Claim Me

Chapter 26

26Lucas

The moment the door to the bedroom closes, I turn to Goldberg and say, “Prepare the trackers. I want them implanted before you leave.”

The doctor blinks at me. “Tonight? But—”

“She’s already on pain meds, and as banged up as she is, she’ll hardly feel the discomfort.” I fold my arms across my chest. “You can use a local anesthetic to make sure there’s no pain when they go in.” Pausing, I frown at Goldberg. “Unless you think this will impede her recovery?”

“No, but…” He gives me a wary look. “Don’t you think she’s been through enough?”

“Excuse me?”

Goldberg sighs and says, “Never mind. I can see you’re set on this. I’ll prepare for the procedure.”

He walks over to the couch and sits, opening his doctor’s bag to take out a syringe with a thick needle and the sterilized implants I gave him earlier. The trackers are tiny, about the size of a grain of rice, but capable of transmitting a signal from anywhere in the globe. I watch him for a few moments, then walk over to the window and stare blindly outside, trying to contain the fury simmering in me.

Kirill escaped.

He hurt Yulia, and then he f*****g escaped. I don’t know how he managed it—if Yulia was right about the damage she inflicted, he should’ve been at death’s door—but the fucker drove away in the SUV, and we couldn’t give chase without alerting the authorities to our presence in their country. As is, given all the explosions and gunfire, it was bound to be only a matter of time before we got in trouble. Our safest bet had been to hightail it out of the country as fast as we could, and that’s exactly what we did.

Of course, we only did that because Yulia had been injured, and I wanted to get her home as quickly as possible. Otherwise, I would’ve chased down the bastard and worried about getting out of the country later.

Thinking about that—about Yulia beaten and nearly raped—sends fresh rage surging through me. I don’t know which one of us I’m angrier at: Yulia for lying about being an only child and running away, or myself for not doing proper due diligence before jumping to conclusions.

Misha is her brother, not her lover.

Her f*****g teenage brother.

During the flight, I had time to think about everything, and in hindsight, it’s obvious how my jealousy had blinded me to the truth. The idea of Yulia in love with another man had been so intolerable I refused to listen to her pleas.

My obsession with her nearly got her killed.

“Lucas?” Goldberg’s voice cuts into my thoughts. When I spin around to glare at him, the doctor says cautiously, “I think their five minutes are up. If you want me to do the procedure, I’m ready.”

“All right.” I force my tone to even out. “Let’s go.”

Misunderstanding or not, Yulia won’t escape from me ever again.