Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
They exited via the back of the hotel. Through the door marked STAFF ONLY.
She’d shoved her hair beneath a broad, white summer hat that Logan had grabbed from the hotel’s gift shop and given to her.
A pair of oversized sunglasses shielded her eyes, and Simone double-timed her steps to match Logan’s as they hurried down a side street.
They were going to do this. Get away clean. And—
“Simone?”
Dammit, Harry. How could she have forgotten how much that man liked to lurk?
A swift glance behind her shoulder showed her that Harry was rushing toward her.
“Simone!” he yelled. “You’re not supposed to be out here!”
“Fuck.” Logan grabbed her hand. “Hurry!”
She was hurrying. Harry was just oddly fast, and he did not really seem like such a green agent any longer. She and Logan rounded a corner. An engine revved. She jerked at the sound, right before a black Bentley Mulsanne shot forward. It raced past her. It—
A choked scream.
A thud.
And…Simone whipped around.
Harry. “Harry!” She began running toward him because the black luxury car had just slammed into Harry. The MI6 agent sprawled on the side of the narrow road, and she could see blood all around him.
“No!” Logan locked his arms around her and hauled her up against his chest. “No, Simone!”
The Bentley Mulsanne braked. She saw the flash of its taillights as it backed up. Surely the driver was coming back to help? Simone struggled against Logan’s hold because she needed to help Harry, too. There was no way that she was just going to leave the man to bleed out in the street!
“I’m so sorry,” Logan whispered in her ear as his grip tightened even more. “I tried to tell you…over and over again in the suite. I said…don’t trust me. Literally said those exact words. But did you listen? No.”
“Logan, stop this! He is bleeding! That’s an MI6 agent!” He probably didn’t understand exactly who Harry—
“I know.” Low. Rough. “And the man getting out of the car and aiming a gun at his head? That’s Konstantin.”
She stopped struggling. Just went dead still in his arms. Because the left, rear door of that sleek, black Bentley had opened, and Logan was right about the identity of the man who’d climbed out and who now pointed a gun at an unmoving Harry.
Konstantin. Dressed in a black overcoat. Hair cropped close to his head. Face intent and deadly with purpose. They were on a back street near the hotel, and no one else was around. There was no one to see what Konstantin was doing. No one to stop him.
Screw that. There is me.
Even though she loved Logan like a brother, she drove her elbow back into his ribs as hard as she could. His grip eased, and she shot forward like a rocket, screaming, “Stop! No! Don’t do it! Do not kill him!”
Just like that, the gun stopped being aimed at Harry’s prone form, and it pointed at Simone. She stumbled to a stop. Nearly wound up falling into Konstantin but she caught herself just in time.
“We meet again.” His native Russia drifted beneath the words. “Hello, Simone.”
“Hi, Konstantin.” Her heart nearly burst right out of her chest. “Fancy seeing you on this deserted street with a horribly injured man at your feet.”
He smiled at her.
Ice filled her veins. He was tall like Ryan, his shoulders broad.
Fit. His brown hair was shorter than it had been when they’d met before, and sunglasses covered his green eyes.
When he smiled, the scar under his chin stretched a bit.
And when he raised his brows at her, the long, thin, white scar over his right eyebrow seemed to thicken.
If she had to guess, she’d wager that both of those scars had come from the slice of a knife.
“Such a coincidence, isn’t it?” he murmured. “Almost as if…I knew where you’d be.”
Logan raced up behind her. His hands clamped around her shoulders, and he immediately jerked her back, putting her behind his body. “You aren’t shooting Simone! There is no world where you shoot her. That is not happening!”
“Fine, then I’ll just shoot you and the MI6 agent.”
“No!” Simone screamed.
Cars honked in the distance. She also could have sworn that she heard the sound of approaching voices.
Konstantin cursed in Russian, a guttural curse that basically translated to fucking tourists.
Then he was motioning toward his car. When she looked toward the Bentley—surprise, surprise—Simone saw that his driver stood next to the front of the vehicle, and that driver had a gun clutched in his hand.
“Get in the vehicle,” Konstantin ordered. “Now.”
She locked her legs. “See, I have this rule about not going to secondary locations. The last time I went to a secondary location, I woke up and there was this seriously angry Russian who wanted to cut off my fingers and—”
He’d just slammed his gun into the side of Logan’s head.
Logan went down, hard, and Konstantin lunged at her.
His left hand fisted in her hair even as he pressed the gun into her left cheek.
Simone refused to let tears fall from the pain of his grip.
