by Wendy Rosnau
Did you love him?
I loved the depth of his love. Yes, I suppose I did love him.
She had lied to him. The truth was she loved Yurii still. It was why she had never taken off the ring. And because that love had never died, he could no longer trust her.
Pierce crept closer, making his way down a flower-lined pathway. He reached the open terrace, found cover among the potted lemon trees and giant statues of ancient gods.
Testing for radar as he slowly moved along the terrace, he stopped near a window hidden behind a veil of wisteria. Using a circular glass cutter, he cut a hole in a window large enough to fit his hand inside. Reaching through the hole, he unlocked the window, then slid it open.
Before he climbed in, he shut down all his electronic equipment—anything that would set off an alarm and warn the household that an intruder had arrived.
Inside, he closed the window, and began to make his way to the door. Room by room he would take the villa apart until he found Yurii’s command center. It would take time; no doubt the inside was as well-guarded as the outside.
The good news was, he no longer had to worry about saving Casmir before the axe dropped. Yurii didn’t look like he was in too big a hurry to start dicing his fiancée up into little pieces. Likewise, Cass didn’t appear to be suffering from anything but maybe a bellyache from too much laughter.
What he’d witnessed moments ago looked more like the celebration of two reunited lovers than a standoff between dreaded enemies.
Casmir excused herself to use the bathroom. Like the bedroom, this room adjoining the dressing room was just another elegant extension of Yurii’s wealth and his obsession with detail.
They had eaten Li Galli lobster, and she had let Yurii feed her. She’d slipped into the old Kisa he adored. She’d laughed and touched his hand. She’d appeared shy at times and bold at others.
She had made a decision. If the mission was going to be a success, then it would be up to her to find Yurii’s database. Pierce wouldn’t be coming, and as much as she wanted to avenge his death by slitting Yurii’s throat, she needed to stay focused on the mission’s agenda.
She pulled herself together, and rejoined Yurii on the balcony. The actress had a plan, and for it to work she needed to give the performance of a lifetime.
Now she would seal her fate and Yurii’s with the one thing she knew her jailer wouldn’t be able to resist.
“You look tired,” she said. “Come lie with me.”
“It would be good waking up to you in my arms.”
“We can sleep, but…after.”
He smiled. “Seducing your jailer?”
“Is it allowed?”
“We were always good together in bed.”
“You once told me I was a one of a kind.”
“Da. No one compares to you, my love.”
She leaned close, close enough to whisper, “No one has ever come close to making me feel the way you do.”
She heard him exhale a sigh, a release of tension, or perhaps a sigh of utter contentment.
She stepped back and left him standing at the balcony. As she moved through the open French doors, she wiggled out of the white caftan, letting it drop to the floor. She stepped over it, and without looking back, wearing only the white thong, took the steps up the platform and climbed on the bed.
She knew he would follow, knew that the moment had come to make another sacrifice.
He stepped into the room, his shirt already unbuttoned. He was aroused, and she knew what to do to send him over the edge. She lay back on the bed, stretched out like a cat.
He stood at the edge of the bed, his hand on the cage door. “You are my passion. I have never seen anything more beautiful, or more dangerous.”
“I thought you were the dangerous one.”
“You shared a secret, and now I will share one. You are my jailer, Kisa. I will forever be your prisoner.”
Casmir rolled onto her side and stroked the gold satin. “Make love to me, Yurii.”
It was enough, and he climbed on the bed and lay down. Casmir kissed his lips, then caressed his chest. She nibbled at his neck. Raked her nails over his nipples until she heard him groan with desire.
Her hand moved lower and she stroked his cock through his pants. On her knees she unzipped him, used her hair to tease his belly while she shoved his pants past his knees.
In a matter of minutes Yurii’s shoes and pants were tossed outside of the cage.
He was reaching for her when she pushed him back and slid his boxers to his ankles. “You first,” she said. “I know how much you like my mouth. Let me.”
Another groan and Casmir knew she had him. She glanced around the room as she continued to stroke him. She saw the remote on the chair near the fountain. A few more solid strokes, a kiss to seal the deal, and then she was off the bed, moving quickly for the remote.
Before Yurii knew what had happened, she had the remote in her hand and had pushed the button to activate the door. As it swung shut, locking in place, he sat halfway up, resting on his elbows.
“You were right,” Casmir said. “I am your jailer. My prisoner of love.”
“You really are a bad girl, Kisa.”
“You’re no saint, my love.”
“No, I am not.”
“You made a serious mistake when you had Pierce killed. I can never forgive you for that.”
“Such strong words. Words spoken out of duty and loyalty to your comrade, or is there something I’ve missed?”
Casmir didn’t answer him.
“Your silence condemns you, sweet Kisa.”
“As your actions have condemned you. What is the location of your data center?”
Yurii sat upright. “So that’s what Quest is after.” He shook his head. “Rethink what you are about to do. Leave this room and you seal your fate. I will instruct my men to shoot to kill.”
