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“Look, are we doing this or not?” Grant snapped. He was getting tired of Liam’s insults and his barbs cut deep. Because of his inexperience in combat, Grant knew he couldn’t take an active part in rescuing his girl, even if he desperately wanted to. They needed the best men for the job. “I want my team to be within striking distance. I’m fully capable of defending myself, so Jake and Tyler can help you ifneeded.”
“We’re not leaving you unprotected, Mr. Thorne,” Jakeprotested.
“If Liam needs backup, Donovan, you are ordered to help,” Grant declared. He narrowed his eyes when Jake looked ready to argue. “Understood?”
His head of security’s mouth tightened in a flatline.
“What’s your specialty, son?” Liamasked.
“Sniper,” Jakeanswered.
“Your skills up topar?”
Jake stepped back, crossed his arms, and stared at the otherman.
“Guess they are,” Liam muttered. “Okay, here’s theplan.”
26
Blaire
After Stefan took the picture,a woman came in to sponge me down and gave me a change of clothes. She left some kind of porridge and water. I didn’t think Orlov had anything to do with it. My jaw was painful and swollen and I felt a couple of loose teeth. I bled from my nose, but it didn’t feel broken. I wasn’t hungry. I couldn’t even open my mouth, but I was thirsty, so I just drank thewater.
I laid as still as possible and closed my eyes. I hurt less thatway.
I heard the creak of the door and realized I’d fallen asleep. My eyes shot open and the fluorescent light blinded me. My visitor was one of the men who’d accompaniedOrlov.
“Get up,” he ordered. “Marco madecontact.”
He stood motionless while I struggled to get to my side, then I propped my upper body with my elbow. He removed my ankle shackle, and I swung my legs to the floor, tentatively levering myself up to my feet. My body felt liked I’d ran a marathon, and my brain felt like it wanted to burst out of myskull.
The man whistled. “Let’s see your rich boyfriend want you now. Even I wouldn’t want to fuck you looking at thatface.”
I was thankful speaking hurt, because I would have told this bastard that I wouldn’t fuck his ugly face either. So, with as much dignity as my beaten body could muster, I marched—okay—limped out of that room. I almost cried when I saw how far I had to walk, although I was sure the cavernous hallway intimidated me because every step was an effort. Orlov’s goon got impatient and shoved me ahead. I tried so hard not to stumble, but fell to my knees anyway. I was yanked up and dragged along, so I had no choice but to force my aching limbs tomove.
When we got to the first floor, it was like a meeting in a mafia movie. There were about twelve men; I recognized many of them. Some because they’d worked with my father, and the others because I’d recognized them from the files. They were looking at me with a mixture of satisfaction and anger. Many of them were cracking their knuckles to intimidate me. I didn’t think I could take another beating, but I doubted they’d be merciful and just shootme.
One of them approached me. I didn’t remember his name, but I remembered my papa saying he was one of the sadistic ones who liked to torture hisvictims.
“You think you’re getting out of this alive,suka?” he sneered. “We’re going to have fun with you. Don’t think that old man can save you. We’ll take him too, if not kill him first, but you…?” His mouth lifted in a cruelsmile.
“Kiril, stop that shit,” Stefan ordered. He walked toward me. “Come on, Paulina, the car iswaiting.”
The others walked ahead of us while Stefan kept pace withme.
“I don’t get you, Stefan,” I mumbled through my aching jaw. “How could you hurt me and still be nice tome?”
“I follow orders,” he shrugged. “Don’t imagine any compassion where there isn’t, Paulina. If Orlov orders me to kill you, Iwill.”
I flinched at the bluntness of his words, so I shut up and bowed my head. Orlov met us at a Black SUV. He got in first. I was sandwiched between him andStefan.
If by some miracle Liam and I got out of this alive, we could start fresh somewhere. I wasn’t sure what he told Orlov, if he was bluffing that he had the physical evidence that could link almost all his top level men to their crimes. I was tired of holding on to Papa’s legacy like an albatross around my neck. If any of the evidence amounted to anything, that was for the FBI and the DOJ to decide. I was done with it. We needed to get far, far away from the mafia so they couldn’t touch us, and far, far away from Grant so I could forget all theheartache.
* * *
My foggy braindidn’t understand why I was gagged until two SUVs of our four-vehicle convoy broke away. I started to panic. We were meeting Liam and they didn’t want me to warn him that there were others in covert positions. Knowing Liam though, he would have prepared for every scenario. I had to trusthim.
I recognized the part of town we were in. It was an industrial area that was quiet on the weekends. I’d accompanied Papa several times when the assassins of the ROC did their business here. I wanted to laugh. If Papa hid the physical evidence right in Orlov’s own backyard, that would beironic.
