Chapter 19
G host’s mind didn’t stop spinning the entire drive to his townhouse. Mila’s apartment was close to his place, which was surprising in itself. What surprised him most was how relieved he was to know she wasn’t far.
Regardless of his eagerness to get back to Seattle and find Hunter, he hadn’t been prepared to say goodbye.
Even a short one.
He needed to get his head out of Mila’s panties and into the real fucking world. After punching the garage-door opener, he cruised inside and closed the door.
Inside his place, solitude greeted him. Dropping his bag inside the hall, he peeled off his jacket and went to the kitchen. Had it really been barely four days since he caught Mila in his bedroom?
Fuck, it felt like a lifetime ago.
He filled a glass with water. The humming of the refrigerator and the heat pumping through the vents were sounds he’d never really noticed before. Now, they were loud. More acute.
Chugging the water, he stared at his space. Everything was fucking neat. Empty other than furniture. Damn, it was almost as if no one lived here.
He should’ve asked Mila to stay with him. No, dammit. He stroked his hand over his jaw. That wasn’t smart. Not right now. Once he dealt with Hunter, then he’d see where things went with Mila. Maybe take that trip to Mexico.
The idea of her in a skimpy bikini on the beach made his cock ache. He had to get his shit together. He dialed Rami and put him on speaker.
“That was fast,” Rami said.
“What do you have on Hunter?”
“You sure you don’t want to sleep first? That was a long drive.”
Ghost fought a grumble. “I’m fine.” He pulled some beef jerky from the pantry. “I thought you guys were ready.”
“We are. Just makin’ sure you’re all right. We have good intel Hunter’s at his house with the bunker.”
“All right. Where’s that?”
“Thirty minutes from you. I’ll gather the guys and call you when you’re close. We’ll just meet on the way.”
“’Kay. Send me a pin.”
“Done.” Rami hung up and a second later, Ghost’s phone beeped. Rami had sent him a map with a red pin on it. Ghost ripped open the package of jerky and headed to his bedroom.
He’d quickly change, get his weapons ready, and take out this motherfucker.
Then he’d get back to Mila.
***
Mila’s back slammed against the wall and her teeth clanked together. The masked man’s eyes, black and beady, bore into her. A knife flashed in his fingers.
Fear rattled her spine, but instinct took over.
She jabbed her hand into the inside of his elbow, making his arm go weak. Before he could recover, she jerked her knee into his crotch.
“Fuck,” he hissed, falling against her.
His weight pushed her harder into the wall, making it difficult to strike. His arm swooped around her waist and he threw her to the ground. Her hip banged against the floor.
He tackled her.
“No!” The cry tore from her lips and shame immediately rose within her. Alexei’s voice entered her mind.
Never beg for your life, Malyshka. Never show weakness or you’ll lose.
The man snickered with excitement. “I’ve got you now, bitch.”
One of his hands clutched her throat. The other still held the knife. Mila kicked and thrashed, bucking her hips in an attempt to throw him, but his weight was distributed too low on her body. She couldn’t get enough height.
She let out a strangled growl. “Fuck. You.”
“I would, but you’re too defiant for me.”
Mila dug her nails into his wrist, but his hand only tightened around her neck. He lowered his face so it was inches from hers.
“You shouldn’t have fucked the target.”
Cold sweat drenched her back.
She’d always thought when the time came, she’d be ready to meet her family, but over the last few days she’d learned she wasn’t. Not yet. She had unfinished business and a date in Mexico she couldn’t miss.
Mila let out a battle cry and jammed her fingers into his eye socket.
The man howled, pitching off her. She swung her legs out from under his, tore the knife from his hand, and swept it across his jugular.
Blood gushed from his throat, coating her arm and splattering her face. His eyes widened. The blood pooled around him as it continued to spray from his neck.
She scrambled backward, slipping on the warm, sticky liquid. A gag hit her palate as she watched his muscles go weak and his gaze lose focus and slide to the ceiling as if waiting for entry to heaven that would surely be denied.
Just like hers.
She rushed to the kitchen sink and flipped on the faucet. Her breath came out in rapid gasps and her hands trembled. Ice-cold water ran over her skin, the runoff crimson.
She had to get her shit together. Figure out what to do. Her brain went through the series of steps she’d been taught.
Go-bag. New phone. Run.
Keep running.
She dried her hands and sprinted to the bedroom to grab the bag that was loaded with cash, an encrypted phone, a fake ID, and several passports. She’d also take the bag full of clothes Ghost had bought her, and her laptop.
