My mouth snaps shut. I wouldn’t be able to get words out even if I tried.
“Now, you’re going to come with me,” he says. “I saw you tonight with your husband. Then I saw you leave… without him. How foolish of you. You walked right into my clutches.”
“Who… are you?” I manage to say.
“Alexei.” He doesn’t offer a last name. “And you’re coming with me. Get walking.”
I force my legs to move. To walk and not run, otherwise I’ll be dead. Alexei forces me to walk down the street until we reach a black car. He opens the back door while still keeping the knife to my back.
“Get in.”
With no other option, I do as he says, knowing I made a huge mistake in running from Nikolai tonight.
Chapter Nine
Nikolai
It doesn’t take me long to realize that Irina is gone. It’s been too long since she went into the bathroom. She’s either hiding out in there or…
I rush over to the bathroom and barge inside, not caring at all that it’s a woman’s bathroom. Not surprisingly, Irina isn’t in here. So where is she?
With a quick scan of the room, I don’t see her. Did she run from me? Again? After she promised not to?
I did spank her tonight after I promised not to hurt her. But I was so caught up in my anger over how she broke her promise, that I didn’t even consider breaking my own promise.
Irina has run from me. I know it.
And I need to get her back.
Running outside, I look around to see if I can spot her. Hopefully, she hasn’t gotten far.
That’s when I see her… getting into a car. I frown. An uber probably.
But that’s when I see a man shut the door behind her. A man I know. Alexei Smirnov. One of my rivals who’s been trying to steal my territory for years. I didn’t even see him tonight. That’s how good he is at hiding in the shadows.
And the fucker has my wife.
“Alexei!” I shout, making him jump. He takes one look at me before diving into the driver’s seat. “Stop!”
Of course he doesn’t listen. He drives away within seconds. It would be pointless to run after it on my feet. But I can try to catch them by car.
“Get my car,” I snarl at the valet. “Fast. It’s an emergency.” I caught the license plate number, so I call one of my men, Simon, who’s good at finding information for me, and tell him about the car. “Track it if you can. Find out Alexei’s home address. Anywhere he might also own properties. And fast.”
“On it,” he replies before I hang up. Simon is a fast worker but it will still take him a few hours to find all this information for me. And I don’t have hours to waste. I need to get Irina back now.
Alexei will hurt her. He has a reputation for harming women. Raping and beating them is a common occurrence for him.
I can’t let that happen to Irina.
A thought hits me in my gut. Irina didn’twillinglygo with Alexei did she? Is she that desperate to get away from me that she’d run off with my enemy?
No. That can’t be. Irina may not love me – yet – but she wouldn’t leave with Alexei of her own accord. She’s been kidnapped by him. I know it.
And I will do everything in my power to save my wife.
My car finally arrives but before I can get inside of it, Ivan comes striding down the front steps. “Nikolai, we should talk.”
“Not now,” I snarl.