Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 84968 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 425(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84968 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 425(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Red and blue lights started flashing, sirens blared, and people froze in the middle of the sidewalk.
Police.
They were everywhere.
The street was suddenly swarming with officers, their presence suffocating as they moved like a single unit closer and closer.
Step by step, they were caging me in.
Pavel's guards reacted instantly.
I was pulled against one's back, the others circling me, forming a wall of muscle, guns, and anger.
The tension escalated in seconds. One of Pavel's men drew his weapon, and immediately three police officers had their guns trained on him.
"Put down your weapon," one of the cops yelled.
That was it. I would never be let out of the penthouse again.
One of the men yelled something back in Russian.
"Not bloody likely," one of the others translated. "You have your weapon drawn on our charge."
The sound of safeties clicking off echoed around us. This was about to become a massacre.
If I didn't do something fast, it was going to end poorly.
Then, if I survived, I'd never be allowed out of the bedroom.
Hell, this might push Pavel so far back he'd make me wear that hood again.
People screamed around us.
Someone actually yelled that Russia was invading.
As the pedestrians scrambled for cover, I peeked out between two of the men's shoulders.
I could see more than a few people were hiding behind planters and turned-over tables, holding up their phones to record.
TikTok was going to love this.
A man in a bulletproof vest, gun drawn and held with two hands straight out, stepped forward.
"Alina Russo. We need you to come with us."
My stomach dropped.
This couldn't get any worse.
How did they know my name?
What could they possibly want with me?
The fear of disappointing Pavel warred with my terror of innocent people getting caught in any crossfire. Children were crying somewhere behind the overturned café tables. This had to stop.
Without thinking, I heard myself say, "My name is Alina Ivanova."
I placed my hand on the guard's shoulder and pushed silently, demanding he step aside just enough I could see.
I gave him Pavel's last name.
That meant I represented him, and I was not going to address a cop while cowering behind a guard.
The cop barely reacted. He just nodded. "Fine. Alina Ivanova, you need to come with us."
"Why? Am I being arrested?"
"No, ma'am, we just would like a word at the station."
"She's not going anywhere," one of the guards growled, lifting his gun.
The lead officer's finger moved to his trigger. "Stand down or we will open fire."
Fuck.
This was about to turn into a bloodbath.
I needed to end this now, or Pavel was never letting me out of the penthouse again.
"If you don't cooperate, I have the authority to arrest you and every one of your guards."
Jesus, this was going from bad to fucked very quickly.
I needed to find the best option in this incredibly tense situation.
If I resisted, innocent people would get hurt, a few cops and a few of Pavel's men would die.
If I went with them, my husband would think the worst.
Then who knew where I would end up?
But the choice was made for me when I heard a child's terrified sobbing nearby. I couldn't let this escalate further.
“Please call my husband," I whispered. "Tell him where I am."
The guard in front of me stiffened. "Ma'am, I can't let you—"
Before I could second-guess myself, I broke free of my guards' protective circle.
I lifted my hands to show I was unarmed.
"Please put your weapons down. I'll cooperate."
"That's a wise choice," the cop sneered with so much malice I wondered if it was. There was nothing but disdain and disgust in his eyes.
He grabbed my arm and twisted it behind my back, forcing me into the back of the car.
It was a stupid move.
There were so many cameras, I couldn't wait to see what Pavel did to this man for laying his hands on me.
As I was forced into the back of the police car, the girls ran outside.
Their shocked faces, and Viktoria pressing her phone to her ear, were the last things I saw before the car pulled away.
In the car, the radio crackled to life. "All units, be advised—the Ivanov family has been notified. Expect immediate retaliation. Request backup at the station."
The officer driving glanced at me in the rearview mirror, and for the first time, there was fear in his eyes.
"Lady, I hope you know what you've gotten yourself into," he muttered.
My stomach twisted.
Fear, nerves, apprehension?
I didn't know, maybe all three.
What the hell was Pavel going to say when he found out that after weeks of begging for a little freedom, he had finally let me outside without him…
And I ended up in police custody.
The radio crackled again: "Detective Morrison, you need to know—we just intercepted communications. The Russians are mobilizing. ETA fifteen minutes to the station."
Fifteen minutes.
Pavel was coming, and he wouldn't be coming alone.
CHAPTER 30
ALINA
Ihad no phone. No money. No identification.