When I pushed the door open, my heart stopped.
Despite my years of training, I wasn’t prepared for this. A man was sitting across from Ivanov. His name almost slithered through my lips before I stopped myself with a cough. The hatred curled through my chest, gripping my heart like a vice. He didn’t turn to look at me, but I’d recognize him anywhere. I had pictured his pudgy, red face every time I had target practice for the past fifteen years.
Here, in the flesh, was Senator Nathan Fucking Blanchet.
“Mister Norton.” Mikhail Ivanov rose from the tall leather chair behind his desk and spread his arms towards me. “So good of you to join us.” Two men flanked him, as they always did. Mikhail was never unprotected.
My eyes flicked from him to the man sitting across from him. He wasn’t supposed to be here… not yet. I was supposed to have more time to plan, more time to execute. Not everything was in place to catch and convict these corrupt assholes. I cleared my throat.
“Mikhail,” I nodded.
His icy blue eyes glinted as a grin swept across his lips. Mikhail’s bodyguards stayed as still as statues, their faces impassable. They were as tall as me and made of pure, Russian muscle. One of them blinked, but that was the only indication that they were human.
Mikhail Ivanov gestured to the man sitting across from him. “Meet Senator Nathan Blanchet. Senator Blanchet was kind enough to pay us a personal visit today to make sure that all the arrangements are in order. This is my lawyer and good friend, Mister Dennis Norton.”
More like he was kind enough to make sure he gets his fat check.
The Senator’s eyes swung towards me and a glint of recognition flitted across them. I hardened my face, keeping it steady. It had been fifteen years. I was a grown man now, not a seventeen-year-old boy. My hair was darker, I was taller. I’d packed on thirty pounds of muscle. I’d been to war. I looked nothing like I used to.
Still, when the Senator rose to shake my hand, he held it for a moment too long.
“Dennis Norton… Have we met?” His deep trombone voice was still the same—the voice that had penetrated my nightmares for most of my adolescence.
“I don’t believe we have,” I answered, holding his gaze. He nodded, and then dropped my hand.
“Well,” Mikhail smiled genially. “Shall we get down to business? Mister Norton here has made all the necessary arrangements.”
“Mr. Ivanov is ready to place a large order for the weapons and ammunitions in this list, as long as your partners are able to fulfill the order.” I turned my eyes to Blanchet and handed him a paper. A vein in his jaw ticked, and hatred flared inside me.
“My partners are still on board.” He didn’t take the paper. I placed it on the desk in front of him and folded my hands on my lap.
“Yet you’re still unwilling to divulge their names.” I tilted my head.
“What good would that do me? Once I receive my commission, you’re free to trade at will.”
Greedy bastard.
“We’re all in this for the same reason, Senator,” I said. “We all just want to make money. American weapons are highly sought-after. This will be very profitable for everyone, once the vote on Senate Bill 747 goes through.”
“I understand your reservations to giving us your source,” Ivanov interjected in his overly generous way. He smiled. “But one needs… assurances… that the product is satisfactory.”
“I can get you samples.”
Ivanov nodded. “Good.” The two men flanking him puffed their chests, and Blanchet swallowed. He was nervous.
As he should be.
This was just the beginning of the end of his career, his fortune, and his life as he knew it. As soon as he brokered this deal and we caught these guys trading weapons illegally, both the Russians and Blanchet were going away for good. We had enough to arrest the Senator on conspiracy charges, but we needed more. We needed hard evidence.
We needed Blanchet with Ivanov and a bunch of fucking guns. Anything less would be too easy for a good lawyer to wriggle out of.
This corrupt Senator would be going down in flames. If I had my say, he’d be going down with a bullet in his head.
Nathan Blanchet nodded at Mikhail.
Mikhail smiled. “Excellent. We’re agreed.” He leaned back in his chair, and the tension in the room eased. “I hear your daughter is engaged. Congratulations.”
