Page 135 of The Billionaire Who Saved My Cat From The Mafia

We get to Lake Tahoe in less than thirty minutes.We go radio silent as we fly over the houses along the Glenbrook shore.Many of the homes in this gated community are empty and dark.Declan cuts the chopper lights as we near the compound.

And then we’re here.

I watch as every light in Nikolai Koslov’s compound goes dark, which means that Finn has pushed a button on the command key attached to his wrist.Not a single pinprick of light appears through a window, and not one streetlight or walkway light glows against the darkness.

I know all cellphones and walkies are already being jammed, too.Finn and Declan promised they’d make it happen, and their word is law.

Cal and I slip our night vision goggles into place.Evander and Finn are doing the same.We ready our long-barrel HK 416 assault rifles with suppressors and prepare to apply as needed.

It’s showtime.

Declan maintains a steady hover over a retaining wall that divides Koslov’s compound from a neighboring property.All four of us drop our static lines and slide down from the silent helo, rappelling down along the wall until our feet touch the ground.A gaggle of Russians run out on the lawn, weapons aimed in the darkness, trying to figure out why there’s suddenly no lights and what could possibly be the cause of the sudden pick up in wind.

It's the MacLaines.You poor fuckers have no idea what fate awaits you.

I shoot first, immediately zapping one man, then a second.My brothers and I pick off one combatant at a time, until all of them are on the ground.

But I count only seven.

Which means at least eight more are taking cover somewhere outside, with who knows how many more in the interior.

We move without a sound, the four of us circling the property counter-clockwise.I signal to my brothers, pointing out two men on a balcony and another smoking by the bushes.

I take out the smoker while Evander and Finn take out the two on the balcony.Cal is busy setting the explosives in their pre-determined locations around the perimeter of the home.

That’s when we’re found out.

CHAPTER 67

Frankie

“Not fucking again!”

The light from the hallway blinks out, and the pitch darkness I’ve grown accustomed to returns.

“You’d think the most expensive zip code in this hell-hole of a country could keep the fucking lights on!Zhopa s ruchkoy!”Niko snarls.He pulls his top-of-the-line smartphone from his pocket and turns on the flashlight setting, then tries to make a call.I watch his face fall.“What the fuck is this?”

He stares at his phone, then looks up at the ceiling, listening.

My eyes dart to the open door.I’m so beat up and sore that I can hardly move, but I’m going for it.I’m going to run.

“Don’t even try,” he growls.Niko places the phone on a wooden crate on the floor, then straightens.He shakes his head at me, his face ghoulish in the flashlight beam.“You’re one crazy-assed bitch, you know that, Frances?”

“So what if I am?”The blows to my head have got me so dizzy I can’t think straight, but if he’s talking, he’s not hitting, so I figure I can try to keep him occupied.“And if anyone would know what crazy looks like, it's you, right, Niko?”

His mouth opens in shock.“You’re begging me to kill you, aren’t you?”

“No.But I’m not begging for mercy, either.”He’s right.I feel crazy, like I’ve lost all connection to myself.

He shakes his head again.“Psycho bitch.”

With all of my strength, I step forward and spit on him.The glob of my saliva lands on his face.He wipes it off with the back of his hand as his whole body contracts.He’s ready to strike.

“You pathetic loser,” I say, swaying on my feet.“Just another evil asshole throwing more suffering onto the pile.”

He squints at me.“What?”

“Forget it.You’re too evil to understand.”