“I know there are plenty of wonderful, amazing Russian people in this world. A few of them are my friends. One was even my college roommate.” His grip tightened even more and she almost yelped.
“Lovely people who make the most mouth-watering medovik that you’ve ever tasted.
” She tried for a hopeful tone as she asked, “Any chance you could stop being so scary and dangerous and become like those fabulous individuals?”
He leaned in closer to her. His hot breath blew over her face. “Alexei was my cousin.”
“That tracks.” Simone cleared her throat.
She was pretty sure that she’d just seen Harry’s hand move.
The right one. The left appeared broken.
No way that twisted angle of his wrist could be anything but broken.
“I totally see the resemblance.” She also realized that the driver bore a strong resemblance to Konstantin, too. Probably another cousin.
Logan jumped to his feet. But he didn’t attack Konstantin. Probably because Konstantin had a gun shoved hard into her cheekbone.
“You are useful to me alive,” Konstantin told her. “That is the only reason I allow you to continue breathing.”
“I’ve always found it great to keep breathing.”
He hauled her toward the car. Shoved her into the back seat. Climbed in with her and kept his gun pointed at her. Logan tried to follow, but…
“Kill the MI6 agent,” Konstantin barked at him. “Now.”
“No!” How many times would Simone need to scream that word? “Logan, don’t!”
“Logan…” Mocking from Konstantin. “Do. Or else I tell the associates who have dear, sweet Nana that she’s the one who will get the bullet to the brain.”
When Konstantin said those words, Simone could have sworn her heart stopped. Her whole chest iced, and a faint squeak slid from her because that was all that she could manage.
Logan leaned halfway into the back of the vehicle. His gaze slid to her. “I’m sorry,” he said.
No, no, no.
He eased back. Turned around. But as he turned, she saw him pull out a gun.
The same gun he’d had aimed at Ryan when she woke in the suite’s bedroom.
She tried to grab for Logan, but Konstantin’s hold was unbreakable.
Actually, he did nearly shatter her wrist. She felt the bones rub together even as—
Boom.
Logan jumped into the front, passenger seat of the car. The driver climbed inside, too, slamming his door.
“Toss the gun out, Logan, now,” Konstantin thundered.
Logan tossed the gun.
It will have his prints on it. He’ll be tied to Harry’s murder. He’ll be hunted. Caught—
“Get us the hell out of here,” Konstantin snarled.
The Bentley lurched forward even as she strained to see Harry through the back window. Not dead, please. But…no, no, no, no, no…
“I hear that when it comes to retrieving precious items that have been stolen…” Konstantin’s musing voice. “There is no one better than you for the job.”
She had tears on her cheeks. She could feel them. Her head turned, and she found Konstantin staring straight at her. “There are quite a few people who have been looking for you.” Hoarse words.
He shrugged. “Here I am. Interesting, isn’t it? That the British and the Americans wanted me so badly, and they did not know I was watching them all along. Watching so closely.”
“I’m sorry, Simone,” Logan said from the front seat. “His asshole goons got to Nana sometime last night.”
When she’d been with Ryan?
“They had her before you went to the Arch,” he revealed. “I…shit, he first contacted me when you were heading out into the rain. They knew about you, about me. About our past. They knew you had gotten the broach and the earrings.”
“Alexei mentioned them to me.” Konstantin let go of her wrist, but then he stroked the back of his hand against her cheek. “Alexei always knew to report good intel directly to me. He informed me of the broach and the earrings before you killed him.”
There was no way she’d ever reveal to Konstantin that Ryan had been the one to end Alexei’s life. It would only make him determined to destroy Ryan. “In my defense, Alexei was going to cut off my fingers.”
“I’ll cut them, off, too, unless you give me what I want.”
She could not look away from him.
“I’m sorry, Simone.” Logan’s miserable voice.
Right. He’d said that before. She was sorry, too.
“I would have fucking shot him in the street if I could,” Logan added, voice tight with fury. “But only he can call off the men who have my grandmother.”
“Yes, sweet, confused Nana. I’ll cut off her fingers, too,” Konstantin added, as if giving the matter thought. “I have two men with her now. They said she lived in a beautiful facility. Terrible security, but pretty place.”
“H-how did you even have men in Vegas?” Simone asked as she tried to figure a way out of this nightmare. Maybe he was lying. Maybe Nana was safe. Maybe—
He laughed. A chilling sound. “I have people everywhere. And they are ready to do my bidding at a moment’s notice.”
