Dark Chase (The Gunrunner Series) (13 page)

It was an emergency stash. She wondered how many of these he had all over the world. She didn’t ask.

She just watched him seat himself on the creaky bed.

He redressed himself and then picked up a heavy, gray sweater and socks for her. “These will be much too large. I would prefer you to be naked, but we are expecting company soon.” His lip quirked up in a half smile.

“You’re thinking about sex right now?”

He came close to her, pushing her hair over shoulder, toying with the collar of her too big sweater. “Do not blame me. I cannot help myself.” He tugged her sweater down, just enough to expose a few inches of flesh on her collarbone. “I will behave,” he said, his breath hot on her skin. “Just this once.” He pressed his lips to hers and then nipped her collarbone.

Hot damn.

Loud pounding on the door shocked her away from his warmth.

“He is here,” Dmitri said.

Chapter 16

“Who is it?” Sophia asked Dmitri.

“A man who will take care of our problems.”

“The ones where we get attacked in broad daylight at our hotel? One man can fix it?” Sophia said.

“Yes.” He squeezed her shoulder. “Stay.”

He pressed his finger to his lips and then left the room. The bedroom door faced the living room and front of the house. An old fashioned large keyhole below the bedroom door knob beckoned her. She crouched on the ground and peered through it. She had a bird’s-eye view of the front door.
Bingo.

Dmitri checked the window before opening the door with the gun pointed.

“Terrible greeting,” the man said.

Dmitri laughed and lowered his gun.

The man strode in, every bit as tall as Dmitri. He was a thick wall of muscle, with short buzzed gray hair, and thick, plastic-framed glasses. His movements were smooth, precise. His eyes flicked around the inside of the dacha before resting back on Dmitri. “I didn’t take you for a country man.” He had no accent to her ears. Was he…American?

Dmitri shut the door. The man settled himself on the old blue couch. Only his legs were visible to Sophia.

Dmitri remained standing.

“Did this attack surprise you?” Dmitri said to him.

The man shifted on the couch. “It did and it didn’t. I tracked some chatter moving in from Asia and the Middle East. I didn’t think they would strike during the middle of the damn day,” he said.

“Clearly,” Dmitri said, his tone as chilly as a blizzard.

The man cleared his throat. “I’ve already made some…acquisitions. My men are working on him now.” He uncrossed his legs. “And some spouses.”

Sophia felt sick, and she clutched her stomach. Dmitri glanced back towards the door, as if he could feel her distress.

The man must have noticed. “Who is here?”

Dmitri didn’t answer. He walked towards the door. She jumped back, thumping her elbow on the wall behind her. She rubbed it, glancing up at him when he came in.

Dmitri cocked an eyebrow at her. “Please come meet him.”

“Okay.”

He started to walk away and then paused at the door. “Do not be fooled by his demeanor. He is a sick fuck, but I trust him to do what I ask.”

“Oh, jeez,” Sophia muttered under her breath. She pulled down the sweater so it covered her knees, feeling silly in her long socks and no shoes.

Dmitri was waiting for her in the living room. She walked in confidently and stood next to him. She raised her chin and met the man’s gaze. “I am Sophia, you are?”

The guy looked surprised. Both of his eyebrows rose above the thick rim of his eyeglasses. “Call me B,” he said.

“Like the letter B?” she said.

That made him smile. “Yes. I have no name.” He turned to Dmitri. “Who is this woman to you?”

“You will speak to me directly,” she snapped. “I’m not a decoration on the wall. I’m his girlfriend.”

B leaned back in the sofa, eyes dancing between Dmitri and Sophia. “Goddamn, you are perfect for him.” Some lilt of his speech changed, and she heard a hint of an accent. Australian? New Zealand? “I apologize.” The accent was gone, his voice in a different range now.

He could change his voice, tenor, and accent. He could be from anywhere. He could be from nowhere. Besides his rather relaxed demeanor and hipster glasses, she sensed the darkness, the monster within him.

“I wanted you to meet. B, you can trust Sophia. You are to let no harm come to her, at any cost. Including me,” Dmitri said.

The man nodded, folding his fingers together under his chin. “I understand. Keep my retainer full and your wish shall be granted.”

