His Christmas Cookie

“You really get around the block.” Nathan’s face turns to disgust.

“Back it up, Nathan. You’re a whore, so don’t slut shame.” They both turn to look at me as if they forgot I was here.

Crap. Why am I drawing attention to myself?

“You enjoyed going around my block this morning.” Chel lifts her chin higher as she says it.

Between her heels and already being as tall as Nathan, he has to look up at her. He once told me that one of the reasons he asked me out was because I was short. I thought it was an odd reason, but the truth is he never wanted anyone to look down on him. Right now he’s not getting that.

“I’ll be enjoying a virgin soon enough.” He turns his head to lock eyes with me.

The urge to vomit hits me. I was already pretty close to it because I could still smell Nathan's cologne on me. Chel grabs his arm to get his attention.

“She doesn't belong to you yet.” I think she’s only protecting me because she doesn't want Nathan to have me. The jealousy is in her eyes. Nathan and Frost are so different—how could she want both?

“Soon.” He shakes off her hold. “Very soon.” He licks his lips as his eyes roam over me. Then he turns and leaves the room, with Chel following him. I hear the lock click into place, and my heart sinks.

I don’t think they truly understand what they’ve done here. They are playing with the Ranov men, and they should know better. Frost will be coming for me, I have no doubt about that.

My only fear is what might happen to me before he gets here.Chapter 10Frost“What’s wrong?” Miller answers on the first ring.

“She’s taken Cookie,” I growl as I hit the gas. “I’m almost home.”

“I’ll be waiting outside.”

When I make the turn on our street, I see him walking off his porch and down the steps, zipping up his black hoodie.

“Did you see where they were going?” he asks me in Russian as he looks behind us to see if we’re being followed.

“Nyet.” I bang my hand on the steering wheel, and he reaches into my glove box.

He takes out the blade there and tucks it into his boot. “Tell me what happened.”

This is one of the things that I love most about my twin. He knows by the ring of my phone call that something is wrong and that he needs to come with me. We have a shared sense of purpose and the only other time I’ve felt this is with Cookie.

I explain to him about the restaurant and what I saw, and he agrees that it has to be our mother. She left me with a threat the other night, and there is no chance she doesn’t have her claws in this.

“We should have a plan before we go in.” He places his hand on my shoulder, and I want to shed tears of anger.

“I want to end her,” I admit and then shake my head. “For years she has held us at arm’s length, always using guilt and deception to get what she wants. I’m finished with it.”

“Listen to me,” he says quietly, but I hear the deadly tone in his voice. “We will get her back.”

I swallow hard as I make the turn down our parents’ driveway. It’s the home where we spent some of our young years before they shipped us off to Europe. We came home as little as possible after that.

“There is nothing I won’t do to make that happen,” I admit as I take the knife Miller holds out for me. “Even if that means I have to disappear for a while.”

Pain slashes across his eyes but he nods. “There is nothing I wouldn’t do for my Pumpkin.”

I pull up in front of the house, and we get out. I tuck the knife in the back of my jeans as we walk up to the entrance. Before a maid can open the door, I raise my boot and kick the fucking door in. I want them to know right away that I’m not playing.

There’s a scream in the distance as a maid drops a tray with tea on it. I see my father look up from his normal position by the fire, but his eyes are glazed over. No doubt he’s drugged out of his mind. Because if he wasn’t, he would already be trying to kill us.

“Where is she?” I bellow, and his eyes lower a fraction. He’s already lost interest in us.

Once he was such a strong force that Miller and I feared for our lives. We feared for our mother’s as well, but no matter how hard we tried, she refused to leave. After a while we realized that she was just as toxic as he was, and we were happy to be rid of the both of them. She lured us home for the holidays with the guilt that we owed her for leaving her with him. But the more we dug into their business and investments, the more we realized how truly horrible they are.