Everything she needed to start fresh.
She swept the go-bag from beneath the bed. After snatching her phone charger from the wall, she bolted from the room. Rearranging her bags on her shoulders, she picked up her phone from where it’d fallen during the struggle and then approached the man on the floor.
Carefully avoiding the streaks and pools of blood, she bent and pulled the balaclava from his face. He had a shaved head and gray-tinged olive skin. She snapped a picture and moved away.
Finally, she grabbed her purse and ran out of her apartment. She pulled up the text she’d sent to Ghost and tapped the call icon.
She knew she should toss this phone and enter his number into her spare, but she didn’t want to waste a single second.
Whoever had come for her would go after him too. If they hadn’t already. The line rang in her ear. Fear dulled her vision and made every sound echo.
Please, don’t be dead. Please, don’t be dead...
“Mila.” Ghost’s rumbling voice made her knees buckle. She hurried into the elevator and sank against the wall.
Thank god.
She punched the button for the ground floor. “They’re after us.” Her breathing was fast and hard, but she wasn’t physically fatigued.
“Where are you?” His sharp question made her tremble.
Not with fear. Not of him. But with relief. He was okay. Whoever had come for her—likely Trident—would suffer the consequences.
“Just leaving my place.”
“Are you hurt?” His voice was curt and icy.
“N-No.” Her head swam, but she was unscathed.
“Stay on the line with me and get to your car. I’m coming to you now.”
The elevator door rolled open and she breezed over the carpeted floor. “I’m in the lobby.”
The base of her spine tingled as she scanned the quiet area. A couple of people were walking into the building carrying boxes. No one else was around.
“I’m in the truck. What’s the address?”
She rattled off the street and number. Pausing at the glass door leading to the street, she surveyed the space outside.
Several people milled on the sidewalk. More flowed out of a stopped bus.
The day was gloomy. In less than an hour, they’d lose daylight.
Wetting her lips and half expecting a bullet through her skull, she stepped onto the sidewalk.
Cold air struck her cheeks and weaved its way into her sweater.
Her shoulders ached from the weight of her bags as she fought the urge to run to her car.
“See anyone?” Ghost barked.
“No.” She stalked to her vehicle, unlocked it, tossed her bags in the back seat, then rounded the sedan and dropped into the driver’s side. “I’m in the car.” Pressure built in her chest.
“Drive.”
She quickly punched his call into Bluetooth and began following his directions, happy to be leaving her apartment and the dead man behind her. “How far are you?” she asked.
“Five minutes out.”
Snowflakes fluttered from the sky and turned to mush on her windshield. There were more vehicles on the streets than there’d been only twenty minutes earlier, when Ghost dropped her off. “I hope we don’t get separated in traffic.”
“We’re good. Just keep heading west. You’ll see a church on your left. Pull into the parking lot behind the building.”
“Okay.” Before the words were out of her mouth, she spotted the large cross. She pulled into the lot and steered to the back.
No one followed her. “I’m here.”
“Good. Sit tight. I’ll be there in a few.”
“Don’t hang up.” Now that she didn’t have to focus on escaping, she needed to process what had happened.
“I’m right here.” His gentle promise calmed her like water on a forest fire. “Did they say anything to you?”
“Yeah. He said don’t fuck the target.”
Ghost cursed. “Hunter’s a dead man. Hang on, I’m pulling in now. I see you.”
She jerked her gaze to the rearview mirror and spotted his black truck. He whipped into the spot next to her driver’s-side door.
She hurriedly turned off the ignition, shrugged off her seatbelt, and bolted out the door.
He rounded the back of his truck, all six-foot-huge of him.
He wore a black-and-gray flannel with a few snaps undone and a brown beanie on his head.
The menacing gray eyes she’d come to depend on locked on her as if he’d just found land after a year at sea.
She flung herself into his arms. His heat hit her chest and neck as he hugged her so tightly she lifted off the ground.
His mouth touched her neck, then her cheek. “You’re safe.”
A ragged sob tore from her lips. She hadn’t realized she’d been so scared. Not until she’d laid eyes on Ghost.
He lowered her feet to the ground and cupped his hand around her face. His intense stare held hers, fervent, dominant, and the only thing she wanted to see. “You’re staying with me until this is done. Got it?”
She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. There was no way she’d refuse. She nodded eagerly.
“Are you hurt?” he asked again.
Her lungs spasmed with the need to cry, but she held back. Turning into a sobbing mess right now wouldn’t do her any good and would make things hella uncomfortable. “No.”