Blaire's World: Volume One

by Box Set

  “Is our delivery on its way to Mr. Decena?” I asked, interrupting the moment.

  “Sí, sí. I like the touch with the polla in the estúpido’s mouth. Nice work.”

  “That was Beauty. She does have a certain finesse.”

  Raul hid his surprise and turned to face Beauty with a cheeky wink. “I’m impressed.”

  Beauty’s gaze found mine, and she smiled. A real smile, and if I believed in God, I would have thought it heavenly divine in its perfection. She looked radiant.

  Then the world went to shit.

  14

  BEAUTY

  Walking into the kitchen and finding a strange man sitting there like he hadn’t a care in the world scared me beyond belief. My first thought was that Hart had betrayed me. He’d invited a man over and intended on sharing me, or maybe even giving me away. But a few words from Hart eased my initial need to reach for the closest sharp object and begin attacking. Raul was ridiculously good looking, classic dark features of the Spanish, beautiful brown, almond eyes, and olive skin. His dark hair with a chaotic curl looked like it hadn’t been brushed in days. Even though he was obviously easygoing in nature, I had a feeling he could be just as deadly as Hart. Even so, I found it easy to relax in his company and loved his thick, Spanish accent. It sounded familiar and oddly reassuring.

  Raul’s children were beautiful, all dark curls and big brown eyes. The pictures of them with Raul and his wife, Sylvie, were clearly filled with love. They made me . . . sad. Did Lucy have a family with brothers and sisters somewhere? Were they missing her? Did they look for her? Did someone love her enough to take pictures filled with laughter and love?

  Raul showed me a picture of him and his wife, boasting about her beauty and fertility, and his virility. Apparently, all he had to do was wink at her and she got pregnant. I couldn’t stop the smile that filled my cheeks. Raul’s easy nature was contagious, and when I looked towards Hart who leaned casually against the kitchen counter, that smile went deeper, my feelings for him beginning to sink precariously close to my dark heart.

  There was no warning, just a strange kind of serene moment in a home where serenity had never existed. Then chaos. It was if the world had exploded, glass shattered accompanied by a deafening roar. One minute I was standing, the next I found myself pressed on the polished floor, Raul’s weight on top of me. That weight sent me into a panic, my arms thrashing in an attempt to break free of his hold.

  “Be still, la bella,” he gruffly commanded, and the feel of his breath on my cheek further incited my frenzied state. Then, everything went quiet. The only sound was my own whimpers as I fought to be free.

  “Beauty,” Hart hissed, the commanding use of my name making me still. Glancing across the destroyed kitchen, I found him kneeling amongst the rubble, one gun in each hand. “When Raul lets you up, you must keep your head down and stay low. If you can’t do that, I’ll have him stay where he is, understood?” His voice was filled with a steely command, which rubbed me the wrong way, but to have Raul off me, I would have done near anything. I nodded frantically, and Raul immediately rolled away. Scrambling to my feet, I followed Hart’s order and stayed down low, moving until my back was pressed against the closest wall. Raul was on his haunches, a gun in his hand and a cold look of danger on his handsome face.

  “Madre puta pendejos,” he quietly spat out.

  Even though he was cursing, his voice and accent was comforting. It helped calm me like a smooth caress. Smoke hung in the air, not like fire, but something more tangy and sharp. Crunching of boots on broken glass caught my attention, and I found shadows moving through the early dawn light, outside the window frames. The rifles held to the strange men’s shoulders shocked me frozen. Gunfire. We’d been attacked by men with guns. A low whine slipped free from my lips. I needed a weapon. I was defenseless.

  Three shots broke the silence as Hart rose to his full height and started shooting at the men outside. Each one of them dropped to the ground with a heavy thud. He then rushed towards me, sliding one gun into the back of his cargos as he grabbed my elbow, hauling me from the room. I assumed Raul was somewhere close behind us, though, I couldn’t see or hear him. Hart directed us down the long hallway that passed Algis’ study, then into a sunroom that ran along the back of the home with more large windows spilling light into the house. Coming to a stop, something heavy and cool was shoved into my hand, and I glanced down to find Hart shoving one of his weapons at me.

  “Don’t shoot me or Raul, if you can manage it.”

  Before I had a chance to answer, movement to my right caught Hart’s attention and the sturdy grip around my elbow was suddenly gone. A scuffle broke out, and Hart was quick to spin and kick, executing some sort of impressive maneuver that landed a boot in his attacker’s chest, sending him backwards with a grunt. It was impressive, I’d never seen anything like it. The way he moved was fluid and flawless. Adrenaline filled my body and excitement brought a smile to my face. Regardless of the deadly situation, I had to admit watching Hart fight was thrilling. That thrill vanished when fingers slipped around my neck, hauling me in the opposite direction, away from Hart. My flip flops lost their grip, and I kicked them off as I struggled to free myself. Throwing my head back in my desperate panic, my skull connected with whomever was behind me, and they grunted in pain, their grip loosening enough for me to drop to my knees and break free. Turning, I looked up into surprised hazel eyes, watering with pain, blood gushing from a broken nose. Thought fled and my body reacted on pure instinct alone. Raising the gun Hart had put in my hand only seconds ago, I pulled the trigger, the bullet entering through the man’s lower stomach at close range. Blood sprayed my face, but I didn’t waver, keeping the gun aimed on the threat as he slumped to the ground. A firm hand landed under my elbow, hauling me unceremoniously to my feet. Swinging my arm around, I pointed the gun and fired. Hart ducked at the last second to avoid the bullet.

