by Sienna Snow
“The only things I hate more than disobedience are disloyalty and lies.”
I stood frozen. My tormentor was dead. But I felt nothing, no relief, no closure, nothing.
“Now that the unpleasantness of your past is resolved, let’s get down to business.” Christof motioned for me to join him under the canopy where a table was set.
I followed in a numb haze. The realization hit me; I was never leaving this place alive. The stairwell door came into view as I approached the table, and I prayed Milla found an escape.
I sat across from Christof and stared at my plate. I hadn’t eaten since my flight home, but the mere notion of food soured my stomach.
“Please eat,” Christof said politely, but the edge of command lay underneath. “Once we’re finished with lunch and you have a chance to freshen up, we’ll get to work.” He regarded Jacob as he approached. “Why are you still here? You should be in the lab preparing for our guest.”
“She’s not a guest,” Jacob countered.
Christof dropped his fork and jumped up. Jacob instinctively stepped back, but Christof caught him by the collar. “You are alive today only because of our mutually beneficial agreement. Don’t make me regret our association.”
I turned my head away when Jacob’s gaze caught mine. The hatred emanating from him frightened me. If Christof didn’t kill me, Jacob would.
At that moment, one of the guards ran up the stairs in a panic. “Sir, we have a situation.”
“What is it?” he hissed without releasing his grip on Jacob.
“Ms. Castra has escaped.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
Who was watching her?” Christof shoved Jacob away and glared at the guard.
Relief washed over me. Get help, mera behna.
“She was unconscious, sir, and we didn’t expect her to wake.”
Christof picked up his drink, swallowed deep, and then pinned Jacob with an angry stare. “Brady, your skills are becoming rusty. When I say make sure she can’t inconvenience us without killing her, that means make it so she isn’t strong enough to walk.”
Jacob pulled out his phone and scanned the screen. “Let me find her. I put a tracker on her in case this scenario arose.”
Shit, where would he have put it? No, Milla was too smart to let herself be tracked. I’d taught her how to debug herself. I prayed she was strong enough to find it and get it off her.
“Oh, Arya, don’t look surprised. I do know my way around technology, no matter what you may believe. How do you think I acquired all the passwords of the MDC team?”
“By seducing an innocent woman,” I retorted.
Jacob yanked my head back with my ponytail, practically tipping my chair over and spoke through gritted teeth. “You’re nothing but a whore. What would you know about real intelligence? I think I’ll take a few hours in private and teach you true discipline and then find out if the pussy Max has permanently attached himself to is worth the price.”
Bile rose in my throat.
“Release her, Brady, or I’ll lodge a bullet in your head.”
Jacob visibly shuddered and released his hold on me, forcing my chair forward again. Lucky for me, I caught myself with my good hand, before my head hit my plate and the food on it.
“Arya, please finish your meal before it becomes cold. I think I will have a word in private with my associate.”
Jacob and Christof moved to another cabana area on the edge of the roof. Picking up my fork, I went through the motions of eating without tasting any of my food.
I had to think of a plan to get out of the building.
Fifteen minutes passed and Christof hadn’t returned. Curiosity got the best of me and I peered toward the tent. The shadows of the men in discussion glowed through the thin material of the coverings. Then a shot rang out, and one figure fell to the ground. Christof strolled in my direction as if he hadn’t a care in the world.
“Please excuse me for keeping you waiting.” He smiled and ran a finger down my swollen eye, tsked, and sat next to me. “I am happy to inform you that my business relationship with Mr. Brady has been severed.”
I remained still and peered out over the harbor. In a less than an hour, two people had lost their lives, and no one was fazed but me. Max was right; I hadn’t considered the ramifications of being the puzzle master of the software.
“I see you have lost your appetite. Understandable, considering the events of the past few moments. Boris will take you to your chamber to rest. Then we will reconvene in the basement lab.” He checked his watch. “Let’s meet at three thirty. That will give you a little over one hour to freshen up.”
I nodded and moved without thought toward the guard.
“Arya,” Christof called, and I paused at the door to the stairwell. “No harm will come to you. You are more valuable to me alive than dead.”
Two hours later, I sat in front of the terminals confiscated from my lab, hoping and praying my plan would execute without incident.
“Are you ready to begin, Arya?”
“Yes, but having a gun trained on me makes me nervous. If you wouldn’t mind having your guard point that thing somewhere else, I’d feel a little more confident about my task.”
With a nod from Christof, the thug lowered his weapon and observed us.
His hand trailed down my back. “He doesn’t approve of my fascination with you.” It took all my willpower not to cringe. “Now that we are here without the presence of Mr. Brady, I will admit you were too good for the likes of him. I think what he disliked the most about you was that you weren’t impressed by your friends’ wealth. Too bad he didn’t know you were an heiress in your own right.”
I slanted my head and narrowed my eyes.
“Come now, we all know of your inheritance from your maternal grandmother, but maybe you didn’t know about your father’s family.”
I pushed back from the computer, folded my arms across my body, and glared at Christof. “What the hell are you talking about?”
