Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 90434 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 452(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90434 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 452(@200wpm)___ 362(@250wpm)___ 301(@300wpm)
Quickly, he produced a cotton handkerchief out of the inside pocket of his down jacket and roughly stuffed it into my mouth, jamming it down my throat. It made me cough even more violently. The scent I recognized as uniquely his brought back every memory of us. Another wave of nausea hit me.
Pop, pop, pop. Gunfire. I knew what it sounded like now. More of it. A lot more. Muscle man hurried out the door, handgun drawn. Alek’s eyes darted around. The more gunfire rained, the more anxious he became.
Moving swiftly, he grabbed me by the elbow and yanked on my arm. I screamed in pain and launched myself up onto my feet. My legs were barely able to support me. Weak and dizzy, I was seriously dehydrated. The sound of men shouting in English and Russian outside the house increased while the gunfire lessened.
“Let’s go,” he said, wrapping an arm around my waist. I glanced down at Emilia. She was still out cold. I said another prayer for her.
We were headed for the back of the house, exiting onto a rickety covered porch, when a familiar voice said, “Get down! Face down on the floor! Now!” Ben Winters and Gideon Hirsch stood at the back entrance of the abandoned house with their guns aimed at Alek’s head.
The faithless coward released me at once. As soon as he did, I collapsed onto my knees. Slowly, Alek went to his, then down on his belly, palms in the air in surrender.
“Hands behind your head,” Gideon growled and placed a knee on Alek’s back.
“Wish this motherfucker had been armed so I could’ve shot him,” I heard Ben mutter to Gideon. My arms were suddenly free of the plastic ties. I cried out in pain and Gideon began massaging my wrists, working his way up my arms. I sat back on my heels, no strength left in me.
“I won’t tell,” Gideon replied in that soft voice with the soothing, rolling Rs.
“Sebastian?”
“We had to uh…restrain the sonofabitch. Pardon––him. He’s in the car,” Ben informed me.
“Is he okay?”
“He? It’s you I’m worried about.”
Gideon wrapped his arms around me, and gently lifted me to my feet while Ben was much rougher with Alek. My gaze slid sideways to the man I once thought I loved. The man I had vowed to spend my life with. I was looking at a total stranger. A stranger who didn’t have the courage to meet my eyes.
“Where are you sending him?”
“Interpol will take custody. Then back to Albania where he’ll be residing in a six by eight cell.”
“Emilia!” I remembered belatedly.
“Let’s get you inside while Interpol wraps this up,” Gideon said.
I took a moment to glance around. The house was surrounded by a heavy forest. Gray and bare, the trees were not covered with snow. Nothing else stood out except for the armed men with official looking uniforms traipsing through.
“Where are we?” I asked, beyond confused.
“Croatia––border of Montenegro.” Gideon answered while he escorted me back into the house. I watched Ben take Alek away. I could only image what was going through his mind. He didn’t looked at me again.
Clad in riot gear and armed to the teeth, police officers swarmed the property inside and out. Two of them were assisting Emilia when we walked back into the house. They had released her bound hands and feet, but didn’t move her. I walked over and crouched down close. She didn’t make a peep as I checked her pulse. Two EMTs rushed over to help.
She raised a hand and gripped mine. “Vera?”
“It’s me,” I murmured. “You’re safe. You’re safe. I have you.” Gently, I stroked her hair and spoke words of comfort. No doubt she was in shock. Mentally and physically beaten down. It would take a while for her to accept that Yuri was willing to sacrifice her without so much as a second thought.
She tried to get up but I wouldn’t let her. I was certain that with the beating she took, she sustained a number of broken bones. Emilia was lifted gingerly onto a gurney. I squeezed her hand, murmuring in Albanian that I loved her and would see her soon. After that, they whisked her away.
“You’re next,” Gideon softly ordered.
“Not yet,” I answered, my gaze elsewhere, scanning the room that was filled with people doing their job. My eyes bounced from police officers and medical assistants, to Sebastian’s private security team. I found him then––a blonde, disheveled head above everyone else. He glanced around nervously. Even from afar I could see the anxiety in his gaze as he searched the room for me. When our eyes connected, mine welled with tears. All the fear I had pushed down and locked up came bursting forth with a vengeance. A loud sob broke out of me.
And then I was in his arms, enveloped in love, smothered in kisses and tender caresses. I buried my face in his chest and wrapped my arms around his waist in a death grip, my body convulsing uncontrollably.