“My fate was sealed the day I met you, Yurii.”
“Da, it is true.”
“If you ever loved me, Yurii, prove it now. Let me walk out of here with what I came for.”
Casmir wasn’t expecting him to smile, but he did. A generous, smug smile that sent chills up her spine.
“Filip was right. I must admit I didn’t want to believe him, but then I had no choice when he brought me proof.”
“Proof?”
“It seems a yacht has been spotted close by. A yacht that should not be there. I was informed of it while you were powdering your nose in the bathroom.”
Yurii seemed more confident than ever, and that worried Casmir. But what about the yacht? Was it there to pick her up? Had Polax replaced Pierce?
“You have a decision to make. That decision is live to see tomorrow, or die tonight for Quest.”
It was true, Polax had sent her help. Maybe more than one yacht was out there. Maybe there was an entire team standing by to invade Yurii’s domain.
“Life or death, Kisa? I give you my promise that you will not die if you surrender to me.”
“And I can trust that?”
“Unlike you, I am a man of my word. I have never lied to you. I do love you. Dead or alive, I will always love you.”
“I can’t.”
He sighed. “Of course you can’t. Your loyalty to your family is as strong as mine is to mine. Filip was right. You are Quest and it is you. It is in your blood.”
She had no idea what he was talking about, and she would never know. Their time together was over. It was time to go.
“Where is your data center located? I know it’s here somewhere.”
“Good luck on your hunt. I will be right behind you very soon.”
Casmir slipped on the white caftan, then walked to the open French doors and tossed the remote over the side.
As she headed out the door, Yurii said, “Do svidaniya, my love.”
It was obvious that he had expected her to deceive him again. That he’d been waiting for her to trip herself up. He’d given her enough rope
, and time enough to make her own noose.
With expectation came organization. And what she’d learned from months in Yurii’s company was that he was a very organized man.
Unlike weeks ago in Bratislava she had no disguise to slip into, no weapon of any kind to rely on, not even shoes on her feet.
Chapter 19
An alarm went off the minute Casmir left Yurii. She met a guard on the stairwell as she scrambled down the steep stone steps.
The guard was grinning like a fool. He was armed, but the gun was still strapped to his shoulder. Think fast, she told herself. He expects you to turn around and run. Instead, she returned his smile, lifted her caftan and flashed him. His attention was diverted for a split second, long enough for her to drop down three steps, point her toe and kick. She clipped him on the chin, and he wrenched backward. Another kick sent him falling down the stairs. She hurried after him, dodged a futile grab as he reached for her leg as she ran past him.
She was now on the stone path that led to the water channel. There she would find a boat, she hoped. That might take her out of immediate danger, but it would also take her farther away from the data center.
She turned back, found another path, one of the dark passageways she’d seen earlier. It was narrower and seemed to be climbing back up. A minute later, the path ended, leaving her hugging a rock wall. She must have missed another passageway. She heard voices. No time to backtrack.
Along the wall there was a narrow rocky ledge. She maneuvered the slippery ledge, nearly falling to her death more than once. She was exhausted and shaky, her legs aching from trying to keep her balance on the ledge as it steadily angled upward.
She needed a place to hide. A place where she could catch her breath and rethink her desperate situation. It didn’t need to be much; a fissure in the rocks would do. Frantically she hunted for a hole to crawl into as she negotiated the suicide path that was really no path at all.
She slipped, and went down on one knee.
The good news was the alarm wasn’t blasting as loud. That meant she was moving away from the danger. At least she hoped that was what it meant.
She heard the sound of water flowing as she continued to inch her way along the ledge. Was it getting narrower?
The ledge ended abruptly, and Cass found herself thirty feet above a pool of swirling water fed by a waterfall shooting out from the rocks overhead.
She heard voices again. The guards were coming.
She looked down at the water, wondered how deep it was. The voices grew louder. She had no choice. Die or swim.
She had told Pierce she would die here. Well, this was probably going to be it if she missed her mark and landed on the rocks.
Pierce… She wished she could see him just once more. To tell him he wasn’t an asshole. To tell him that she had loved their time together. That he had a pair of amazing lips and that—
“There she is.”
She stepped off the ledge and plunged into the water, expecting to feel her bones break as she smashed into the hidden rocks beneath the pool. She held her breath as she hit the water.
No rocks.
Still alive.
The minute she realized she wasn’t dead, she began to kick her way to the surface. Gasping for air, she popped up fast. Dazed for a moment, she didn’t realize she was behind the waterfall until she swam for shore. She dragged herself up on a rock and concentrated on breathing, on pulling herself back together.
She was alive.
At least for now.
She opened her eyes, and that was when she realized it was all for nothing. Nasty Nicky was coming toward her, with a guard behind him.
Yurii looked into the mirror across the room. In a resigned voice, to the man hidden in the room on the other side, he said, “Filip, sound the alarm.”
“It’s already done.”
“Then get in here and let me out of this cage.”
The door opened moments later and Filip strode into the room. “Do you want me to release the dogs on the grounds?”
