Chapter 13
13
M iller stared over at Sofia, clearly shaken.
“Miller, are you okay?” Sofia asked. “Oh God, I thought he was going to kill you.”
Miller moved her head around, wincing in obvious pain. “Where is he?”
“Pavel pulled him off you. Oleg walked out.” She felt like she was barely keeping it together. “He was fuming. Why did you push him like that?”
“I’m trying to get us out of here alive,” Miller whispered.
Pavel and Anton stood across the room, smoking.
“Yeah? I don’t think it’s working, considering you almost died! If he didn’t need you for the call to Rogan, I think he would have finished the job. Please, Miller. Be careful.”
“Okay. I hear you. I can’t believe you pretended to date that ass.”
“Sometimes we have to go through hell to protect family,” Sofia replied.
Oleg was rattled.
It couldn’t be a good thing.
He’d just gotten off the phone with Rogan. And she’d only heard bits from his side of the conversation.
What was going on?
“I call him back. Tell him he got thirty minute to get here,” Oleg said.
“Shouldn’t we ask Arnie?” Pavel asked, sounding nervous.
It was clear that Arnie was really the one running the show. Only where was he?
“I am in charge!” Oleg growled. “I say what happen. He have twenty minute to get here, or the girl dies.” He swung his gaze from Miller to her. “Not you, though, Sofia. I have plans for you.”
Yay her.
Sofia glanced up the moment there was movement. She caught Pavel and Anton moving out of the room.
Her gaze met Miller’s.
Was Rogan here?
Just as she thought that the man in question entered the room.
Shit. Part of her hadn’t even been sure that he’d turn up. But she should have known better; Rogan would do anything for Miller.
The way his gaze went immediately to Miller when he walked in melted Sofia’s heart.
She wanted someone to look at her like that. To see her as their whole world. Then Colm stepped in behind him.
But he didn’t look at her like she was his world. Why would she expect that? She couldn’t.
No, he stared at her like he was both angry at her yet wanted to possess her. As though she was his and she’d done some grievous harm... to herself.
He looked like he couldn’t decide whether to punish her or kiss her.
But what right did he have to be angry at her?
For getting kidnapped? Hell, did he think she’d wanted any of this?
“MacGuire, pleased you could join party.” Oleg stepped forward. He had a slimy smile on his face. As though he’d thought he had already won.
But he was vastly underestimating Rogan.
At least, she hoped he was.
She hoped MacGuire had a secret plan to get them all out of this horrible place. Alive.
Rogan let out a low growl that made her shiver, his hands clenching into fists as he stepped forward.
“Rogan,” Miller cried, running her eyes over the other man.
Yeah. Sofia really wished she could have that one day. Her gaze returned to Colm, but she didn’t dare look up and into his face. She couldn’t bear it if he wouldn’t even look at her.
She just wanted to be his with an urgency that made her feel ill. But she didn’t even know if she was going to survive tonight.
“Let’s get this done,” Rogan demanded. He pointed at Sofia. “What are you doing with her?”
“Oh, she special present for me. You don’t worry about lovely Sofia.” Oleg ran his fingers down her cheek as she shuddered, leaning away from him as much as she could.
Did someone just growl?
It was so low and quiet that she couldn’t figure out where it had come from.
“Give her to us as well and I’ll double your money. One million dollars.”
They’d only asked for half a million dollars for Miller? Wow. What planet was Oleg living on?
Oleg eyed Rogan. “Two million.”
“Fine,” Rogan replied. He gestured to Colm, who placed the laptop on the table.
“Untie her,” Colm growled, pointing to Sofia.
Oleg nodded over at Anton, who undid her ties.
Was he really giving her up this easily? No, this was a trick. He intended to kill Rogan.
She opened her mouth as Anton pulled her up roughly and shoved her at Miller.
Suddenly, the room went pitch black. She let out a cry that she quickly muffled. A gun fired and Miller grabbed her, pulling her down onto the floor with her.
Pain shot up her back, but she ignored it. She’d already strained something when she was tied up.
There were worse things going on than her sore back.
Oh God.
Oh God.