A chilling chuckle left his mouth. “Don’t tell me you didn’t know that your father was one of the estranged sons of Minesh Rey?”
“Of course I knew that. He disinherited my father and uncle when they left their family’s business. All the wealth went to the younger brother, who followed in my grandfather’s footsteps.”
Why did he care about my family tree? Yes, I had money in my background, but none of that had made any difference while growing up. Aunt Elana did well by me, and that was all that mattered.
“Your disgust with your family’s money is the reason you are unique. We come from similar backgrounds. I think if you open yourself to the possibilities, you and I could have a very lucrative and prosperous future.”
He sank to the ground in front of my chair and threaded his hand into my hair. “I’ll have to train you to favor me with the same gaze you gave Max. I am sure in time you’ll learn to care about me as well.”
Milla, please have found help.
“Sir,” the guard interrupted, “I think we need to continue on our task. Our window of launch is limited.”
Releasing his grip on my head, Christof stepped back. “Right as usual, Olaf. Arya, we will continue this discussion later. Now it’s time to get to work.”
I bit my lip and stared at the monitor. Inhaling a few deep breaths, I steadied my mind and typed in code. From the corner of my vision, I spotted the cameras trained on me. Shit, he was recording every move I made.
Line by line I entered commands that corresponded with the ones for the actual program. No one would detect anything was amiss, but once launched, the program would operate a different system altogether. Sweat trickled down my spine as I prayed this farce would work.
My heart jumped as a blip of code appeared on my screen, using the language I’d taught Milla to relay secret messages when we were in school. My eyes teared, but I held them back.
Mil, are you okay?
This is Lex. Mil’s on her way to the hospital
. We know where you are. Stay on the system as long as possible.
Is Max safe?
He’s fine. We’re going to get you out.
Lex, he’s not going to release me.
Yes, he is. Type the code. We’re monitoring the system. Act natural. I’ll let you know when to go live.
My hands shook.
“How is the process going?”
“Fine,” I snapped. “Considering I’m coding something that requires four analysts with only one useable hand.”
“I have complete confidence in your abilities. I also have my own programmer watching you, so we’ll know if you are accessing areas you shouldn’t be.”
Obviously, he wasn’t as smart as Christof expected, or he’d have already notified everyone that I’d hacked the grid.
“Then why isn’t he activating the system?”
He ignored my snarky comment. “Perhaps it’s time for refreshment. Here.” He thrust a glass of water in my hand. “Drink, you’re flushed. I don’t want you to become ill, and I can see your temper is piqued.”
Stay calm, Arya.
Taking the glass, I sipped the cool liquid that resembled water, but tasted nothing like it. “What did you give me?”
“A small stimulant to give you some energy as well as a tonic to ease some of the discomfort from the beating you took earlier.”
Oh well, what the hell. I drank the liquid down. My body hurt too much to refuse any pain relief.
After handing him the empty cup, I asked, “Aren’t you a sadist? Wouldn’t my discomfort please you?”
“No, my dear. I abhor abuse for the sole purpose of abuse. What happened to Ms. Castra was a shame, but necessary. When we play, you’ll learn the difference.”
“You contradicted yourself.”
“I guess I did. You are quite intelligent. I can’t help but anticipate our future together,” he hummed. “Now back to work, dorogoy moya. Then later we will have our first visit to the dungeon.” He kissed the top of my head and sat on the sofa behind me.
“I am not your dear. I belong to someone else.”
“Tsk-tsk. Such spirit.”
I fixed my gaze to the screen and resumed typing. For the next three hours, I coordinated the codes for each part of the software so they would run without overlapping the programing and causing it to crash. A few more strokes and the program would activate.
The screen blipped again. Launch.
“I’m ready, Christof. Once I hit the final key the program will be equipped.”
“Magnificent.” He moved behind me, leaning close my ear. “Call me Vladimir. Especially since soon we’ll become more intimately acquainted.”
The hell we would.
“Please do the honors.”
“Why not.” He reached over and pressed the Enter key.
The system activated, and the program showed the locations of all bases in the world, including unlisted centers. Too bad he didn’t know most of the information was false.
“Wonderful. Now we’ll celebrate.” He turned to Olaf. “Prepare the jet. My guest and I will be leaving soon.”
Olaf nodded his head and opened the door, but the second he entered the hallway gunshots sounded.
Christof grabbed me out of my chair and hissed into my ear, “What the fuck have you done, myshka?”
I panted, “I’m not your little mouse.”
“You are coming with me.” He forced me through the door and into the hallway, drew a gun from the back of his waist, and hoisted me up the stairs.
I stumbled, gripping the railing for balance. My head spun from the drink Christof had given me. “Let me go. I’m of no use to you now. You have the recording and your software is active. Please.” I lost my balance again and fell.
“Der’mo, you are drunk.” He threw me over his shoulder and ascended the stairs.
My head roiled from all the movement, and my stomach lurched. Shouts sounded all around me, and I bobbed up and down on Christof’s back.
