Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 135382 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 677(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 451(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135382 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 677(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 451(@300wpm)
“You see, not innocent at all.” Fedor glanced down at the phone again.
“Have you thought about the fact that someone might blame you if she dies?” Tucker said. “Steph has people who care about her. Strong people.”
“Yes, I was surprised that the mouse had ties to a man like Ian Taggart,” Fedor agreed. “But this I do not worry about. He is a man I can handle. He will play by his rules and they have nothing to do with mine. Besides, I believe her ties are as a client. He won’t come after me over a client. She has no family.”
Oh, but she did. It brought tears to her eyes to think of it. She had Avery and Liam and Aidan.
She could have Brody if she was only brave enough to really love him. Not in a passive way, as she had since the moment she met him. She’d always known she couldn’t have him, and that made loving him easy.
But real love, honest deep-down love required something more than sacrifice. It required her to live, to believe, to have faith.
Tucker looked up at him, his eyes steady. “She has more family than you can imagine. You think family is blood and some oath you make because you have a mutual need to make money and pretend you’re doing it for the right reasons. You don’t know what a family can be when it’s truly chosen, when it has nothing to do with need and everything to do with the fact that the people around you give a shit. You think she’s a random client. She’s not Brody Carter’s client. She’s his lover and he won’t forget her. She’s not Taggart’s fucking client. She’s his friend, and I’ve learned that some people can do remarkable things for their friends. You think you can toss us aside, but friends keep up with friends in my world. Friends find a way.”
“Well, good for you. Perhaps Mr. Taggart will find you before de Vries kills you. I wouldn’t be surprised. You’re quite good at handling pain.” Fedor glanced over and said something in his native language that had all the men standing taller. All the guns came out and Steph knew they were close.
There was a loud slam as a door came open and a group of men strode in, all wearing black and carrying weapons that were banned in most countries. She didn’t know much about guns, but these looked state of the art. The team moved in like a well-schooled predatory flock.
Outnumbered. There had to be fourteen, maybe fifteen, versus Fedor’s six or seven. And it was a military crew against Fedor’s mobsters. A chill went up Steph’s spine.
“Mr. de Vries, where is my sister?” Fedor didn’t seem at all fazed by the fact that he was outnumbered.
De Vries glanced behind him and nodded. A man from the back pulled along a woman with a cloth bag over her head. Anya. Steph recognized the blue scrub pants she’d been wearing that night and the top with pink and yellow flowers that had caused the kids of the village they served to call her the Flower Lady. Flowers and bling and glitter. Anya loved anything bright and cheerful.
It would bother her that she’d been forced to wear dirty clothes. Anya loved her girly products. Even when they would go deep into rural villages, Anya would carry small tubes of body lotion, shower gel, and dry shampoo so she could stay clean and sweet smelling.
De Vries took hold of her elbow and pulled her up. He dragged the bag over her head. “She’s right here. Now give me what I want or I’ll take you all down.”
“Fedor?” Anya blinked, though the lights weren’t bright in here. She squinted and seemed to be trying to focus. “Fedor, what have you done? Stephanie? Is that you?”
“Everything’s all right,” she called out. “You’re going to be okay.”
Fedor held up a hand. “Both of you be quiet. Say another word and I’ll have you gagged.”
“Like I haven’t heard that before,” Steph said. Yes, she’d said that out loud.
Petor put a hand on her arm, but she was already thinking. If she let them get her into the car, she wouldn’t see Brody again. The minute Anya was safe with her brother, all bets were off. Somehow, she had the feeling that Fedor would honor his agreement since she’d upheld her end of the bargain. Now she had to find a way to get herself and Tucker out.
Could she really leave Alfi? Maybe. He was a dick. He was the kind of man who slung Nate’s diaper bag into the backseat of a Jeep without closing the top so everything went everywhere and then complained about it later. He’d bitched until she’d gotten in the back and shoved it all into her bag without even organizing it. It still wasn’t organized.