What was happening? Was Colm all right? Was he hurt? Who had fired that gun? Someone grabbed them and she cried out, lashing out at him in fury. Their attacker let out a grunt of pain before being ripped away from them.
Then, as quickly as they’d gone off, the lights came back on. Sofia glanced around, panting heavily, feeling like she was in shock.
Oleg lay on the ground with Rogan standing over him, a knife to his throat. Colm had Anton and Pavel on the floor, his gun aimed at them.
She ran her gaze over Colm, trying to see if he was injured.
But he appeared unharmed.
Thank you, God.
“Get on your stomach,” Colm growled at Anton and Pavel, who looked worse for wear. “Sofia, Miller, stand over there.”
Colm pointed to the side of the room.
As they started moving, Arnie stepped out of the shadows, his gun aimed at her and Miller. Where the hell had he been hiding? “Stop there.”
Oh God.
She wasn’t sure she could take anything more tonight. Her body was shaking so badly that she could barely stand.
Push it away. Hide it.
Remember that you are stronger than this. You don’t have the option of breaking down.
You’re Sofia Anisimov and you will not show weakness.
A therapist would likely have a field day with that voice in her head.
But she was able to stand straighter and pull her shoulders back. However, she tried not to look at the gun in Arnie’s hand or the look on his face.
Her gaze moved over to Colm unconsciously. His face was filled with such rage that her breath caught in her lungs at the sight.
Obviously, he was worried about Miller.
And she hoped that maybe a bit of him was concerned about her...
She quickly shifted her gaze away again.
“About time you turn up,” Oleg said in a hoarse voice. “Let me go.”
“Drop the gun and get on the floor,” Arnie told Colm.
She snuck another glance over at Colm, who was staring at Rogan.
What were they going to do? They couldn’t do anything while Arnie held a gun on them, could they?
“Now! Before I start shooting!” Arnie demanded.
Colm set the gun down and then lay on the floor.
No, no, no!
Sofia searched for a way out. A way to help them all out of this mess. But she didn’t know what to do.
You’re useless, Sofia!
So fucking stupid.
A waste of space.
Sofia closed her eyes for a second. This was not the time to let Oleg into her mind.
“You two as well,” Arnie told them.
They both dropped to the floor. She could feel how tense and desperate Miller was, but the buzzing in her ears muffled everything around her.
Then Miller grabbed her hand, squeezing it, and she came back into the moment to hear Rogan speak.
“You killed Lucas.”
Oh God.
Sofia wasn’t sure who Lucas was, but he seemed to be important to Rogan, especially if the look on his face was anything to go by. And this Arnie guy had killed him.
Arnie, who was a member of the Seven Sinners.
Arnie, who had the same tattoo she’d been dreaming about. The tattoo on the dead man.
The man that her own father might have shot dead. However, there had been other men in her dream. They were just blurred, indistinct.
This isn’t the time, Sofia.
Concentrate.
“Yes. And now I’m going to kill you.” Arnie aimed his gun at Rogan. Miller let out a muffled sound of fear beside her, squeezing her hand even tighter. “Let Oleg go.”
“No,” Rogan replied calmly. He probably realized that once he let Oleg go, Arnie would have no reason to keep Rogan alive.
Arnie shrugged. “No problem. I’ll just shoot you through him. No great loss.”
“What?” Oleg yelled, looking furious. “You cannot do that!”
“Watch me. You were just a means to an end. It was always him I wanted,” Arnie replied, staring directly at Rogan.
The desire to smile caught her by surprise. But she couldn’t help it.
The look on Oleg’s face was priceless.
He totally hadn’t seen that coming.
Not so great being the one who is betrayed, is it, asshole?
It couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.
“You waited long enough,” Rogan replied.
Sofia felt eyes on her and glanced over to see Colm gesturing at them to move away. Her eyes widened and she glanced from Rogan to Arnie.
But Colm narrowed his gaze at her and mouthed the word, ‘go.’ Miller resisted her push, but she managed to tug at her, and slowly, they shuffled toward the door while Rogan kept Arnie occupied.
Oleg was too busy spluttering in rage and terror to notice what they were doing. She didn’t know where Anton and Pavel were. They seem to have disappeared.
