27. Chapter 27 #3
Dimitri didn’t disagree. No matter how much of a fight he was putting up to keep Jackie from sacrificing herself, he was determined for Talia to go home.
He looked over to where she remained, crouched at Nikita’s feet.
His chest ached. His eyes swept around the room, at the faces of each man surrounding them.
Even if only a few of them carried guns, he and Jackie likely wouldn’t be fast enough to incapacitate all of them before getting shot themselves.
More likely, they were all armed, and it would become an execution by firing squad.
They were stuck, and the only way out was the worst of his nightmares.
Jackie squeezed his side gently and turned toward Nikita. He smiled at his prize, grabbing Talia by the hair again and tossing her toward Dimitri when Jackie stood before him. Jackie turned toward her, wanting to help, but Nikita quickly pulled her attention away.
“Sergei,” Nikita ordered, nodding toward Jackie.
One of the men stepped out of the formation with a pair of handcuffs.
Jackie kept her face neutral as she watched him approach her and held her hands behind her back in surrender.
Behind her, she could hear Talia sobbing and pleading with Dimitri as he helped her away.
She stiffened when she felt the man’s hands begin to roam her body, pulling the knives strapped to her thighs and tossing them to the floor before patting her down in search of other weapons.
Nikita stepped forward, getting in her face. “You killed M?kail,” he hissed.
Jackie smiled. “With my bare hands,” she confirmed. “Was it embarrassing for you to find him dead with his dick out?”
Nikita’s fist connected with Jackie’s cheek before she could clock it coming. She fell face-first to the floor in a heap, unable to catch herself with her hands bound behind her back.
Talia cried out from across the bar. Jackie twisted, watching with tears in her eyes as Dimitri retreated with Talia clawing to get back to Jackie.
“Talia, she is trying to save you. We have to go,” Dimitri hissed, pausing at the door to wrap his jacket around Talia’s shoulders.
“You don’t understand. I know what they’re going to do to her. They’ve been talking about it for weeks,” Talia sobbed. “There is no buyer. There was never a buyer. He just wanted her.”
The words came crashing out of her like a tsunami.
Dimitri stared, taking a moment to register what she was saying.
His head twisted, looking back at Jackie and Nikita crouching on the floor next to her.
He knew from the look on her face that she’d heard, too.
She’d heard and was processing that she’d walked willingly into the trap Nikita had set for her. Her face hardened a moment later.
Something loosened in Dimitri’s chest. He knew the look. He’d seen it before. Felt it furrow his own brow when a challenge presented itself. Jackie wasn’t going to let Nikita get away with it. Even if it killed her, too, Nikita Volkov would die today.
Dimitri glanced back at the Russian, finding him smiling as he and Jackie both learned the truth of his plan.
“I very much look forward to meeting the man who employed Theo Clarke.” He reached down and gripped Jackie’s hair, pulling her head back to watch the reactions at the door.
“Why is Jaclyn Young so special, hm? What is so important about this woman to have some of the most powerful and deadly men in the country paying for her protection?” He twisted his wrist, angling Jackie’s face toward him.
“I look forward to seeing what you’re made of. ”
Jackie closed her eyes again, but Dimitri couldn’t tell if it was because she knew or had been pondering the same question herself. He watched her a moment longer, memorizing her face before scooping a protesting Talia into his arms.
“Enjoy your final hours, Nikita,” he called over his shoulder before leaving the club with Talia. “If you even get that long.”
She beat at his shoulders the entire sprint back to the SUV, though her hits were too weak to slow him down.
Dimitri took each one in stride, knowing he deserved far worse.
His mind already ran wild, calculating how quickly he could get Talia back to headquarters and return to the club before Nikita made off with Jackie.
Drew was watching all nearby CCTV cameras, so if and when Nikita left, they’d know where he was going.
It didn’t make him feel any better about what had just happened.
He loaded Talia into the SUV and returned to the driver’s seat. He took a breath before punching the steering wheel and dash. It didn’t make him feel any better, but he’d pretend.
When he turned to Talia, she was watching him with hate in her eyes so fierce that he had to turn away from her.
“She made her choice,” he insisted, though the words sounded hollow.
“And we’re never going to see her again because you let her,” Talia seethed before turning away from him, scowling out the window.
He glanced back at her, feeling like he might pass out.
What the fuck had he just done?