Suddenly, the stairs collapsed and the world went black.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Arya, baby, please come back to me. I need you.”
Max!
His voice echoed in my mind, but my body refused to respond. Every inch of me seemed permeated with pain and screamed for relief.
Milla. I had to find her.
Please, someone make the beeping stop. My head can’t take anymore.
“Nurse, she’s crying. Help her!”
“Sir, you have to stay calm. This is a good sign. It means she’s waking.”
“What about the swelling?”
“I wish I could tell you, but it’s too soon to know. She’s only been out of surgery for a few hours.”
The beeping grew louder. If it didn’t stop, I was going to lose my mind.
“Sir, I need you to hold her down. Her blood pressure is too high. She’s having a seizure.”
“Save her, before you do anything else!”
“I’m paging the doctor.”
No, I’m awake. Please, someone make that noise stop.
“Max you have to get out of here. If not to run your business, at least for a shower. Arya would want you to take care of yourself.”
“What am I going to do, Lex? It’s been three days since the surgery.”
Three days? Surgery? Oh God, the explosion. The last thing I remembered before the world went dark was Christof running up the stairs.
“I don’t know.” Lex exhaled. “All we can do is wait and pray.”
“I can’t lose her,” Max sobbed with his head resting on my stomach. “I’ve barely gotten her back.”
Don’t cry, I’m here.
“You’re not. None of us are losing her. She’s strong, plus she’s got something else to live for.”
Max’s hand caressed my stomach. Why was he doing that? Oh God, I couldn’t be. No, it’s probably something else.
“Arya is a champion fighter, both our girls are. It’s taken all my effort to keep Mil home.”
Max’s head lifted off me. “I’m sorry, man. I haven’t asked about Milla. I’ve been so wrapped up with Arya.”
“She’s doing better, but she’s pissed as hell. She hates feeling helpless. That fucker did a number on her. If Jacob weren’t dead, I’d be the first in line to kill him.”
What did he do? I wish this fucking body would move.
“How could I have been so wrong about him? Why didn’t I listen to Arya?”
“Hell, we’ve known him since we were kids. His warped sense of entitlement got the best of him. I can’t believe he’d gotten himself involved with Christof.”
“Well, he made his grave and now he has to lie in it.” Max released a deep breath. “How are you handling the invasion of the Castras?”
“As well as can be expected when you’re the nonpracticing Catholic lover of their wild child daughter and a member of a family they can’t stand.”
A knock sounded on the door. “May I come in, gentlemen?”
“General Ansgar, what can I do for you? As you see, we aren’t prepared for company.” Max’s fingers feathered across my immobile forehead.
“I understand, but this is a matter of national security. We need to speak with you.” He paused. “Actually this concerns all of you, specifically your women.”
“Right now our priority is to protect them. Making life easier for you is the least of our worries,” Lex interjected.
“Under the circumstances, I expected your hostility, but without your assistance we cannot safeguard any of you from future aggression.”
A resigned sigh filled the room.
“Take a seat, General. Lex and I will answer what we can, but our women, as you put it, tend to march to the beat of their own drums. If I had any say, they wouldn’t have become involved with your project in the first place.”
“Duly noted. I ran into Elana Rey a few moments ago. She’s already warned me not to upset you.” He chuckled. “For such a wisp of a woman sh
e isn’t easily intimidated.”
“That’s an understatement.”
I warmed, thinking of Aunt El and the Mama Bear side of her personality that would destroy anyone who thought of harming her family.
“Let me get to the point. We need to know if she activated the software and where the data is stored. Every attempt to contact Ms. Castra has been hindered.”
Lex grunted but didn’t comment.
Relief flooded me. Lex would protect Mil the same way he’d done for me in the past.
“Our teams have scoured all of your labs, but then again Ms. Rey is a security expert.”
“Mrs. Dane,” Max corrected.
“Yes, Mrs. Dane. Would either of you gentlemen have any idea where your wife or Ms. Castra would have sent data collected from the virus they planted in the copycat software?”
“No sir, I’m sorry. I understand your sense of urgency, but until Arya wakes up none of us will know.”
Shit, this meant Christof was alive. Damn, this wasn’t over. I willed my body to cooperate. I could give the general his information, and then he’d leave me to recover with my husband.
“What about you, Mr. Duncan? Do you have any information that could help us?”
Please keep your mouth shut, Lex.
“No, and before you ask, there will be no access to Milla. She’s very fragile right now and has been through too much. I won’t have you upsetting her.”
He was dead if Mil ever found out he said those words about her. Though I understood his need to keep her safe.
Wait, if he described her as fragile, that meant she wasn’t well.
“Gentleman, I recognize your desire to shield your women, but with Vladimir Christof free, they are both in grave danger. This is the second time Mrs. Dane and Ms. Castra have hindered his plans. He won’t take it lightly.”
“Security measures are in place, General,” Max stated coolly as he continued to hold my hand.
“I see there is no point in pushing either of you any further.” His footsteps echoed to the door. “But if you think of anything, please let us know.”
The door shut, but both Max and Lex remained quiet.