“Good. Find who came after me. Neutralize the threat.”

“What do I have pre-authorization to do…?”

“Everything. Anyone. If they have crossed me, they die.” Sophia forced her face to stay neutral, but she was chilled inside at his words.

“Anyone?” said the man. “I suspect some of your most…valued assets are problems. But there is more. International involvement. It will take some work.”

Dmitri gave one small nod. “Do it.”

“Yes, sir.” The man stood. “I will take my leave now.” He licked his lips. “So much fun, so little time.”

Dmitri waved him away. “Do not have too much fun. I will not clean up your messes.”

The man laughed. “But I never leave a mess.”

Then he was gone.

“Sick fuck,” Dmitri muttered.

“Fun?” Sophia said.

Dmitri nodded. “He loves torture. He loves killing. He bathes in blood. He cannibalizes his victims. He rapes their bodies.”

Her mouth dropped open. “Oh my fucking God.” She hugged herself in her warm fuzzy sweater, feeling an arctic chill that had nothing to do with the coming Russian winter.

“As twisted as he is, he is loyal to me. And he will not hurt you, so fear not.”

She watched the man get in a white car and leave. “Why do you use such a man?”

“Because I do not have time to kill everyone that wants to kill me.” He parted the curtains and peeked outside. “Like any other business, I have to outsource.” He dropped the curtain. “This man and his followers will take care of this for us. It is done. That is how I do business.”

“I understand,” she said.

He turned to her, capturing her chin gently with his fingers. “Do you, Sophia? Do you really understand? I have to be ruthless or else you and I will be dead.”

She met his eyes. “Yes. I understand.”

He dropped his hand, sadness filling his yes. “Do you still want me?”

She grabbed his hand. “Yes. I love you.”

“Is it that simple?” he said.

“Yes.”

“Then I am happy.” He stepped away and pulled out his phone. “I must work. We have a lot to do. Why don’t you rest until Gram and that horrid woman get back?”

Sophia hugged herself. “You think she is horrid?”

“She is weak,” Dmitri said. “Not like you.”

Sophia sat on the small, rickety couch. “I don’t trust her,” she said.

Dmitri hung up his call mid dial. “Why?” He sat next to her on the couch. She was flattered he took her seriously.

“Women’s intuition. There’s something off about her.”

Dmitri nodded. “I know her father very well. He would not cross me.”

“How do you know him so well?”

Dmitri hesitated, shifting his position. “He is my ex-wife’s half-brother.”

Sophia reeled as she took that in. She had no reason to be jealous. Dmitri and his wife had gotten married very young and divorced a short time later, but she hated the thought of her being in his life at all. “Oh,” she said. “Did, you...um...see her while you were there? Do y’all like, run into each other?”

“No,” Dmitri said.

“Okay.” Sophia shrugged, trying to shake off how strange she felt. “I’m more worried about Gram with Naomi than anything.”

Dmitri offered a tight smile. “He is pussy obsessed, but he can take care of himself. It has been a long time since he has shown an interest in anyone, so I am glad; although it is a great inconvenience to me.” He patted her leg. “Rest, now.”

She shook her head. “Can I help?”

He pushed his lips together, staring at her. “Not now.”

She leaned forward and kissed him. “Go do your work.”

He left, pulling out his cell phone, pacing around the small living room as he made calls. He spoke in a clear, controlled manner, though she could tell from his stance he was very angry.

She had no idea how he ran a worldwide network. She had no idea of how many legitimate companies he owned. She didn’t know how many employees he had or how he paid them.

She really didn’t know much about Dmitri’s professional life. She listened to him speak in Russian on his call, tersely asking about a ship tracking system and cabotage routes. Then he made another call in Mandarin, she thought. She had no idea what he was saying.

As he spoke, he pulled a laptop out of the duffel bag and propped it open. Out next came an orange, sturdy shoe-boxed sized device. He flipped the lid open and left it on the table.

Once his phone call was over, he glanced up at her with a tight, distracted smile.

“What is that?” she pointed at the orange box.

“An auto-pointing satellite terminal. Broadband anywhere in the world.”

“Oh,” she said.

But he was already distracted, hammering away on the laptop with a stern look on his face.

