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Mina moved beside her, whispering something in her ear, which drew her attention away.
Her comment was more flirtatious than before. Maybe when I told her how I felt, she’d realized we might work through this.
I headed through toward the exit, making mental note of everyone in the restaurant. There were only a few servers, but enough to handle our needs.
I stopped long enough to motion for Damen, who approached immediately.
“Yes, sir?” While he’d tried to appear casual, he was stiffer than any human I’d ever seen, which laid credence to everything my lovely Isabel had said. My guys couldn’t handle business casual effectively.
“We have people surrounding the building?”
“Mario is coordinating that.”
“You’re certain?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Max. Isabel isn’t going to stand for you being gone but for so long.” Sergei pushed me toward the door.
I took a few seconds before walking out, trying to find her face to offer a smile as reassurance I wouldn’t be long.
A waitress was in the way.
Damn it.
Sergei followed me outside and once on the sidewalk, I resumed my normal behavior of scanning the street. “Yes?”
“Mr. Aristov. It’s Sara Brighten. Mina’s teacher?”
“Oh, yes. Of course. Please tell me you’re bringing the children. Mina will be a very disappointed little girl if you’re not coming.”
“You need to listen to me. There’s something wrong.”
“What do you mean wrong?” I was immediately on edge, turning my full attention to the restaurant.
Sergei immediately flanked my side, his eyes narrowing.
“I overheard some men talking. They’re not from the school.”
“What were they doing there?”
“I don’t know. They were in the hallway and I hid when I saw them. You told me to call you if I heard anything. I’ve seen these men before. They mentioned your name. A fire. Something. A bomb maybe.”
I didn’t wait to hear the rest of the conversation. The phone slipped from my hand, crashing against the sidewalk and everything around me was swept into a thick haze.
“Get ‘em out.”
“What?” Sergei yelled.
I lunged for the door. “Isabel! Mina!”
“Maxsim!”
Boom!
As soon as I threw open the door, I was hit with a blast, the force tossing me backward. My body slammed against a vehicle.
All sound shifted into a vacuum.