My heart skipped a beat. I had blocked Blanchet’s daughter out of my mind. She was too hard to hate. It was easier not to think about her.
But… Sadie was engaged? Since when? Last time I saw her she was still an innocent pre-teen who cared more about her dogs than she did about anything else.
I swallowed, stealing a glance at Blanchet.
“Thank you.” The Senator’s voice was strained. He smoothed the front of his suit down and shifted in his seat. He wanted to leave.
“And she’s engaged to such a prominent businessman,” Mikhail continued as if he hadn’t noticed anything. He smoothed his tie and folded his hands over his stomach, but his eyes never left Blanchet. “It’s a match made in heaven, as you Americans say.”
“It is.” Blanchet stood, and I resisted the urge to shove him back down in his chair and explain himself. Selling himself to the highest bidder was one thing—but his daughter? This man was worse than the shit under my shoe. He didn’t deserve to have a daughter like Sadie.
Anger flared in my chest, burning bright and hot in my veins. I clenched my fists. Nathan Blanchet nodded at Mikhail, and then gave me a hard look. He turned and walked out without another word. As soon as the door closed, Mikhail started chuckling.
“Shame about the daughter.” He waved the two other men away, and they stalked out the door after Blanchet. “It would have been convenient for her to marry my son, Alexei. I’ve seen her, and she’s a pretty little thing, for an American. Having our families united would have prevented the Senator from doing anything stupid. He’s not the type of man that inspires trust, don’t you think?.”
In that moment, my hatred for Mikhail nearly matched my hatred for Blanchet.
Sadie never hurt anyone. She was the only one who spoke to me when I was a kid living on her father’s estate. All she wanted was to be a veterinarian. She was nerdy and sweet and innocent in all this. Or she had been fifteen years ago. What kind of woman had she turned into?
With Mikhail’s eyes on me, I just nodded.
He smiled, and his eyes became hard. “The way under a man’s skin is through his daughters.”
I gritted my teeth. Mikhail’s intelligent gaze took in everything about me, and I knew I was on thin ice. There were too many unknowns here. Too much uncertainty. Too much Sadie.
“You’re becoming more Russian every day, Deniska.” Mikhail laughed, his pearly white teeth gleaming in the office’s light. I grinned with him, but in my heart, I knew that everything had just changed.
I shouldn’t have been there. It wasn’t part of the plan, and it was supremely risky.
Supremely stupid.
Staring at the huge estate as I slid further down the seat in the car, my heart started to thump. I knew every inch of that house, from top to bottom. I knew all the nooks and crannies, all the hidden staircases and disused rooms. I knew it better than the Blanchets did, but I was out here, and they were in there.
The house that I grew up in looked exactly the same. The lush gardens sprawled out from it in all directions. The small apple orchard was still in the north-eastern corner of the lot. They’d changed the front gate, but apart from that, not much was different.
I drove around to the back of the property. There used to be a little gate back here that no one but the gardener and I used. I parked my car in the shadow of a large tree and got out. The gate was still there, unlocked.
I shook my head. A Senator should have better security than this. I glanced at the house and set my jaw. This might be supremely stupid, but that wasn’t going to stop me.
Sticking to the
shadows, I zig-zagged my way towards the big house. Its windows were yawning wide and yellow with the light within. My heart squeezed in my chest, and anger bolstered my steps. What happened inside that house had filled me with so much bitterness that it was hard to ignore it. Memories invaded my brain. I glanced over to the Staff House, where my parents and I had lived before Blanchet ripped them away from me.
I shouldn’t have been here, but I was. With a quick sprint across the back garden, I stood beneath one of the few windows that didn’t have any light on.
Sadie’s bedroom.
I leaned against a tree, staring up at the window. She would be up there now. Maybe she was in bed, asleep. Maybe she had her nose in a book, just like she used to. Her dog—or maybe it was dogs, now—would be lying across her lap, and she’d be absent-mindedly scratching it behind the ear.
