Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 145729 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145729 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
He nuzzled the top of her head with his chin, just holding her, savoring the feel of her in his arms. He knew she was falling asleep, her body relaxing little by little.
“I love you, Joshua,” she murmured.
That voice. Drowsy. So sexy it turned his heart over and made his cock as hard as a rock. He willed that portion of his anatomy to behave. At least for a few more hours. He had things to do. A woman to protect. Above all else, he would ensure Sonia was safe.
18
Fyodor Amurov was a big man. He could be intimidating if one didn’t know him. He was intimidating when you did know him. He rarely smiled. Mostly when he was around his wife, but if he did smile, it almost never reached his arctic-cold eyes. He was like ice, inside and out. He was guarded by Gorya Amurov, a cousin who had been raised with him, and Timur, his brother. All three were fierce leopards, experienced, lethal fighters. They looked what they were – men shaped into killers.
Mitya Amurov was another cousin. He was extremely remote, very removed from the others. Quiet, he kept to himself, but there was no question when he walked into a room, he commanded it. Sevastyan Amurov shadowed Mitya, occasionally flashing a smile that could break hearts, but there was nothing behind it. Like the other Amurov men, Sevastyan was a big man, but more elegantly formed, the roped muscles that defined the shifters hidden beneath a smoother physique, but there all the same. Matvei, another leopard from the Amurov lair, was never far from Mitya either. He was a big man, even among the Amurovs, much like Fyodor.
Joshua had come to know and trust these men, but they were dangerous as hell and a force to be reckoned with. Each of them had a leopard that had been trained from the time the men were born to kill. To need blood. To hate. Those cats lived for the kill. Only Fyodor had found a woman capable of taming his leopard, and even she was a thin leash on the beast.
Both Fyodor and Mitya had brought several of their men with them, all leopards, all proven to keep silent in the face of whatever had to be done. These were all men Joshua could trust – all men willing to stand with him. It didn’t hurt that they had a stake in finding Nikita and Sasha Bogomolov.
Sasha had chosen a vacation estate, one isolated and easily defensible. The swamp surrounded the house, edging in on it, trying to take back the property. No one lived there permanently and it showed in the way the bushes crept back persistently. Great cypress and gum trees rose up, branches stretching out like arms. Long fringes of moss waved macabrely in the night breeze, adding to the illusion that the house was surrounded by giant stick figures.
Joshua and the others moved silently through the swamp. They’d left vehicles a few miles down the road, not wanting lights or sounds to give them away. To prevent the leopards from scenting them, they used the spray Drake had given them. They were used to traveling with small packs around their necks, carrying jeans, shoes and weapons. The packs were small, so they didn’t have much in the way of firepower.
They kept downwind of the other leopards just in case, circling around to get behind each sentry. They had to take them out silently, but not permanently. That would come later, if need be. Joshua shifted just behind the man, not bothering with clothes. He struck the guard hard, a short, ugly blow to the temple. He packed a lot of power and sent up a silent prayer that he hadn’t killed the man.
He caught the guard and lowered him to the ground, did a quick tie and gag and then pulled on his jeans and shoes. Slipping over the railing onto the verandah, he knew the others moved into position, surrounding the house. He heard his heartbeat as he waited for the signal to go. It came in the form of an owl hooting. Each team was in place. He gave the signal to move on the house.
Before he could breach the door, Evan was there before him, giving him a look that told him to back off. Joshua had always been the one to go first, to take the biggest risk in any operation they ran. He was still getting used to the idea that his men protected him. It didn’t sit well with him, and he was certain it never would. Not ever.
It took only a few minutes to subdue Sasha’s crew. They were spitting mad, especially his personal bodyguards, their eyes promising retaliation. He didn’t care. Sasha was dragged into the great room, where Joshua indicated he sit in a chair facing the fireplace. Sasha stared at him stoically. Joshua had been in countless situations with criminals, ruthless men ready to fight their way out of any situation, even a suicide mission. He could read men easily. Sasha Bogomolov wouldn’t crack under torture. His body would give out long before his brain would. That didn’t fit with a man afraid of his father – afraid his father would kill his woman.