Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 63786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 319(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63786 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 319(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
“Lev, I need to tell you something,” I say as we walk toward the hospital exit. “The FBI came and saw me.”
He stops typing a message on his phone and looks up. He thinks for a minute, then says, “Let me guess, a six-foot-two clown with blue eyes and ice-white teeth who goes by the name of Agent Michaels?”
“You know him?”
For the first time since he woke up, he manages a smile. “He’s had a hard-on for me for a long time. I call him my shadow. He’s nothing to worry about.”
I can’t believe how nonchalant he’s being. I thought this information was going to fuel his rage. That’s why I didn’t mention it when I told him about the orderly who attacked me. I didn’t want to inflame an already catastrophic situation.
I can’t help but look surprised. “He’s not a threat?”
“If I see Agent Michaels as a threat, then I have no business being pakhan. He’s an egotistical pen pusher who is more interested in being an FBI golden boy than having the balls to actually take me on. You have nothing to worry about. I’m good at what I do, zayka. He’ll never be able to pin anything on me unless someone in my inner circle betrays me and tells him everything he wants to know.” His face suddenly grows serious, and his dark brows pull in. “He didn’t threaten you, did he?”
“No, but he tried to intimidate me and did a really good job of it.”
Lev’s face softens. “You have nothing to be intimidated about. He’s got nothing on me.”
“What if someone talks?”
He runs his hands down my arms. “No one is talking. No one would dare.”
But I can’t help but feel uneasy about the FBI agent.
“Lev, he makes me nervous. He knew everything about me. About my parents. Where I grew up. Our baby.”
Lev’s jaw clenches, and I can see it in his eyes. He will set Agent Michaels alight if he dares to fuck with me and this baby.
Despite his bruised body, Lev pulls me into his chest and wraps his arms around me. “I don’t want you worrying about this.” He pulls back to cup my face. “I’m going to protect you and our baby.”
He kisses me, and it’s tender and reassuring, and I drink it in. Needing it.
He skims his thumb across my cheek. “You’re safe now. Even if the world burns down around you, where you stand will be safe.”
He presses a kiss to my forehead just as Feliks walks into the hospital.
He’s not smiling, and it’s odd seeing him so uptight.
“You look like shit,” he says to Lev.
As usual, Lev downplays it. “It’s nothing.”
Feliks turns to me, and his face softens when he sees my bruises. “We need to get you home so you can rest.”
“I’m fine,” I say.
He doesn’t know about the baby. Lev and I have agreed to keep quiet about it for now. There is a lot going on, and a lot more is about to start.
“Still, you look like you need to put your feet up. Come on, I’ve got a car waiting out the front. Don’t worry, I brought a soldier with me. He’ll make sure we don’t find any more surprises waiting for us when we open the car doors.”
Lev takes my hand and leads me out of the hospital.
Outside, dawn is breaking on the horizon, but the morning is warm. Summer is coming.
“I see your shadow is here,” Feliks says as we walk to the car. I follow his line of sight and see the black car in the parking lot, sitting beneath a streetlight. The windows are up, but I can see someone inside. A cold shiver runs up my back.
Agent Michaels.
Why does he make me so uneasy?
Because when he told you he wanted your help to take down Lev, he went on to dangle your old life in front of you. And for one nanosecond, he had you wishing you were back living in it, because in your old life there were no Vlads, or kidnappings, or guns and car bombs.
I push the memory of our conversation back.
That might be true, but this is the world I live in now, whether I like it or not. Not because of my growing feelings for Lev—hell, I’m not even sure what they are—but because of the baby growing in my belly.
The heir.
“Brooke has already had the pleasure of meeting him,” Lev tells Feliks.
Feliks pulls a face as he opens the door for me. “As if you hadn’t already been through enough today.”
I slide onto the back seat. There’s a man in the driver’s seat who I guess is the soldier Feliks mentioned. Added security to make sure no more car tampering took place.
Lev slides in beside me while Feliks takes the front.
“I want a tail on the shadow as of this minute,” Lev says. “I want to know where he is and who he’s talking to. And we’re going to increase security tenfold.”