Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 72643 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72643 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
“Spasibo.” He dropped his gaze to the floor.
“You’re welcome.” I pulled the trigger.
Chapter Six
Sabrina
My hip throbbed in steady waves of discomfort as I sat up and peered around my room. Hello Kitty smiled back as the sun, low on the horizon, filtered through the curtains. The room was quiet, and I was alone, but I still caught the scent of Nate. He’d held me until I’d fallen into a pleasant sleep that eventually turned into one nightmare after another—each of them ending with me at the end of a barrel. I’d woken with a start, my sweaty shirt clinging to me.
Distant voices carried up the stairs, all male, as if there were a gathering below. I threw my legs off the edge of the bed and stood. The room spun for a moment before settling down. I eased to the bathroom and checked myself in the mirror. A light pattern of bruising rose along my throat. I shivered at the memory of Dmitri’s hand pressing against me. Another streak of bluish brown down my collar bone. Sliding my pants down, I checked the ugly bruise on my hip. It looked like I must have been thrown against the door’s armrest when Hargut rammed the car. Just the thought of him brought tears to my eyes. I swallowed them back. He’d been brave. I would be, too.
I cleaned up and pulled my hair into a messy ponytail. Walking with a slight limp, I crept down the hall to the bannister. Dozens of men were lined up in the marble foyer, their voices hushed but carrying in the wide space.
Going downstairs didn’t seem like an option, but I didn’t want to go back to my room, so I took a seat on the top step and waited. Out of sight, but with a great view of everything going on, I tried to figure out what was happening. More men arrived over the next few minutes until the foyer was packed.
They quieted as Nate entered from the hallway to the right. My breath hitched in my throat. He wore a perfectly fitted suit with a white shirt beneath, open at the collar. His dark hair was parted on the side, the strands neat and smooth as he stood and surveyed his men. At six feet three or so, he was imposing—taller than most of the men in the room. And the look on his face was stern, far more serious than I’d ever seen him. Two men followed close behind him. One was Peter, who I’d met earlier. I didn’t recognize the other one, but I would remember him—large and terrifying, his face was a mask of dark intentions.
All eyes were on Nate. Standing there like a gorgeous, lethal man who exuded effortless power, he seemed to be calculating as he met the eyes of each man before passing to the next.
“As you all know, we have a rat.” His voice boomed out over the crowd. They shifted uncomfortably and parted as Nate walked among them. “I want to assure you that I’m going to find out who it is.” He stopped in front of a younger man. “And when I do, there will be no mercy. I will let the Butcher pull out all the stops. Every nightmare you’ve ever had, it’ll play out right here, under our feet.”
The young man in front of him withered under Nate’s words.
Nate moved on, staring down each person in his path. “Because more than anything else, I demand loyalty. The rat threatens everything we’ve built here. And he will pay with blood, all of it. Does anyone have any questions?” He turned and moved to stand at the head of the room.
Silence reigned.
“Does anyone have anything they want to tell me?” His voice dropped low, which made it even scarier. The intensity of his gaze spoke to some primal part of me, telling me to run. Like a blinking predator alert going off at some ancient level of my consciousness. I didn’t move.
No one spoke. No one seemed to breathe as Nate bore down on them like a tempest.
“Tonight, we’re receiving a shipment at Essington. I’m expecting company straight from Moscow.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “We’re going to kill every last one of them. It’s time they learned what we do to anyone who takes what’s ours.”
A flurry of nods and agreement went up from the crowd.
“Don’t hesitate. Shoot first, ask questions later. We’ll protect this shipment, then the next, and the next.” He smirked. “What’s more, we’re going to start taking.”
Even more agreement with a chorus of yeahs rumbled around in the air.
“Peter will speak more about that when the time comes, but I need to be sure that every man here is ready to fight for what’s his. To protect what we’ve made with our own hands. Are you ready to bleed for it?”