Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 79312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
I draw in a sharp breath, willing my racing pulse to slow the way my mentor Kolya taught me to do when I was just a boy who didn’t know his own strength.
It doesn’t help.
“I get it,” Lev presses on, his fierce gaze burning into mine. He isn’t the young kid I once knew any more, but strong and powerful in more ways than one. “It would fucking kill you to see a woman like her treated like property. And if you killed Yudin like you wanted to, the blowback to the rest of us would be brutal.”
I dig my fingernails into the palms of my hands. He goes on.
“Yudin plans on sharing her with his men. He’s a filthy, sick son of a bitch. He’s already filmed her and shared it. He’s got one in his crew who jerks off every fucking night to pictures of her on his phone.”
“Where?” I growl. “Who?”
“Sit down, Viktor.”
I shake my head, and Aleks puts his hand on Mikhail’s arm. “Let him. He’ll turn into the fucking Hulk right here in front of you if you don’t.”
I pace, trying to let the rage bleed off me.
“He plans on decimating the Ivanovs. He’s an insidious fucking snake and has already made strategic moves by infiltrating their ranks and spreading misinformation to sow distrust within their leadership. By marrying into the Ivanov family, he gains access to their secrets and vulnerabilities. And unlike us,” he says, pausing for emphasis, “he doesn’t plan on strengthening by collaboration. He plans on decimating for his personal gain. Over time, he’ll destroy them. Sabotage business deals, assassinate the Ivanov power players.” He shakes his head and lowers his voice.
“You’ve watched Mikhail, Aleks, and now Nikko get married.” Mikhail married Aria, hacker extraordinaire. Aleks then married Harper Bianchi in an arranged marriage. Nikko married Vera – Lydia’s younger sister. One by one, couple by couple, we’ve solidified our family.
“We’ve grown in strength here in The Cove, and we all know joining forces with the Ivanovs is complicated.” He shakes his head and looks at Mikhail. “Lydia Ivanova’s marriage to that self-centered prick would fragment our control as well. She’d be used and discarded.” He looks to me next. “We have to intervene and fucking end this before their marriage.”
Aleks and Mikhail share another look, an unspoken understanding passing between them as they consider Lev's words and the implications they carry.
I don’t even want to think of actually… having her. If I let myself hope… if it doesn’t happen… My mouth goes dry.
I pace in the office and shake my head. “Fuck.”
“Her marriage to him will bring severe consequences,” Lev counters. “If we secure the hand of both Ivanov women, you know what that means for us.”
I do. It means creating a foundation that decades of influence and legacy couldn’t rival. It means allowing brutal devastation to our friends and family if we fail.
But it’s complicated. So fucking complicated.
Mikhail holds my gaze. “Tell me what you know about Yudin.”
I look away, my jaw tense. “I’ve stayed away.”
I had to.
Watching her go anywhere near him sends my blood to boiling, and my gaze grows hazy. I have to focus on protecting my family and can’t risk going nuclear on a man who means nothing to me. I can’t expend energy on a situation that’s out of my control.
I’ve watched. I’ve watched so carefully but from a distance. “He hasn’t hurt her, and that’s all that matters.”
Timur Yudin buys her nice things, makes sure she has a guard on her, albeit it a weaker one than I would have, and has never once raised a hand to her. I would know. If he did, I’d rip his dick off and shove it down his throat so he choked on it while I slit his throat.
“Yet,” Aleks says, shaking his head. “Aria’s got a file on him. We researched heavily after Nikko’s marriage to Vera.”
My skin prickles, and I swivel my gaze to Aleks.
Aria, Mikhail’s wife, is our head of cybersecurity and excellent at what she does. When our brother Nikko married Lydia’s sister Vera Ivanova, it became necessary to zone in on whoever might pose a threat to us.
I look away, not wanting to listen to the details.
What good will it do? I’ll only want to fucking torture every cell in his body before I murder him with my own bare hands. I hate him for being near her. I despise him for not being worthy of her. If I find out one goddamn detail about him—
“He’s a master at orchestrating these deadly catastrophes,” Aleks says, his voice icy. “He makes sure people in his stable have fatal accidents, then he swoops in and collects hidden insurance policies.”
I shake my head. Fucking douchebag move, but it’s not out of the ordinary to—
Aleks goes on relentlessly. “He stages human trafficking. He sells women and children as if they’re cattle. He’s a top trader in the black market.”