Logan had craned around in his seat. “I’ve seen the videos. They aren’t faked. They are real. They have her. Dammit, they sent me a live feed right before I crawled through the hotel’s duct tunnels. Called it ‘extra fucking motivation’ for me.”
“She’s quite terrified,” Konstantin continued in his mock sympathetic tone. “Poor woman doesn’t know why she’s tied to a chair and men with knives keep taunting her.”
Simone’s whole body shuddered. “You bastard.”
He shrugged and glanced toward Logan. “You didn’t kill Ryan Quinn.”
“No.” Gritted from between Logan’s clenched teeth.
“I sent you in to kill him.”
“Yes, well, you thought the only way to get Simone away from the guy was to kill him. I got her without killing him, so there. Job done.”
She did not like Konstantin’s slow smile. Actually, there was nothing she liked about him. A true monster.
“Don’t worry.” Konstantin lounged against the seat as the car zipped through the city.
“I have a new employee who will be completing the job. Fun detail, he made the connection with the broach and earrings, too. The man could not wait to tell me all about Logan Sterling. Of course, I’d already made the connection, thanks to Alexei.
” He glanced at his watch. “Still, my new employee is promising. He should be taking care of the situation with Ryan Quinn at any moment.”
Someone was about to kill Ryan? Oh, hell, no! “Call him off!” The words exploded from her. “If you’ve got someone going after Ryan, call him off!”
Konstantin’s attention shifted back to her. “You aren’t the one giving orders, lisichka.”
Little fox.
“I’ll do whatever you want,” she promised, meaning those words. “Just do not hurt Ryan. Call off any attacker. Keep Ryan safe. Keep Nana safe.”
“Oh, you’ll do what I want. You’re the best at the job, after all.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“You retrieve things that have been taken. My egg was taken, along with something very special inside the egg.”
“I know all about the damn chip! I was in the room when you gave the freaking thing to Frederick in the first place!” Simone huffed. Did he not remember this?
“Good.” A shrug of his shoulders. “Then you know where it is now.”
Jezebel had it. “It’s with the CIA.”
He brought his face in close to her. “You will retrieve it. You will get it away from them, or I will cut off your fingers. I will cut off Nana’s fingers. I will make you watch while she dies.”
Simone swallowed. “You don’t have to keep adding threats. Just one is enough, thanks.” A slow exhale. “Ryan stays alive. That’s a condition for me.”
He shook his head. “You have no conditions.” Then, “And your spy is dying as we speak.”
No!
“Hugo was going to shoot him at their restaurant meeting. Hugo wanted to impress me, so I’m sure that he made no mistakes.”
Your spy is dying as we speak.
“He’s not dead.” Her whole body hurt. “He’s not. You’re wrong. There is no way that Ryan is dead!”
A phone rang. A loud, shrill cry that had her jumping. The ringing sound came from Konstantin’s suit coat. A fancy coat to hide the monster he was. Taking his time, Konstantin put his gun back into the holster beneath his left arm. Tucked beneath that coat…
The phone kept ringing.
Slowly, Konstantin pulled out the phone. He swiped his finger over the screen and put the call on speaker. “Hello, Hugo,” Konstantin greeted. “Is it done?”
“Ryan Quinn is a dead man,” Hugo fired back. “Mission accomplished.”
A scream tore from her throat. She launched at Konstantin, going straight for his eyes.
She would claw out the fucking bastard’s eyes.
Her fingers curled, and she went in hard for him.
She made contact. She clawed and she fought, and he threw her back against the rear door near her.
She grabbed for the door handle, intent on jumping out because she could do it.
She’d get away. She’d go find Ryan because he was not dead.
“Don’t, Simone, please!” Logan begged.
The car slammed to a stop. She flew forward, and her head slammed into the back seat. Even as she was pushing back, Simone saw the driver aim his gun at Logan.
And Konstantin—a bleeding Konstantin, blood dripped down his cheek and some pooled in his right eye—yanked his gun out again and pointed it at her. “Let’s make sure you understand the situation.”
Mission accomplished.
Mission accomplished.
“You’re going to retrieve my missing prizes, and if you don’t, I will kill everyone you care about in this world.
Starting with Nana. Moving on to Logan. Then I will make you beg for death before I finally grant you that ever-so-painful release.
” The blood dripped onto his coat. Blood from where she’d clawed the hell out of his face.
“Do we understand each other, lisichka? Do we have a deal?”
Oh, they had a deal, all right. The deal was…she was going to kill him at the first opportunity.