Page 91 of A Dangerous Proposal

“Good news travels fast, and I’ve already received a concerned phone call from Armstrong. He’s worried that this Felix might be in some danger, that he’s being followed, and their house is being watched. I assured him that wasn’t the case.”

Alex tried not to grind his teeth.

“Why don’t you wait and see what the courts say?” Mikhail splayed his fingers out. “I’m sure you will keep your little family together.”

“I see.” Alex’s voice was low, but he didn’t doubt his brother heard the rage thrumming through his veins. “In other words, hands off.”

“Exactly. Handle your family business, Alex. But don’t cross Armstrong. Unless, of course,” he added with a mocking lift of his brow, “you’d like to test the limits of my patience.”

Alex’s blood boiled. “Understood. As long as they stay away from my wife, his junkie son-in-law is safe. But if he even breathes on her wrong, I’m going to rip him apart. She is a Kovalyov now.”

Mikhail’s lips curved into a slight smile, his gaze glinting with satisfaction, but inclined his head in agreement.

Alex’s mind was racing, calculating. He refused to break his promise to Madison.

“Good. I knew you’d be reasonable.”

Every cell in his body wanted to tell Mikhail to fuck off, but he knew better than to give his brother the satisfaction of an argument, one that Alex had no hope of winning. His brother was thepakhan.

One thing this meeting had made clear. His brother thought the years behind a desk had made Alex soft.

They hadn’t. He’d just learned to hide it better.

Alex pushed to his feet. “If there’s nothing else, I have a lot of work to do.”

“Of course,” Mikhail replied, settling back in his chair with a faintly triumphant expression.

Alex forced himself not to slam the door as he left Mikhail’s office. He clenched his fists, the tightness in his chest growing with each step as he struggled to keep his anger in check.

When he reached the elevator, he loosened his collar and took a deep breath, steadying himself. Mikhail had made his position clear, and now Alex had to find a way around it. If Mikhail thought he’d won this battle, he’d underestimated just how far Alex would go to keep his word.

The doors slid shut, and Alex stared at his reflection in the gleaming metal, his jaw set and his eyes cold. It was time to think like a Kovalyov.

The house was quiet when Alex stepped inside, the heavy door shutting behind him with a soft click. It was late—much later than usual—but that had been intentional.

He had stayed at the office long past when Madison would normally have gone to bed, knowing that what he had to tell her wasn’t something he wanted to face tonight.

He needed time.

Alex wanted to have a plan in place to reassure her he could still uphold his end of their agreement.

Madison wasn’t going to take it well. He’d promised she would keep Jax no matter what.

Fuck!

To his surprise, when he stepped into the living room, she was still awake, her laptop open. Concentration etched furrowsin her brows as she scrolled through whatever she was reading, unaware of his presence.

A sense of certainty slid into place inside of him.

Madison is mine.

Mine to take care of.

Mine to protect.

Mine.

She must have sensed him, because she looked up with one of her warm smiles. After she studied his face for a moment, Madison closed her laptop and set it aside.

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