Page 127 of Betrayal and Vows

"Go," she whispers. "Before they realize I helped you."

"Mom—" Lena reaches out with her good arm.

"I love you," Elena says, tears finally breaking free. "I've always loved you. Be happy. Be free."

Lena sobs against my chest as I turn and run. Behind us, I hear Elena's heels clicking as she walks back toward the chaos, back to face whatever punishment awaits her and Leonid for their daughter's broken marriage.

I can't think about that now. Can't worry about the consequences for anyone else. Lena is bleeding in my arms, and she's the only thing that matters.

We move. Fast. Down the corridor, out the staff exit, into the alley where a car is already waiting. Dmitri opens the door.

I slide in, Lena still in my arms. She’s pale, sweaty, her dress soaked with blood.

“I can’t breathe,” she gasps. “The dress. Too tight.”

I grab the delicate fabric at her neckline and yank. The sound of tearing fabric fills the car as the bodice splits open, revealing the brutal corset underneath that's crushing her ribs.

"Hold still," I growl, working my fingers under the laces. The stays are pulled so tight I can barely get my fingertips beneath them. No wonder she can't breathe—this thing is a fucking torture device.

I hook my fingers and pull, using brute force to snap the laces one by one. Each broken cord releases more pressure until finally the corset falls away completely.

Lena gasps, her chest expanding as she drags in desperate lungful’s of air. Color returns to her cheeks almost immediately.

"Better?" I ask, smoothing the hair back from her damp forehead.

She nods, still breathing hard. "Much."

I tear a long strip from the voluminous skirt, the expensive fabric shredding easily in my hands. I cannot express the pleasure I feel shredding the fucking dress.

I work quickly to wrap it around her wounded arm, pulling it tight enough to slow the bleeding but not cut off circulation.

"This will have to do until we can get you medical attention," I tell her, knotting the makeshift bandage securely.

Dmitri throws himself into the driver's seat, slamming the door behind him.

"Everyone buckled in?" he calls back to us.

Obviously, a joke.

Before I can answer, he floors it. The tires scream as we rocket forward, laying rubber and leaving a cloud of smoke in our wake. Through the rear window, I catch one last glimpse of the estate growing smaller behind us.

No one is following.

I don’t know what the hell is happening with Mikhail and Vadim. I don’t care. I just want to get the hell away.

“Tell me what happened,” Lena whispers.

She reaches up to touch the cut on my eye.

“Mikhail knew I was planning something. He sent his men to take me out. Tied up. Beaten. Ordered me dead but this asshole saved my ass.”

“You’re welcome,” Dmitri says from up front.

“I didn’t know,” she breathes. “He told me you were dead.”

“That asshole is a lot harder to kill than you would think,” Dmitri says.

Lena tries to smile and winces. “Are you okay?”