Total pages in book: 215
Estimated words: 217988 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1090(@200wpm)___ 872(@250wpm)___ 727(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 217988 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1090(@200wpm)___ 872(@250wpm)___ 727(@300wpm)
“Just do what I say when I say it and everything will be fine.”
She just snorted, but held back whatever smart-ass reply she no doubt wanted to unleash.
Exactly forty-two minutes later, he turned down a rough-looking driveway.
“We’re here.”
“Everyone else is about ten minutes out and they’ll need to get into position,” Brody replied. “You might need to stall him.”
“Got it.” The Fox hated the anxiety in his Pup’s voice. “I’ll be home soon, Pup, and then we can do what I promised earlier.”
“Okay,” Brody said breathlessly.
“Do you two mind?” Cara snarled. “Some of us have to act unconscious and helpless. Hard to do when I’m turned on.”
Lord help him.
“Hug our girl for me.”
“Will do,” Brody replied.
“Show time,” he sang. “This is going to be so much fun.”
“You’re a weirdo,” she said.
He knew he should have given her a bigger dose of sedative.
But when he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, she was completely limp and quiet. He walked in, looking around the old house. He stepped straight into a large living area that had holes in the roof and smelled rotten. There was an old lamp in the corner that had to be battery-powered.
Movement caught his eye. Someone was standing in the shadows by the hallway. But he decided to play ignorant. He didn’t usually enter somewhere that he hadn’t scouted everything out first. But there had been no time for that and he had to rely on the others to back him up.
It wasn’t a pleasant experience.
“Mr. A! I’m here. And I’ve brought a gift.” He kept hold of her for the moment, until he knew that the asshole wasn’t going to pull a gun out.
A man stepped out of the shadows. And a wave of anger hit him.
“Mr. A?” he asked, hiding his thoughts.
“That’s me. Put the girl down.” The man had a Russian accent. He was dressed in a suit. Could be Mr. A.
But he was pretty certain he wasn’t.
“Hmm. I don’t think so since I happen to know you’re not Mr. A.”
“How would you know that?”
“I know a lot of things. And I don’t appreciate you trying to make a fool of me. Get him. Now. Or I take her and we go.”
The Fox drew out his gun, aiming it at the other man who glared back at him.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are. Could the real Mr. A please come out,” he called.
“That does not rhyme.”
The Fox stared at the older man who spoke as he walked into the room. This man who looked like a thinner version of Drew Markovich. He held a gun against his thigh but didn’t raise it.
“It wasn’t meant to. Hello, Pavel.”
The other man tried to hide his surprise. “You know who I am.”
“I do.”
“And you brought the girl. Set her down.”
He put Dahlia on the floor.
“Is she still alive?” He moved forward. The other man kept his gaze on the Fox’s gun. A bodyguard then?
“Yes.”
“Good. We will take her.”
“And what do you plan to do with her?” he asked.
“You care?” Pavel asked.
“Of course not. Just curious. Why would you care who your brother was involved with?”
“I do not. But he must pay for what he’s done.”
Pavel spoke in Russian to the other man. Dumb shit should know not to underestimate the enemy. Not that he knew the Fox was the enemy.
His second mistake.
“Make sure it’s her and then kill them both,” he said in Russian to his companion.
The other man stepped forward and the Fox moved in front of Cara to guard her.
“Actually, I had something to discuss first,” the Fox said.
He was aware of the others listening in, but he had to delay Pavel.
“They need about five minutes, Fox,” Brody said in his ear. “Pavel had more men outside. Jason hasn’t got a clear shot. The windows are mostly all boarded up.”
The Fox drew the ring from his pocket. He’d kept it locked away for years. Sometimes he’d thought about getting rid of the damn thing.
But while he’d like to sever any link to the past as his mentor had tried to make him, he couldn’t seem to ever let this go.
“You don’t remember me, do you, Pavel?”
The other man stared at him. “Should I?”
“Hmm. I always thought large gold rings were rather garish, you know? But I figured it was appropriate to wear this one tonight.” He held the ring up. There wasn’t much light in here. Just the old battery-powered lamp in the corner.
Pavel’s gaze turned to his finger. He stepped forward, as though drawn to the ring.
“What is that?”
“It was my father’s ring. My mother left me at an orphanage when I was young. Said she’d be back for me. She left me with this ring. Told me it was my father’s and if anything ever happened to me, I could show this to my father and he would help me.”