Chapter 22AnyaIt was odd how easy it was to assimilate into his life and his household. My sisters seemed to be just as flexible as I was, and by the end of the fourth day, I felt like I’d lived with him for years. How was it possible to feel so close to someone that I technically didn’t know very well?Not that we hadn’t spent hours getting acquainted. Wrapped up in his arms, and in his huge bed at night, we found time to talk in between touching and exploring each other. We’d had several late nights in a row, and it wasn’t unusual for us to be talking until dawn. Still, it shouldn’t have been so easy with him, but it was.I wasn’t yet comfortable enough to share with him the full story of why I’d been on “The Island,” and what still loomed over my head. I dared hope we might’ve evaded Ivanov. The last place he was going to look was an upscale apartment at the top of Wallingford Tower, right? I wasn’t completely convinced, but I was hoping we had evaded him.That hope shattered Fri

Chapter 24SpencerThere were two scantily clad girls sitting on each arm of his chair, just reposing against him, but when I got closer, it was obvious they weren’t relaxed because they were comfortable. Their vacant-eyed stares suggested they were drugged out of their minds, and I was further disgusted with him.It was a struggle not to show it when he looked at us, his lip curling. “What do you want?”“I’ve come to settle Lev Russo’s debt.” I refused to refer to it as Anya’s or her sisters’ obligation, because they had nothing to do with it.He smirked at me. “You have nothing to offer.”I reached into my pocket to get my phone, noticing from the corner of my eye how Arseny stiffened and watched my every movement. I pulled it out a moment later and held it up, so he could see the banking app I had already opened before entering the market. “I have your million dollars.”He scowled. “I don’t want money. I want the girls.”“You won’t be getting them,” I said confidently. “You can tak

Chapter 26SpencerI rested heavily against her, humbled by how weak I felt. I also felt disgusted that I hadn’t been more help to her. I turned my head and nuzzled her cheek. “I’m sorry this happened. I thought I’d handle him, but I must’ve half-assed it.”She surprised me with a low laugh. “It’s okay. I told you we should do this together, and I guess we did.”I shook my head, immediately regretting it as there was a throbbing pain in my skull. “No, you did it yourself.”“With Arseny’s help, but you got them here—though that wasn’t your intention. The important thing is, he’s out of our life, and we handled him together.” She curled her fingers through mine and squeezed reassuringly.I wanted to keep arguing, but was a little too addled to do so. My head was throbbing, and if that was Arseny’s idea of holding back, I was thankful he hadn’t given me the full brunt of the pistol against my head. He could’ve faked it a little more, I thought grumpily as the room spun, and I saw two of