Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 127461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 637(@200wpm)___ 510(@250wpm)___ 425(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 637(@200wpm)___ 510(@250wpm)___ 425(@300wpm)
At first she thought the bulkier of the two was the man to fear the most. His eyes were glacier cold, and she knew he took in everything around him. The other man was definitely an Amurov, but he was . . . more. She couldn’t keep her gaze from him. He didn’t have obvious muscles, but they ran beneath his skin. He looked almost nice—charming—but she knew that was deceptive. She couldn’t have said how she knew, but she did.
Icy fingers of fear crept down her spine. She would have moved even farther back into the shadows, but movement drew notice, and she didn’t dare draw either of those two men’s attention to herself. They were the scariest men she’d ever encountered, and she’d met a few very dangerous men.
She was careful to observe them from under her lashes, not stare directly. Several times, despite their attention being centered on Theo, both men looked toward the door of the basement as if they were aware they were under observation.
“Theo Pappas.” The man she was certain was an Amurov spoke. His voice was deceptively low. Mild. No hint of a threat.
Theo half turned to face them, his skin going ashen as he saw the number of men facing him. One of the bodyguards reached out and took his laptop from him, glanced at the screen and then handed it to Amurov.
“My name is Gorya Amurov.” He studied the contents of the screen and then turned toward the door of the basement. “You appear to be auctioning off a young female leopard in heat. The fact that the door is bolted would indicate she might not be on board with your idea.”
Again, Maya couldn’t detect a hint of reprimand. She also couldn’t tell whether he thought the idea was a good one or not. Considering the Amurov lairs dealt in human trafficking, she was sure he would applaud Theo’s scheme.
“The money’s for you,” Theo said hastily. “I owe you money, and this was a way to pay you back. You can see how much is coming in, and I only just started the auction. Although,” he added, “if you want her yourself, we could work something out.”
The bodyguards exchanged incredulous looks. Maya allowed herself a breath. Theo was oblivious to the fact that he was in way over his head.
“We can work something out,” Gorya Amurov repeated slowly in that same low voice.
His head turned slowly, and this time his eyes pierced the darkness to look right at her. Seeing her. He didn’t look in the least bit easygoing or charming. Fear crept down her spine. Ice surrounded her heart. She gripped the hilt of her knife and stroked one finger along the small blade. She was looking at death.
3
Gorya suddenly struck Theo without even looking at him. He was so fast his hand was a blur. So strong Theo’s head snapped back, the skin on his cheekbone exploding and blood erupting even as he was knocked off his feet. All the while, Gorya continued to stare straight at Maya, never blinking. The laptop didn’t so much as shake in his other hand.
She couldn’t help taking the cautionary step back, farther into the shadows. Her mouth went dry.
“Did you really think you could get away with stealing from me?” Gorya asked in that same low tone, as if that brutal strike had never happened. “You knew the consequences, and yet you took the money and spent it on drugs, alcohol and gambling. Now you’re willing to sell a female shifter to pay for your sins. You disgust me.”
Theo dug his heels into the floor. “I’m giving you the way to make money free,” he sputtered as he tried to push backward, away from Gorya. “I could have kept it to myself. I didn’t try to hide her from you.” There was a sob in his voice.
Gorya gestured toward him in disgust. “Rodion, get him out of here. We need the names of his accomplices. He didn’t think of this scheme alone. Quite frankly, he doesn’t have the brains or the balls to have thought of this by himself.”
The entire time, Gorya hadn’t taken his gaze from that window leading straight to the basement rooms. He shouldn’t have been able to see Maya in the shadows, but she knew he did.
“Take the laptop with you. Have Tonio see what he can get off it. If there’s a passcode, I’m certain Pappas will cooperate if you need it.”
He spoke so casually, but Maya knew what was meant by cooperation. Someone would get the information from Theo by torture. It wasn’t that she was opposed to Theo dying. She’d planned to kill him herself. As far as she was concerned, he deserved to die for a number of reasons. She killed as cleanly as possible, not that she thought herself better than anyone else.