I started going over what could have happened to him. I couldn’t find the words to ask what had happened. I was frozen on the spot and I could feel the weight of Florian’s gaze on me. I imagined the look of pity that he probably had on his face.“ W-What a-about him? “ I finally stuttered out the question.Anabelle stayed silent before I started walking towards her. She must have thought I was about to hurt her or something because she stepped back. It might have been something to do with the hard look I had on.“ Go to the house and see, “ she said just as I neared here.“ Why don’t you tell me? “ I asked, the frustration dripping from my voice. The last thing I needed was to play games.“ Just go, “ she coaxed.I didn’t wait to be told twice. I ran to the house expecting to see a corpse or his ashes or a person to tell me bad news. It was easier to think the worst instead of having hope and watching it get crushed.When I got there, however, I saw a lot of cars outside. I rushed int

“ We need to discuss the next course of action. The Russians are getting too hard to deal with. They have twice our troops; if we go to war, we will lose. “ Nikolai stated.We were in Ana’s living room holding a meeting. In as much as we were glad that Nikolai had come back to us, we couldn’t let ourselves forget that we had a problem on our hands. We might have been alive but our lives were in danger.Staying in France forever was not an option. At one point, we needed to go back to Italy. Despite the argument I had with Nikolai, he was still hell-bent on going back to Italy later in the day.I had only spent one night and morning with him and that wasn’t enough. He had told me that his men needed him. Quite frankly, he was more of a man than my father would ever be. My father always hid while his men did the dirty work for him.I admired Nikolai’s service to the very people who would put their lives on the line for him. That said a lot about him. I could imagine him as a father. He

I would die before I trusted a word Jonathan was saying. I was seething in anger as I walked out of his house to the car that was waiting for me.“ Brianna! “He called out my name before I entered the car.“ You know the answer, Jonathan. ““ That offer will expire the minute you enter that car and leave. I may be your father but you know how much hate being told no. “ He said, seething in his own anger.“ I’m sorry to break it to you Jonathan but I don’t care. I am not taking your offer so feel free to shove it up your ass. “He laughed sarcastically at my words.“ You will regret making this decision. If I were you, I would think over my actions carefully. Actions have consequences, my dear daughter. ““ Well, I guess it’s a good thing you aren’t me, right?”He came closer and I couldn’t help but think about how pathetic he looked. How was it that I carried the genes of a man like him? He was vile and cold.“ You will eat your words, Brianna. ““ Eat shit, Jonathan, “ I said and got

“ What’s wrong? “ Lily asked and she stared between me and my phone. I reread the text again. ‘ It’s time. ‘ That was what the text read. That meant that Nikolai had Mogilevich’s family. We were in danger and we had to hurry. The text came from an unknown number which mean the had to discard his phone at some point. “ We need to leave, now. “ I said and ran back to the house. I heard Lily following closely behind me. The Russians could have been on their way to the estate for all we knew. When I got to the house, Viv and Lorenzo were sitting on the couch watching television. “ We need to leave, right now! “ I said, hoping they heard the urgency in my voice. They hesitated for a while before realizing that I was serious. Viv tried to go up the stairs to pack but I stopped her. “ The door is that way, Vivienne. What I need you to do is leave. We have no time for anything. Lorenzo, load the guns and all the ammunition we need. We are only taking three cars. We’ll fit into one and t

I rushed to the house immediately after the car stopped at the estate. The nostalgia and the happiness of seeing Nikolai again overpowered all. I didn’t even care how stupid I looked as I ran like a madman. Romano had made it clear that Nikolai was in his bed recuperating. Since he had refused to stay at the hospital, the men had decided to bring the hospital to him. When I opened the door to our bedroom, I expected to find him in our bed. Instead, I found it empty. I looked around frantically for any sign of him while I panicked. “ Did you miss me? “ A voice in my ear asked as strong arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me into a muscular chest. I knew that voice, that smell, that comfort, and that familiar shiver down my spine. All those were because of one person. I turned around happily and wrapped my arms around his body while tears fell freely down my face. “ Nik…” I whispered before burying my head in his shoulder. He was shirtless, save for the cast on his arm. Other t