Chapter 94 Chapter Ninety-Three
ARA
I was shivering uncontrollably by the time we dragged ourselves out of the icy water, clothes plastered to my skin, every breath a visible cloud in the frigid air.
My teeth chattered so hard my jaw ached, and no amount of rubbing my arms could chase away the bone-deep cold.
Thayne’s sharp gaze cut to me immediately.
Without a word, he started stripping off his soaked jacket, then his shirt. His movements were quick, efficient, and unselfconscious. The moonlight carved shadows across the hard planes of his chest, water still glistening on his skin.
“Hold on,” he said, voice low and rough.
He bunched the shirt, wrung it out, and tossed it into the shallows. Then he turned his back to me and crouched slightly, gesturing with one hand.
“Get on.”
I stared, teeth still clacking together. “What? No. I’m heavy.”
He glanced over his shoulder, his eyes dark and unyielding, the faintest smirk tugging at his mouth despite the situation.
“You either climb on my back right now,” he said, voice dropping to that dangerous, velvet growl that always unraveled me, “or I’ll warm you up another way, right here against the nearest tree. Thoroughly. Until you forget what cold even feels like.”
Heat flashed through me, chasing away a fraction of the chill, even as my cheeks burned.
He wasn’t bluffing. I knew that look. I swallowed and nodded once, stepping forward on shaking legs.
His hands caught my thighs the second I wrapped my arms around his broad shoulders, lifting me effortlessly onto his back.
The contact was immediate, his skin fever-hot against my frozen front, the solid strength of him grounding me as he straightened.
I buried my face against the side of his neck, breathing him in, letting his warmth seep into me inch by inch.
“Good girl,” he murmured, one arm locked securely under me as he started moving through the trees.
“Where are we going?” I managed, my voice muffled against the warm skin of his neck. I tried to ignore the way my body molded to his back, my breasts pressed flush against his bare shoulders, the heat of him seeping through my soaked clothes, my thighs clamped around his hips with every long stride he took.
All of this felt surreal. Thayne Slade, billionaire heir, penthouse king, the man who could buy cities on a whim, was trekking on survival mode like he’d been born to it.
No hesitation, no complaint. Just raw, lethal competence wrapped in muscle and instinct.
He didn’t break stride. “We’re going to turn the tables,” he said, his voice low, and edged with that familiar dark promise. “Hit my father where he least expects it. They still have Sasha, so we’re going to make a rough entry—”
He stopped abruptly.
His entire body went rigid beneath me, every muscle coiling like a spring.
“Wait. What’s that sound?” He whispered, pivoting slowly, turning us in a careful circle, head tilted, listening.
I lifted my cheek from his shoulder, straining to hear over my own heartbeat and the distant drip of melting snow.
At first, I heard nothing. Then I heard it and wrapped my arms around Thayne's neck tighter.
It was a faint, rhythmic crunching sound, leaves under deliberate weight. This wasn't an animal.
It was too steady and too close.
Infact, multiple sets of footsteps surrounding us.
Thayne’s grip on my thighs tightened. His voice dropped to a whisper meant only for me, lips barely moving.
“Hold on tight, little lamb. We’ve got company.”
From the shadows, figures dressed in black materialized. They were silent and coordinated, their weapons glinting faintly under the fractured moonlight.
I sucked in a sharp breath when I recognised the female at the centre, unmistakable even in the dim light.
Nadia. Heavily pregnant now, her belly rounded and prominent beneath a dark coat, she moved with careful steps.
Flanking her were six armed men, rifles low but ready, faces obscured by tactical masks.
Thayne didn’t hesitate one bit. He slid me off his back in one fluid motion, setting my feet on the ground, then shifted me firmly behind the solid wall of his body.
His pistol appeared in his hand as if conjured from invisible air, drawn from a concealed holster at the front of his waistband.
I blinked, stunned. How many weapons was this man carrying? And how the hell had I not felt that one pressed against me the entire time?
Nadia raised both hands slowly, palms out, signaling her men to hold position. Her face was pale, eyes wide and earnest in a way I’d never seen before.
“I know you have no reason to trust me,” she called, her voice steady despite the cold. “Not after the stupid stunt I pulled. The lies, the forged papers, everything I did. But I swear, I’m done with him. My father is a monster, and I’m here to help you end him.”
The words hung in the frozen air. I stepped out just enough from behind Thayne’s shoulder, my heart pounding against my ribs.
“Our father,” I corrected sharply. “You mean.”
Nadia’s gaze met mine. Something raw flickered there, regret, maybe even shame, before she nodded once.
“Yes,” she said quietly. “Our father.”
Thayne’s pistol stayed leveled, unwavering. His body remained a tense shield in front of me, every muscle coiled and ready.
“Talk fast,” he said, his voice like gravel over steel. “Because right now, you’re six rifles and one wrong word away from a grave. Plus, you're missing the point. I'm more interested in my father right now, not yours.”
Nadia swallowed, her hands still raised. “I’m not here to fight or distract you like you're thinking,” she said. “I’m here to give you what you need to finish this. Once and for all.”
Thayne let out a low, mocking laugh that cut through the cold air like a knife.
“Please,” he drawled, pistol still steady on her, “enlighten me. How exactly do you plan to bring my father down?”
Nadia exhaled sharply, her breath clouding in the moonlight. She rested a protective hand on the swell of her belly, the gesture unconscious but unmistakable.
“I have my father’s personal escorts with me,” she said, nodding toward the masked men flanking her. “They’ve been at Viktor’s side for years. They know every detail of your father’s plans, his schedules, his safe houses, the teams he’s deployed.”
Thayne and I spoke at the same instant. “How?”
Nadia shrugged. “My father has been watching yours for decades, Thayne. Gathering leverage, waiting for the perfect moment. You’re one of the most powerful men in New York, yes, but I’m offering you a way to kill two birds with one stone. End both threats at once.”
She paused, eyes flicking between us. “I just need to know you’re all in.”
I stepped out from behind Thayne’s shoulder, ignoring the way his body tensed, ready to shield me again.
“Why should we trust you?” I asked, despite the fear clawing at my throat. “You knew what he did, locking us up, torturing Thayne. He’s hunting me because of the twins. He wants to cage me until I deliver, then name them his heirs and take them from me. How do we know you’re not still his pawn? He used you once before.”
Nadia’s face tightened, pain flashing across her features before she masked it.
She sighed, her shoulders sagging slightly under the weight of her pregnancy and everything else.
“Fine,” she said quietly. “Figure it out yourselves, then.”
She turned on her heel, her coat swirling, and started walking back into the trees. The six armed men fell in behind her without hesitation.
Thayne watched her go for a long second, his jaw clenched, calculating.
Then he turned to me, his free hand rising to gently lift my chin. His thumb brushed over my cold skin, grounding me.
“Do you trust her?” he asked softly, his eyes searching mine.
I held his gaze, feeling the weight of the moment, the danger, the exhaustion, the fragile thread of hope.
“I think we should,” I said.
He studied me a beat longer, then gave a single, reluctant nod.
“All right,” he muttered under his breath.
As if her name was a command, he called her name, “Nadia.”
She stopped but didn’t turn, her back rigid. Thayne’s next words carried across the clearing, reminding everyone why he was Thayne Slade.
“Let’s work together.”