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I’d certainly indulged in passion over the years, hoping to dull the pain. I’d learned quickly any benefit was short-lived. In being with Isabel, I’d not only found exactly what I needed in her love, but also a sense of peace.

Which was why the simmering rage threatened to permanently change who I was. And not for the better.

I’d promised her no lies, no secrets. And I meant what I’d told her. But right now, I couldn’t save her from the pain of discovering she’d been right about her father all along. If she held me to blame for what I’d done and for whatever cosmic intervention the gods had decided on in our meeting, then so be it.

But I would do everything in my power to keep her safe. For now. And forever.

“You can’t reach him?” Sergei asked.

“No.” The rain was coming down in torrents, the windshield wipers barely able to keep up.

“It’s the storm. The reception is shit.”

“Fuck. Fuck!” I smashed my hand against the steering wheel, fighting the anger that had already nearly consumed me. While I’d learned the identity of the bastard who’d been haunting me for years, that didn’t make the fact I’d been lured into a partial trap any easier. “Try Kristoff again.”

“Calm down. Get us there in one piece. Just wait until we get out of this fucking area. I’ll try and reach Mario. If not, I’ll keep calling.”

We were nearly to the interstate, although I wasn’t pulling any punches with driving.

He took a deep breath and I knew he was in pain. “Did you stop the bleeding?” I asked. He’d taken a bullet for me, lucky that it had gone clean through.

“It’s a fucking scratch. I’m fine.”

It was more than a scratch and the hardhead knew it.

“Put pressure on the wound.”

“Are you trying to save your friend or the man who betrayed you?” Sergie’s voice was ripped with anger.

“Did you?”

“Are you fucking kidding me? I don’t have a death wish, my Pakhan.”

We’d experienced tension before, but this was as uncomfortable as hell.

“I didn’t betray you, Max. I know it be difficult for you to believe, but there is no reason for me to do so. None. I’m rich. I enjoy my job. I even don’t mind working with you.”

His chuckle was dry, as full of anxiety as I felt. “I know, Sergei. But someone did and I won’t rest until I discover who that person is. There is one thing to be said about a bastard being intent on destroying me for following an order I didn’t question. There is another to willfully sell your soul for cash and no other reason. No care about my daughter. My daughter. And Isabel. I don’t care what happens to me, but nothing and I mean nothing is going to happen to the two of them. Promise me that if I die, you’ll ensure both are taken care of.”

“You trust me that much?”

“Yes, comrade. I do.”

I could feel his uncertainty. “Of course I will. But Isabel will kick my ass if anything happens to you.”

“Yeah, she would.” The ambush had been planned, the bald asshole told to bring me to my knees. My guess was he wanted me to endure the final act of desperate vengeance, forcing me to watch the two special people in my life killed in front of me. Or worse. If her brother was behind this, he was a sick fuck.

Evidently and given my poor behavior as of the last few months, I’d placed myself in a position of being easily manipulated. I’d deal with the guilt of that later. Now I was finished with playing the ruthless game. All involved would suffer.

“We’ll get to her in time, Maxsim.”

Sergei seemed so certain.

“When you have reception, call Roman and find out where the hell he is. Warn him about the possible ambush.”

“Done.”

Lights ahead indicated we were about to get into civilization, snatching the phone as soon as I did. When it rang in my hand, I was hopeful. “Kristoff.”