Page 59 of The Wrong Brother

My vision narrows.

Coffee shop. Morning. Outside. Alone.

Every detail slots into place. A part of me growls,You can’t let her roam alone. No more.I want her tied to me, want her body caged in by mine.

Andrei.

I turn away immediately before I do something unfortunate. The suite suddenly feels too small. A restless pacing starts, and I can’t stop it, irritation growing at the fact that Emma is seeingthisside of me; the side that’s less in control.

She remains wisely silent.

My phone is already in my hand by the time I call Stepan. He answers before the second ring. Russian pours out of me. Fast, sharp. I barely register my own words.

Locate everyone assigned to Andrei. Find the vehicle. Find the men. Find who touched her.

I want names. Addresses. Schedules. I want to be able to slit their throats if they so much as look at her again.

Stepan doesn’t interrupt; he knows better. By the end of the call, three separate people are guaranteed to have the worst night of their lives as soon as darkness falls.

I disconnect, turn, and begin pacing again. My hands are shaking.

“Andrei put his hands on you.”

Emma blinks. “Technically, yes?—”

“Technically?” The word comes out as a growl.

Her eyes widen slightly. “He grabbed my wrist. Rus, it wasn’t anything…he didn’t do more than that.” She’s oddly calm about this, and it makes me wonder just how and by whom she’s been hurt by before.

If it was my brother,Bogom klyanus’!

I look at the bruise again. It’s visible, all too real, and on something that belongs to me.

No.

Not mine.

The correction arrives immediately, and I crack my neck, pausing long enough to appraise Emma. She’s calmer somehow. Is it because she’s here, with me? No; she knows better than to feel safe with me.

You’re the reason those bruises are on her wrists.

I should have let her go, should have let her run. Instead, I’ve brought her right to the monster’s gate.

Years.

Years I stayed away from Colorado. Years I left my brother to his political games, his public image, and his carefully curated future.

Then, within days of my arrival, he abducts the woman staying under my protection.

Unforgivable.

“Rus.”

I ignore her.

“Ruslan.”

Still pacing.