Page 19 of The Hunted Wife

“That’s the chance we’ll have to take.”

“Okay, but explain to them all. I don’t want anyone taken unaware.”

He put his arm around her waist and drew her close, then kissed her forehead. “Don’t worry. Everything will be okay.”

Adam called Benjamin and explained the situation as briefly as possible before asking for a family meeting in an hour, giving him and Millie time to settle down a bit.

Giving him the excuse that she needed to start dinner, as soon as the truck came to a full stop, Millie bolted inside.

Adam watched Millie disappear into the house. There is no disguising her fear. Hopefully getting all the security personnel here will help with that.

An hour later, he and Millie called his brothers together in their father’s office. It was the only office space large enough to accommodate all eight of them.

Millie explained the situation in detail. Tears filled her eyes but didn’t fall.

Adam was proud of her. She showed her strength by telling them all what happened.

“I need to add one thing and it is important. I copied the ledgers that show Ricard is skimming money from my father’s money laundering operation. I intended to give it to my father and have him negate the promised marriage to Ricard. But I realized too late that giving them to him, he would be as angry at me as Ricard and might still force the marriage. So I kept the flash drive with me and ran. Ricard knows I have the flash drive. He wants it back.”

“Millie, we’re doing a deep dive into your father. We’re liable to find things that you don’t know about. Do you want to know what we find?”

She shook her head. “I already know what kind of man my father is. I don’t need any more proof of that. If you are doing research on my father it would be best if I gave you my real name. I am Melina Ivanov. My father is Sergey Ivanov. That should help you get started.”

Now that they knew Millie’s real name it should be easy enough to find her father. Adam turned to his brothers. “Christopher, I’m giving you the research. I want to know Millie’s the name of all of her father’s brigadiers. One of them, a Ricard Sokolov, is the man that she’s so afraid of. Find out all you can about him and then we’ll come up with a plan to take him down. I want to give Millie back her life.”

“What if she decides she doesn’t want to stay when her fear is gone?”

Adam sighed. “Then she’ll be free to go. I don’t want her to stay here if she’s only doing it out of duty. I want her to want to stay with us. In the meantime I want each of you to get your security chiefs and two of their men here by tomorrow, if possible. They don’t need to bring their weapons, we have enough here for everyone that’s coming.”

Christopher looked up from the computer screen on his father’s desk. “Knowing that Millie’s father is Sergey Ivanov has helped. He has two right hand men. His brigadiers. The first is Ivan Popov and the second is Ricard Sokolov.”

Everett dug into the organization of the Russian mafia boss learning that the Russian mafia ran like a well-oiled machine, almost like the military.

Knowing how serious the situation was, Adam quietly prepared for war. No one would take Millie from him. Not now. Not ever.

Chapter 7

Three days had passed since Viktor spotted her in Steamboat Springs. She thought that they had followed them back to the ranch but everything had been quiet. Slowly her fear was beginning to be replaced by excitement about the little secret she kept from Adam. The imaginary baby they had talked about was now all too real.

Given the state of their marriage, Millie wanted to wait until everything was truly finished and she was really safe before telling Adam her news. Right now felt like a lull, not that the danger was over. They were just waiting for the other shoe to fall and Ricard to attack the ranch.

Adam had called his security chief.

The man and fourteen extra men arrived at the ranch the following day. In order to have beds for everyone, the brothers moved back into the house and gave up the bunkhouse for the security team. The bunkhouse had beds for sixteen men. They’d never had it full before.

The new men would provide cover so the entire south perimeter was protected. This was the front of the property and closest to the road. With roving patrols of the north, west and east perimeters. The north side especially was far from any road and could be left open. Anyone coming that way would be seen long before they reached the house. Still, Adam was making sure it was covered anyway.

He also had one of the team members stay with Millie in the house whether Adam was with her or not. He was taking no chances with Millie’s life. He was falling in love with her and could only hope she felt the same.

Ricard paced his hotel suite from the windows to the door and back again. He stalked the living room like a jungle cat.

Viktor stood nearby, with his hands clasped behind his back and looked on, but said nothing.

“Where can she be? She didn’t just disappear into thin air. Three days have passed and nothing. It’s as though you saw a mirage.” He stopped pacing and ran a frustrated hand through his hair, causing it to stand on end. “Keep looking. Find out who that man was she was with. Find him and you’ll find her. Now, get out of my sight and don’t return until you have something.”

“Yes, Boss.” Viktor hurried from the room.

“Imbecile. I’m surrounded by imbeciles.”