Mine. Mine.
She started at the voice. No, I must have imagined it. Shaking her head, she took a deep breath and mentally prepared herself to deal with her sister.
Chapter Seventeen
Leaving Adrianna was difficult, to the point of painful. For one thing, he felt literal pain as his wolf was ripping him up from the inside, enraged that they would leave her so vulnerable like that. He reasoned that he was doing this for her own good, as he had no idea if Julianna would make good on her threat. Breaking territorial boundaries held severe punishments, and if the Alpha of this territory found out, there would be consequences for him and Adrianna.
His wolf didn’t understand politics or rules, of course, and so he bore the pain as he drove back to New Jersey, only taking comfort in the fact that Adrianna would be safe with her sister.
Besides, he had more pressing matters to attend to. The sooner he found out the truth from Anatoli—hopefully, that he had not orchestrated the kidnapping—the sooner he could be back with his she-wolf again.
Making love to Adrianna was better than any wildest fantasy he ever had. She was passionate but also unselfish. So eager to please him in any way. Even now, thoughts of her soft, plush body underneath his made him hard as steel. The thoughts of what other delicious things he would do to her—and her to him—made the long drive home both pleasurable and torturous.
When he saw the gate of the compound ahead of him, he began to mentally prepare himself for the confrontation with Anatoli. He needed to be smart about this as accusing his uncle of such a crime if he were innocent would not be without its consequences. Alternately, if Anatoli was responsible, then there were bigger things to worry about.
The gates opened for him, and he hadn’t even entered the garage when he saw two other enforcers already waiting for him. He recognized them as Remus and Simion, two of Anatoli’s meanest men, as well as his most loyal. They stopped him and motioned for him to get out of the car.
“Your uncle has instructed us to take you to him as soon as you arrived.” Remus attempted to grab his arm, but he sent the man a scathing look that had him faltering.
“He’s waiting,” Simion added but didn’t make a move toward him.
So, Anatoli already knew he was on the way. Whether that was good or bad, well … he would find out soon enough.
The moment he entered Anatoli’s office, the old man came at him with blinding rage. Remus and Simion held his arms back as a meaty fist connected with his jaw. “I should have you whipped!” Anatoli screamed. “Then wait for you to heal and then whip you again!”
Even when his arms were set free, he refused to cower or even wipe the blood that dripped from his lip. He was used to this. After all, when Anatoli took over for Grandfather as head of The Family, he used terror and abuse to keep everyone in line. “Why should I be punished, Uncle?”
“For foiling my plans! When those humans I had sent after Adrianna Anderson told me they were stopped by a silver-haired devil, I knew it was you!”
“You ordered me to be her bodyguard. I was only doing as you asked.”
That seemed to infuriate him even more and his face went red. “That’s not … insolent boy!” The back of his hand whipped against his cheekbone. “I—I was told she went to D.C. alone. I thought maybe she’d become annoyed with you and dismissed you. Besides, according to Mila, you’ve found out nothing useful these past days!”
“Why do you want to harm the Alpha’s daughter?”
“None of your business!” He cracked his knuckles, then his lips spread into a smile. “However, while your actions thwarted my plans for that bitch, you’ve actually made things better.”
Better? What did his uncle mean? “How so?”
“I received a call from the Alpha herself. Frankie Anderson was incredibly grateful that you were there to rescue her daughter.” He let out a cackle. “What a stupid whore!” He signaled at the two enforcers to leave, and once they did, he gave Darius a pat on the shoulders. “Now, they will be easier to manipulate. You will remain by that bitch’s side and keep gaining her trust. Then,” he licked his lips, “once the time comes, I will tell you what to do.”
Darius swallowed hard. The sick bastard hurt him for no reason other than to show his dominance around his minions, but worse than that, he was now trapped. It would be too late to confess to Adrianna that he suspected it was Anatoli who sent those men to kidnap her, but at this point, neither could he betray his uncle without tipping him off or protecting her.
“Do you understand me, Darius?” Anatoli looked him straight in the eyes. “The Family comes first.”
“Of course.”
“Good. That’s exactly the attitude I need.”
The only way out of this would be to find out what Anatoli was really planning and put a stop to it, without him knowing any better. This was obviously more than just keeping The Family’s interests in the territory. His uncle wouldn’t go to such lengths or risk death by attempting to harm a future Alpha. But that would mean playing both sides, and he knew now that he could never let anything happen to Adrianna.
He could only hope to find out the truth before she did.
Chapter Eighteen
“So, do you think Zac and Astrid are going to have a girl or boy?”
Julianna looked up at her from her phone, raised a brow, and went back to tapping on her screen.
“I think a girl would be nice,” Adrianna added. “Maybe she’ll be sassy like her mom and grandma. Though a boy would probably make Nick Vrost go over the moon.”
No response.
“Or