“There will be no need for that. She won’t get far.”
Filip went to a panel hidden behind a picture and tripped a switch to open the cage door. Then he scooped up Yurii’s pants, swung the door open and handed them to his brother.
As Yurii dropped his legs over the bed and dressed, Filip bent down on one knee and reached for Yurii’s shoes. “I told you weeks ago she was a deceptive bitch and that she couldn’t be trusted.”
“My wanting Kisa back had nothing to do with trusting her, Filip.”
“But you were hopeful.”
Yurii shrugged. “A man is always hopeful when his heart is hurting.”
“You could buy a hundred women.”
“And none of them would compare to Casmir Balasi.”
“You can’t be considering sparing her life. Not after this.”
“Tell the men I want her alive.”
“But you told her—”
“I know what I told her. I will decide Kisa’s fate.”
“And the fate of all of us? Who decides that? Now that Nescosto has been discovered, we will be forced to move our headquarters.”
“We will discuss that later. Have you seized the yacht yet?”
“It is making an attempt to outrun us, but we will overtake it in a matter of minutes.”
“When Kisa is caught, bring her to the Meetro. I will meet you there.”
Casmir would have dived back into the water but she was too weak to move. She watched sawed-off short-legged Nicky as he hurried toward her. He still needed better-fitting pants and a new haircut. And even in the poor lighting she thought his ruddy complexion could use a face peel.
She said, “Hello, Nicky. Still wearing your pants in poor taste, I see.”
“I know you’ve never liked me, but your opinion of me is about to change. Come on, there isn’t much time.”
Before she could answer, he was beside her, bending down to help her stand. He wrapped his arm around her waist and drew her to her feet.
“There isn’t much time for what?”
“I’ll explain later. When we get someplace where we can talk. If they saw you drop into the water, they will eventually look for you here.”
She was confused by what he was saying. She looked past him to the second man. He was thin and shifty. He looked like a terrorist who had been surviving on rats. His dirty blonde hair was sun-bleached, and his chin hadn’t seen the light of day in at least a year. A combat rifle hung on his shoulder, and his Kydex belt was lined with explosives.
With Nicky’s help, she followed the scruffy bandit. In a matter of minutes they slipped behind an outcropping of rocks. There she was urged to her knees and she crawled through a narrow fissure in the rocks and into a tiny cave.
Nicky had just come through the hole when they heard voices. Yurii’s guards were searching the water for her.
No one spoke until the voices subsided. Then, keeping her voice soft, Cass asked, “Are you a double agent of some kind, Nicky?”
“No. I just got tired.”
“Tired?”
He shrugged. “A woman isn’t the only one who is allowed to change her mind. I’m not getting any younger. It’s time I retired somewhere quiet where the food is good and the women are generous.”
Where the women were blind, was more like it. Nicky was a mess. He hadn’t earned the nickname “Nasty” for his sour disposition.
“Is Quest going to make this long-awaited retirement possible? Or did this proposition originate at Onyxx?”
“Your boss can be very persuasive. His deal was hard to refuse. So far he’s kept his word. I trust him.”
Trust Polax? Not if she was waist deep in shit and there were a million flies swarming. But Casmir didn’t voice her thoughts. If Nicky could help her get to Yurii’s command center, then she was willing to delay the score she still intended to settle with him. Pasha was dead, and Nicky was responsible.
Let him think he was
entitled to a quiet retirement with a blind cyclops, but she knew different.
She asked, “How far are we from Yurii’s control room where all his data is stored?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“I’ve never been here until today.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Except for Filip and Yurii, and a select few, the men and women who work here are not allowed to leave. It’s how this location has remained a secret for so long. If I had been able to give up the location to Polax weeks ago, your part in this would never have been necessary.”
That made sense. She glanced at Mr. Scruffy. He was sitting with his back resting against a rock, watching her. She suspected under all that hair and whiskers was a good-looking face, but it was hard to tell. He was studying her much in the same way she was studying him. But why not—she was close to naked, and frankly there was a lot to look at.
“What’s your story?” she asked.
“Name’s Ash Kelly. I’m Onyxx.”
He was Pierce’s replacement. Casmir drew in a breath and let it out slowly. “When you get back, if you get back, tell Merrick that letting Pierce die the way he did is unforgivable.”
“What are you talking about?”
“What part of dead don’t you understand? If you were called in as his replacement, then you surely know why.”
It took a healthy amount of control for Casmir to keep her voice even. She needed someone to blame, and at the moment anyone would do.
Pierce was gone, and he was never coming back. Maybe if she repeated that in her mind a thousand times she would be able to live with it, but she didn’t think so.
“You’re saying Pierce is dead? When?”
He looked completely surprised by what she was saying. “What do you mean, when? Weren’t you given the details?”
“I asked, when?”
“I don’t know exactly. I was on a yacht for three days.”
“I think I can clear this up,” Nicky suddenly interjected.
“Then clear it up!” Ash Kelly demanded.
