Raven’s friend turns out to be a flawless beauty who could not do enough for us. She meets us at the front door and takes us into the library of their home to meet her man. He stands from his desk and walks up to us. He is an inch taller than me and impeccably dressed in a suit. He looks as if he has been pulled out of a business meeting. He smiles but his eyes are cold and indifferent. Star makes the introductions.

“Dragan,” he murmurs.

He takes my hand in a firm grip. “I’ve heard of you.”

My eyebrows rise. I’m not sure I like this man.

“It’s a compliment. From a satisfied customer,” he says smoothly.

I hear Raven draw her breath sharply. She has stepped into the brutal world where people are complimented for killing other people.

Nikolai Smirnoff turns towards Star and smiles at her. A sense of relief rushes through my veins. Raven is right. He will do it for his woman. She goes over to him, gives his cheek a chaste kiss, and whispers something in his ear. His hand comes around her waist and he nods and strokes her hair gently. A secret look passes between them. Tearing her eyes away she turns toward Raven. “Come on. Let’s get you something to eat.”

Raven glances at me and my heart feels as if it is breaking. She is so pale and her eyes huge with fear. Her chin trembles. I want to hold her and tell her everything’s going to be all right, but I can’t. Not yet. I just smile at her and a ghost of one flickers on her lips.

“Come on,” Star urges.

“I love you,” Raven mouths to me and follows her.

The door shuts behind them.

“Drink?”

I refuse. I need a completely clear head.

We sit opposite each other. “What can I do for you?”

“There are many places a man like me could go and be forgotten, but not with a woman and child.”

He nods slowly. This man says less than me.

I outline my plan, and he listens without interrupting. When I finish, he nods again.

“I can improve on your plan,” he says, and smiles. A cold smile that does not reach his eyes.

Janna is asleep and Dragan and I are in one of the many bedrooms in Nikolai’s grand house. Dragan presses me into his body and kisses me, our mouths desperate for the taste of each other.

It could be the last time we kiss.

“Tell me I’ll see you again,” I whisper, my lips moving over his. I’m so close I can see all the golden flecks in his eyes.

“I want to see you again more than I want anything else in the world,” he says.

It’s not the answer I want to hear. “I pray to God to bring you back to me.”

“If I don’t come back—”

I thrust my hand between us and lay my palm across his mouth. “Don’t.”

He kisses my palm.

“I wish we could just run away. I’m so afraid for you, Dragan.”

“We can’t run away, but promise me you’ll leave for Paris and follow the plan if you don’t hear from me before the end of tonight.”

I nod, my stomach clenching at the thought of leaving the city without knowing if he’s alive or dead. “I promise.”

“If I don’t make it I want you to know, I’m sorry I was so rough with you at the castle. It is my greatest regret. I think I was trying to push you away, treat you like a whore. Pretend you were just another woman I picked up, but nothing worked. You wriggled your way into my heart.”

“You make me sound like a worm,” I say in a watery voice.

“God, I wish I could make love to you now,” he groans.

“Me too.”

“If I make it back I’m going to fuck you so hard and long you’re not going to be able to walk properly for days.”

“You better make sure you come back. I hate men who make empty promises.”

He chuckles. “Do you know what I thought when I saw you at the casino for the first time?”

“No. What?”

“I thought: fuck, man. You’re in so much trouble. You were the hottest fucking thing I’d seen in all my life.”

I grin. “Do you want to know what I thought?”

He flashes a panty-dropping smile and my stomach flips. “Sure.”

“Well, I thought: Shit, Raven. Don’t even look in that direction. He is waaaaaaay out of your league.”

“I’ve never felt like this ever. I don’t want to be separated from you.”

He lowers his mouth to my ear. “When you told me you had seen Sergei’s son’s face it felt like a knife in my chest. No matter what happens, I’ll never regret you.”

A scream builds somewhere inside me. This is so unfair. I can’t give up this man. I don’t want him to go. I don’t care if we spend the rest of our lives in a tiny remote village in Argentina. “I don’t want you to go,” I sob.

“Shhh … I have to do this for us. For Janna. For our children when they come.”

I start crying softly. “I’m sorry,” I sniff. “I want to be strong for you, but I am so afraid.”

“Don’t be afraid. I have been through worse.”

I look up at him hopefully. “Really?”

He nods.

“You will be careful, won’t you?

“Do you think I want to lose you? Lose our life together? Remember when I told you I was the best. I wasn’t exaggerating. If anybody can do this, it’s me.”

I nod, but my guts are twisted up with anxiety and fear.

“There you go. Now, I should leave.”

We kiss again, deeply, my finger twining in his hair and praying this isn’t the last time I’ll see him.