Arnie shrugged. “I’ve been with my uncle’s gang. I had no reason to come back here until now. But now the Seven Sinners need me. I know you want me dead. It was only a matter of time before you found out I was back. It is you or me. I choose me. Say goodbye to your girlfriend. Don’t worry, you’ll see her soon.”
Miller tried to launch herself toward Arnie with a cry, but they were too far away. And all she was going to accomplish was to get hurt. So Sofia clung to her, closing her eyes with a sob as she attempted to pull her closer to the door.
A gun fired.
Miller screamed.
Sofia held her breath.
Oh God.
Please don’t let anyone be hurt!
But when she opened her eyes, confusion filled her. Because not only wasn’t Rogan dead on the ground, but Arnie was.
And there stood Cillian, Rogan’s other bodyguard. Where had he come from? Miller slid away from her with a cry of terror mixed with relief while Sofia sat up, shaking.
Colm had moved to grab Arnie’s gun, holding it on Oleg, who was now as pale as a ghost. Sofia dragged herself up onto her feet, ignoring Colm’s look as she stood there in shock.
Keep everything on lockdown.
She could hear people talking, but it was all she could do to stop herself from falling apart.
You have this.
You’re strong.
She wasn’t, though. She really wished Colm would wrap her up in his arms like Rogan was doing with Miller just then.
Sofia just wanted to feel safe. And to have someone she could completely let go with and not worry about them betraying her.
To know that they would always take care of her. Accept her for who she really was. Protect her from the rest of the world.
She wanted a safe place.
And she wished Colm could be that.
But, right now, she wasn’t safe. She couldn’t let go. And she had to keep herself locked down.
So when Colm walked over to her, she had her emotions tied down tight and was staring up at him numbly.
She was aware of a low throb in her back. Being tied up had strained it and trying to get out of the ropes had probably injured her further. Or maybe it was from getting up and down off the floor.
But there wasn’t time to worry about that now.
“Come, I’m taking you and Miller home,” he told her brusquely.
So, no hug for her.
You pushed him away, idiot.
She nodded numbly as they collected Miller, who was reluctant to leave Rogan. Something was playing in the back of her mind.
“Sofia! Sofia!” Oleg yelled as they left the room.
“Ignore him,” Colm barked, making her jump.
Pain radiated up her back.
Hold it in.
“Colm? Are you all right?” Miller asked, staring up at him.
“Sorry,” he rasped. “I’m... worked up.” He cleared his throat. “I need to get you both out of here. Just do as I say, okay? I can’t have anything else happen to you.”
Because Rogan would kill him.
She got it.
“I wasn’t going to reply to him,” she said quietly. “He’s dead to me.”
Miller shot her a look, but she ignored it. Sofia ignored everything until they got back to Rogan’s house. Well, she assumed it was, as she’d never actually been here before.
She was too stuck in her head to pay much attention to her surroundings.
Numbness was her friend.
“Sofia? Do you want a change of clothes?”
She glanced up at Miller. Then, at her surroundings. Huh. She seemed to be in a living room, sitting on a comfortable, dark green sofa.
When and how had she ended up sitting down here?
Okay, you have to get it together.
“No, thank you. I should go home.” She felt ill at the thought of going back to the estate. Especially with Aleksandr still in the hospital.
Shit.
She needed to call him.
This really seemed like something she should tell him in person, though.
First, she’d need to judge whether he was well enough to handle what she had to say.
And whether he could forgive her for the things she’d kept from him.
Well, you only have to tell him the reason you were dating that pig.
He wouldn’t like it.
But she had done it to protect him.
The other secret was safe now. Oleg couldn’t tell him about what she’d done. Not when he was about to die.
Her secret would die with him.
So why didn’t she feel relieved?
Perhaps it was because Sacha was still going to flip. Or maybe it was because everything had changed so suddenly and she was having trouble trying to keep up.
Being free from Oleg was all she’d wanted. Yet all she felt was wrong... dirty. The way he’d touched her.
Sofia’s whole body shuddered in disgust, and just the memory sent panic through her whole being, leaving her weak and nauseous once more.
Keep it together.