Page 26 of Righteous Enforcer
You were never supposed to know I was still alive.
She put me through hell on purpose.
She chose another man.
Chose to have his child.
Chose to let me believe she was dead.
So why the fuck is she in my car?
I tell myself I'm bringing her home solely to protect the girl.
Children are innocent.
She deserves safety regardless of her parentage.
And I need to discover what Ivan wants with Eva.
Why would the Bratva expend so many resources hunting one woman?
Those are the only reasons.
Not the way my heart stuttered when I first spotted her.
Not the visceral rage that consumed me at watching those men corner her.
And certainly not the flicker of our past that burned through me when I touched her wounds.
I glance in the rearview mirror at the sleeping child.
She has Eva's features, though something about her seems familiar.
Perhaps it's just the ghost of what might have been.
The family I once thought we'd have.
No. Eva killed that future the day she disappeared.
She killed my ability to love, to trust.
And that's a blessing.
Love is weakness, and I've spent four years purging myself of weakness.
So the woman beside me is merely a means to an end, a way to get information and hurt Ivan, nothing more.
At least, that's what I keep telling myself.
The closer we get to the compound, the tighter Eva grips the door handle.
Each mile seems to wind her anxiety higher.
It’s almost as if I’m not the only one she’s afraid of.
"Relax," I say. "I've already kept you alive once today."
She doesn't answer, just turns back to check on Mirabella still sound asleep in the back seat.