She reluctantly left him, wandering down the narrow hall, back to the bedroom.

The sheets and blanket on the bed smelled clean, but stale, like they’d been washed and left unused for a couple of months.

She climbed inside and stared at the exposed wood beams on the ceiling. It was surreal to be here.

She’d just survived an assassination attempt. She’d heard a car bomb go off. She’d just run barefoot through the city. She’d just met a man who tortures and rapes corpses without batting an eye.

She’d completely given herself over to Dmitri and his life. She didn’t feel any guilt tearing at her, or any indecision. For once in her life, she was sure of herself, even in the most extreme situation of her life.

But she was still scared. Scared shitless. It was scary to get shot at. It was scary to run from unknown assassins. And she worried for Dmitri, because she loved him. The thought of anything happening to him made her ache all over.

She could hear the faint clacking of his laptop from the living room and the low tenor of his voice. He was fine. She was fine.

Somehow, her eyelids fluttered close.

Chapter 17

A door slammed shut, waking her with a start.

She breathed heavily, panting as her brain caught up to her present situation. Voices floated down the hall. There were more people here.

The room was dark; the only light in the room came from under the bedroom door. There were no streetlights outside and no alarm clocks or cell phones in the room.

She slid out of bed and made her way over to the door. She opened it a crack and peered into the living room.

Dmitri stood, hands folded behind his back. Gram was there, encased in a black pea coat, a pale and sleepy Naomi at his side. Several other men were in a loose line, filling up all the space in the small living room.

“I do not wish to speak to her,” Dmitri said. “I am unsure of how she located me.”

“Fine,” Gram said. “What do you know of this?” he asked Naomi.

“I don’t know anything. I just want to go home,” Naomi said, her lips quivering.

Sophia folded her socks down, smoothed her hair, and walked out of the room.

The men nodded respectfully at her as she walked by. Their eyes did not stray to check out her form, as her braless chest made itself known.

“What’s going on?” she said to Dmitri. “What time is it?”

He kept his face even and his voice formal. “Two in the morning. I am sorry we woke you.” He raised his voice. “This is Sophia.”

The men said nothing, but a couple of them smiled at her. “Um...good evening.” She turned back to Dmitri. “What’s going on?”

He pulled her to the side, away from the others. “Gram found a safe house. You will leave soon, and I will join you later.”

“What?” she hissed. “Where are you going?”

“Tariq has been captured, along with some of his men. He was involved, but it was much bigger than him. I need to go question him myself, soon, before B gets carried away.”

“Why can’t I come?”

He took a deep breath. “I need you to take care of Naomi back at the safe house. She is falling apart and getting in my way. She wants to call her dad, but we will not let her.”

“Why?” Sophia said.

“Because we cannot right now. I have to deal with this shit first before I deal with her. I have broken an agreement with him, and I have his daughter. It will require some delicacy and an in-person visit.”

“Then who is trying to reach you?”

He shifted his weight. “My ex-wife somehow reached out to Gram and said she needed to talk to me.”

Her stomach did that ugly jealous thing again, but she didn’t let it show. She hid it behind her professional HR mask. “Naomi has to know what that’s about.” She kept her tone even.

“She says she does not know her at all. That part of the family is estranged.”

“Okay.” She gave him a half smile. “I will trust in you to handle this appropriately.”

“You honor me, Sophia,” he said, with a proud look on his face that made her warm on the inside.

“Is it okay to touch you in front of them?” She nodded back at the men who were busying themselves with a stack of large guns that had appeared out of nowhere.

He smiled. “You can touch me whenever you want, wherever you want. I must be careful not to be viewed as soft, so I may not be responsive to you in public.”

“I understand. Look very stern so I can kiss you on the cheek.”

He scowled as she stood on her tiptoes and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. He grabbed her arm before she walked away. “I love you,” he growled, so low that no one else could hear.

“I know,” she said.

Sophia left his side, walking past the line of men.

“You are ready?” Gram said. He gestured to a suitcase behind him. “Naomi grabbed some clothes for you.”

She glanced at Naomi who had her arms wrapped around herself and looked like she wanted to melt into the floor. “Thanks, Naomi.”