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I curled into a ball and protected myhead.
He cursed in Russian, chanting like a madman, and I cried when he struck my torso. The beating suddenly stopped as I heard Stefan and another man pull himback.
“We can’t kill her, boss. We need the informationand—”
“I know!” Mikhail shouted. Fingers dug into my hair and he yanked my head so I could look into his eyes. “Where’s the storageunit?”
“I don’t know,” I whispered. “Ahhh…”
He pulled at my hair again and gripped my chin hard. “Do not lie to me,suka!”
“I’m not! We never knew where it was. Papa gave the key to someone else. Iswear.”
He asked me again and again. He hurt me again and again. This went on for several minutes until he was convinced I knewnothing.
“You’re lucky I’m not allowed to kill you,” He let me go in disgust. “Stefan?”
In my haze of pain, I registered his strange statement. Why wasn’t he allowed to killme?
“Boss?”
“Make her bleed. Take a picture of her and post it in that chatroom. The one where that traitor Marco willsee.”
Marco had been Liam’s undercovername.
“Tell him he has twenty-four hours tocomply.”
Mikhail turned and left the room; the three men followed him. I was left with Stefan. Orlov’s second looked at me with regret in hiseyes.
“You don’t have to do this, Stefan,” I pleaded. He wasn’t exactly a friend, but he was more than anacquaintance.
“Just tell us where it is and the pain will stop,” he saidgently.
Was this why Liam kept quiet about the location of the storage unit? Did he suspect I would break and, when they got what they wanted, they would kill me? Would I have broken by now if Iknew?
“I don’t know,” I mumbled, closing myeyes.
“I’m so sorry, Paulina,” he said and I believed in the sincerity of his apology. Stefan was a goodsoldier.
I let my mind escape my body. I tried to think about happier times with Papa, but my heart only hurt. My thoughts wandered to my happier times with Grant, but all I remembered was the contempt in his voice when he told me to leave. My heart cracked in two. All those condemning eyes closed in around me until Isuffocated.
I coughed andchoked.
My hand came away from mymouth.
Stefan did as he wastold.
He made mebleed.
25
Grant
Val!
Grant fought against the tangle of the fishing net. The dark embrace of the turbulent waters stifled his lungs. He broke free and swam to his sister but a burst of white bubbles momentarily blocked his path. His hand pushed through the watery barrier, baffled at the sight of the woman floating in front of him, her face obscured by a mane of chestnut and gold. His fingers dragged away the curtain of hair to expose her face. Blaire’s hazel eyes stared at him, unseeing, and a silent roar clawed up histhroat.
The Gulfstream toucheddown in a private Miami airfield owned by one of Grant’s business associates. Their plane taxied straight into a hangar. Out the window, he could see Liam standing in front of two Hummers. Grant didn’t waste any time, and, as soon as the pilot gave the go ahead, he was up from his seat and heading toward theexit.