My muscles turned to stone as tension stiffened my body. When I had vowed to destroy her father, I hadn’t considered her. She’d been collateral. But now…
My jaw ticked.
This wasn’t part of the plan. I shouldn’t have cared about Sadie, but then I remembered how she would always help my mother bake my birthday cakes. She would pick flowers for our family and walk her dogs with my father.
She wasn’t just collateral. She was the only Blanchet that had a heart.
What kind of woman was she now? What had fifteen years done to her? Was she as beautiful as Ivanov said?
I definitely shouldn’t be here. I was risking the whole mission. I was risking three years of work, and fifteen years of planning. I was risking my life.
For what?
Was it to destroy Senator Blanchet’s life, or was it to satisfy my curiosity about Sadie?
I snorted at myself, disgusted.
I was stronger than this. I was harder than this. I wanted to destroy Nathan Blanchet, and nothing could stand in my way.
Not even Sadie.
I glanced one last time at the black window and then turned away. It was time to leave all this behind me. In a few weeks, hopefully, I would pull the trigger myself and end the Senator’s miserable life. Sadie would be fine. She wasn’t my problem.
I stepped from the shadow of the tree. Something rattled behind me, and I heard the sound of an old window scraping up.
“Shh—” A giggle exploded behind me and I retreated back to the tree’s shadow. The trunk wasn’t big enough by half to hide my large, six-foot-three frame, but the darkness helped. I stayed light on my feet, keeping my eyes on the second-floor window.
“Come on, Sadie! Hurry up!” I squinted at the second floor window as a dark figure climbed out. A girl landed on the awning below it, and then reached up towards the window.
“I don’t know, Mags,” came a second voice from inside. My heart shook. I knew that voice. It was older and smoother, but it was that voice. Sadie.
“Sadie! Come on! We’ll miss the show.” Mags was Sadie’s cousin, and they’d been inseparable as kids, even though Mags was always the wilder one of the two. Nothing had changed there, apparently.
“What if we get caught?” Looked like Sadie was still the same goodie-two-shoes that I’d known.
“Your dad is a Senator, I think we’ll be fine.” Mags motioned impatiently. “Come on!”
Sadie’s head appeared, and her long red locks dangled out the window. My breath caught in my throat. This wasn’t the snot-nosed kid I’d left behind. This wasn’t a plain-looking girl who was made to look attractive by her money.
She was fucking gorgeous. The light spilling from the house illuminated her delicate features. Her hair tumbled like dancing flames over her shoulders. Even at a distance, I could see her soft, full lips as they pursed in disapproval.
Sadie made a huffing noise, and then pulled herself through the opening. Landing with a thud, they both giggled and made their way to the edge of the awning.
It took all my self-control not to run forward when I saw them dropping off to the ground. She could break her fucking leg, and I was just standing there watching.
But they fell down in a heap, laughing and shushing each other. With a glance towards the bright house, Mags grabbed Sadie’s arm and dragged her towards the back of the estate—towards the garden gate.
Towards my car.
I needed to follow them, to make sure they didn’t find out I’d been here.
That’s what I told myself, anyway.
Going back through the estate unnoticed was harder with the two of them glancing back towards the house every four fucking seconds. They were making enough noise to wake up the whole neighborhood.
I guess not everyone was trained to move in the shadows.
I stayed near the wall, keeping my eyes on the women.
Well, keeping my eyes on one of them.
Sadie was wearing a tight black dress and a cropped leather jacket. Her ankle boots said fuck me and my body was ready to oblige. When they got to the back gate, she dropped her purse. Leaning over to pick it up, I saw her bright pink panties and my whole body thrummed.
Where the fuck was she going dressed like that? Maybe she wasn’t the goody-two-shoes I thought she was.
She’d be going out, and I knew wherever she went she was sure to be the most beautiful girl in the room. Fucking creeps would be all over her, touching that perfect, perky ass of hers. The thought of another man putting his hands on her made my stomach turn.
