Page 84 of Savage Pakhan

I slap him and mouth, “Be nice.”

He mouths in return, “Never.” Alek winks.

The playfulness in his expression fades as he listens to Nikolai on the other line. He snags my wrist to stop me from going inside and stands, the force causing the chains to squeak as the swing sways.

“Da. Da. Okay. See you there.” Alek hangs up the phone and picks up the last of our clothes. “Get in the house, My Love. Now.”

“What’s going on? What happened?” I almost trip over the step into the house.

Alek is frantic. He slams the door behind and locks it immediately. Four stainless steel rods slide into place. Running to the windows, he presses another button and they turn pitch black so no one can look in.

“Alek!” I cover myself with his shirt, hiding my body as I tremble. “Talk to me. What is happening!”

“He knows. About the cabin. Nikolai said Ivan was loading up the SUVs. He’s on the way. We have to leave now. We are getting dressed and getting out of here. We pack nothing.”

“Will the car even start? What do we do?” Tears spring into my eyes, the panic setting in. “How much time do we have?”

“Plenty to get out of here.” He cups my face, eyes hectic with a little fear. “I’ll keep you safe, Mia. Always. We’re going to Vegas sooner than I thought.”

It hits me right then that Ivan is probably tracking the credit cards. “Alek, the credit cards. We can’t use them. Ivan⁠—”

He shakes his head. “He doesn’t have access to my personal funds. There is a family account he uses that has plenty of money in it to last him two lifetimes, but my money is separate. He’ll never be able to touch it. We will be safe.”

I nod, my head in a daze.

Walking up the steps to change feels surreal. There’s no way this is real life. There’s no way Alek is on the run from his own son because of me.

Maybe we shouldn’t run.

“Why don’t we stay? We can deal with Ivan. No more running.”

“I’m not allowing him in the same room as you. He doesn’t deserve to breathe the same air you do.” He tugs on a fresh shirt, covering the body I just got to enjoy.

I get dressed like Alek said to, follow him down the steps and out of the house. He locks up again, then drags me to the car, our feet pounding on the old wood.

Alek opens the passenger side door for me, and I slide into the Beetle, the car that seems to survive my desperation.

Staring out at the cabin while we pull away, my heart breaks a little. This was my safe haven for a little bit. I got to experience peace and happiness for the first time in a long time.

I’ll miss it so much.

“Damn,” I curse under my breath as we get onto the road.

“What?”

“I didn’t get to burn my wedding dress,” I grumble in disappointment.

“It’s okay. We’ll burn everything he owns to the ground instead.”

He must be rubbing off on me because I love the sound of that.

20

ALEK

I couldn’t sleep all night.

Mia fell asleep on the car ride over and when I pulled into the hotel, I carried her to the elevator to the penthouse suite. This hotel isn’t my first choice, but I had to be smart. I had to think like Ivan. He’s going to check my usual haunts and I can’t risk Mia.