ThreeDays Later

Ive won’t leave my side, and I love that. He told me work canwait. He’s more focused on me getting well. My ankle is in a cast, as is my wrist. I didn’t care. Ive loved me. Just as I loved Ive.

Rose was going to make a full recovery, but Hubert didn’t make it.There was going to be a funeral for him. Ive had already told me his family would be taken care of.

“Hot chocolate,” Ive said. “Michael also said that he’ll stop forcing you to have the marshmallows.”

This made me laugh. Rose snuggled against my side and Ive sat on my other side, wrapping his arms around my shoulders.

“I love you,” I said.

“Charlotte, you own my heart.” He took my hand and pressed it against his chest. “I love you with all my heart.”

“All I ever wanted was for someone to love me.”

“And I’m the one who will love you forever.”

Tears filled my eyes, because Iknew Ive wasn’t just saying that. I wasn’t a mistake to him. To him, I’d become the love of his life.

Three days ago, I thought Iwas going to die. That life had been so cruel. I should have known Ivan had a plan. He’d come to my hospital room when Ive had stepped out to get some coffee.

Ivan told me he knewthey were going to take me. That he had his man and woman in place. I knew what he’d done. Ive was pissed at him and refused to talk about him. I knew Ivan didn’t have any other way of taking out the cartel, so he used me. I should be pissed off, but I’d seen the look in Ivan’s eyes. He had done what he thought was right, and I couldn’t hate him for that, so I forgave him. I was Volkov. I’d do whatever was necessary to protect the Bratva as well as my husband. Always. My life was theirs.

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