Like a flash, my instinct kicked in. I couldn’t let that happen. No one would touch her tonight. Over my fucking dead body.
I told myself I was following them to make sure she was okay. I told myself it was to protect her, but deep down, I knew the truth.
I followed her because as soon as her head appeared in that second-floor window, I knew the past fifteen years of planning had just tumbled out the window with her.
It was time for a new plan. It was time for Sadie.
2
Sadie
Mags pulled me through the gate, putting her finger to her mouth.
“Shh,” she laughed.
“My heart is beating so fast!” I put my hand to my chest and took a deep breath. I glanced back towards the house, and I could see my dog, D’Artagnan, looking out my bedroom window. He knew I’d left, and I could tell he was looking for me. I hesitated, and Mags poked me.
“You need to get out more, Sadie.” Mags arched an eyebrow, grinning. “I can’t believe you have to sneak out of your parent’s house at twenty-four years old.”
You can’t believe I’m a virgin, either, and yet here we are.
I sighed, shaking my head.
“You have no idea what it’s like being a Senator’s daughter.” I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, glancing up and down the disused road. “I haven’t been back here in years. Whose car is that?”
“Who cares?” Mags grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the main road. “Harry is waiting for us down here. Come on, we’ll miss the show.”
I let her drag me towards the street lights to her boyfriend’s car. She slipped into the front seat and gave him a long kiss. Harry cupped her cheek with his hand and shook his head.
“How is it that you get more beautiful every time I see you?”
“I got new mascara,” Mags shrugged, grinning.
“I don’t think that’s it.” They kissed again, and my heart squeezed.
How come my fiancé never looked at me like that? We’d been engaged for two months, but even when we first met, Thomas didn’t have that spark in his eye. He was a businessman—he wasn’t overly emotional. Still, when I was around Mags and Harry, it felt like something was missing in my relationship. Happiness basically radiated off the two of them anytime they were together. They were drawn to each other, and the energy between them was electric.
And I was jealous.
It was that dirty, dark kind of jealousy that curled in the pit of my stomach. Being jealous of your best friend was like living with poison in your veins. It ate away at me anytime we were together,
and I hated myself for it.
Harry glanced back at me and whistled. “You’re looking good tonight, Senator’s daughter!”
“I have a name, Harry.” I scowled, and Harry flashed that disarming grin of his. “I hate that my entire identity is based on who my father is.”
“Such is life, princess.” He winked at me and I fought to keep the smile off my face. Harry had that harmless, class-clown kind of charm to him. It was hard to stay mad at him. He shrugged.
Mags smacked his arm and he grinned.
“I’m only kidding. Sadie, you know that you’re like, a borderline genius, right? You’re at the top of your class at fucking Georgetown Law, for fuck’s sake. You have your own identity, don’t worry. I’m just a lowly peasant. I gotta get my kicks in where I can.”
“Well, drive us to the concert, peasant.” Mags motioned to the street. “We’re going to miss it!”
“Yes, ma’am. You know I like it when you tell me what to do.” He wiggled his eyebrows at Mags and she just laughed. I glanced back towards the huge house where I grew up, and I sighed.
Mags was right, it was ridiculous that I still had to sneak out. It was the only way I could get some peace. Bodyguards followed me around everywhere I went, and they kept me at a safe distance from all ‘threats’, a.k.a. everybody else. Having a burly security detail wasn’t exactly conducive to having friends… or boyfriends. I was isolated and alone 99% of the time.
So when Mags told me she was taking me to the heaviest heavy metal concert of the century, I said yes.
I didn’t even like heavy metal music, but I needed to get out.
Harry started the car, and we rolled forward. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a shadow moving in the alleyway where we had just emerged. My heart skipped a beat, and I waited for one of my huge, sour-faced bodyguards to come running after us.
My heart thumped, but nothing happened. We drove off and I glanced back.
Love/Hate: The Complete Enemies to Lovers Series Page 52