  “Oops,” I whispered.

  Hart rolled his eyes and hauled me along behind him, finding Raul standing at an open back door, peering carefully around the corner.

  “It’s clear,” he said as we approached, and Hart stepped cautiously out, keeping me close by his side.

  We ran down the length of the home, slowing at the corner of the property where Hart again warily checked to make sure it was safe to follow the house around the bend. Raul was close behind me, moving so quietly I only knew he was there because I checked. Hart came to an abrupt stop, and I ran into his back with an oomph. Two quick shots were fired, something fell with a thud, and we were moving again. Reaching the front of the property, we once more slowed. After checking the coast was clear, we ran alongside Matis’ parked SUV, keeping close the vehicle and staying low. From somewhere behind us, the tat-tat-tat of a rapid-fire weapon echoed in my ears. Raul cursed in Spanish and returned fire. Slipping around the front of the car, we ran, me being hurriedly dragged, into the sparse forest surrounding Algis’ property. I had no time to think of anything beyond survival, but the further away from the house we pulled, the more questions filled my mind. Who were these people? Were they here for me? Or Hart? He had promised me my life would be in danger, that people in this trafficking business were going to want me. Did they want me that bad that they were already trying to take me back? That thought was terrifying.

  I was panting heavily by the time we made it to the large brick fence that bordered the property. Both Hart and Raul seemed completely unaffected by the physical exertion, and I decided I was going to need to start exercising if I had half a hope of keeping up with them in the future. Hart found a rope hanging over the wall and scaled up so fast I barely had time to register the fact I was going to have to scale up there, too. Without warning, Raul wrapped his big hands around my waist and levered me up to Hart’s waiting hand, outstretched from the top of the wall. Reaching out, I grabbed it and was dragged to the top where I swung my bottom onto the ledge. Raul was already scrambling up the rope behind me as Hart dropped to the l
eafy ground and tucked his gun into the back of his pants, arms outstretched for me to jump. Without hesitation, I did. Landing with girly squeal in his arms.

  We jogged along the wall for what felt like miles before we reached a dirt road, coming to a stop right in front of a luxurious black SUV with dark-tinted windows. The front door sprung open, and a man sitting behind the steering wheel watched us as my feet came to an abrupt stop. Hart didn’t give me a chance to second guess anything, he threw me into the backseat, diving in behind me as Raul climbed into the front passenger seat.

  “Get us the fuck out of here, Henry.”

  The tires spun in the gravel, and then we were moving, the car speeding through the countryside and eventually finding asphalt. Open green paddocks followed by the contrast of thick trees flew by my window, and I was mesmerized by the sight. Algis normally drugged me if we left the property, so the countryside wasn’t something I got to see. I don’t know what I expected, but I was surprised by the normality of it. Farms, cottages, large sprawling homes, it was just so ordinary. While being held captive, my mind conjured thoughts of darkness, chilling forests, even murky, cold caves. Never once did I imagine that I was surrounded by normal people doing normal things. Did they have any idea of the atrocities that went on so close to their peaceful homes?

  “Beauty, this is Henry. Henry, this is Beauty.”

  Hart’s voice caught my attention, and I glanced toward the man driving the car. He gave a non-committal grunt, and Raul looked back over his shoulder and winked.

  “Henry is the muscle, belleza. You’ll have to excuse his lack of manners.”

  Henry reached across the center console and slapped Raul on the back of the head. Spanish cursing filled the vehicle, and a smile fought to find its way to my lips. It seemed so surreal that not twenty minutes ago we were in an actual gunfight, and we were now driving through the rural landscape like a group of friends on a weekend daytrip.

  “A little heads up next time, Henry,” Hart murmured.

  Henry’s dark, deep-set eyes peered at Hart from the rear-view mirror, and he grunted again.

  “I tried calling you.”

  “Just as bullets started flying,” Raul argued.

  Henry mumbled, and Raul continued to curse him out in Spanish.

  “What now?” I asked after a short silence.

  Hart looked up from the cell phone he was tapping away on and raised a brow. The SUV slowed and pulled off the road and onto a long driveway.

  “That,” Hart said, tilting his head in the direction of the wide-open field. A small plane sat beside a large shed, and my heart fluttered. I had never been on a plane before . . . well, not that I knew of. With Algis drugging me for trips, any plane I might have been on had gone by in a drugged haze. This time I’d be completely aware. My hands clapped with excitement, and the three men gave me odd looks.

  “We’re going on a plane?” I asked, my voice vibrating with delight.

  Hart nodded and smiled.

  “Not just a plane, but a jet, belleza,” Raul confirmed.

  “Holy moly,” I whispered as the car pulled to a stop beside the large shed.

  Another three men stood at the bottom of a stairwell that led into the jet. I was too excited to care if they were a threat or not and opened my door before the car even come to a complete stop. Jumping to the gravelly asphalt, I jogged to the stairs, ignoring the puzzled looks from the men standing at its bottom. Climbing to the top, I slowed as I stepped through the doorway.

  It was beautiful. Elegant even. Thick cream carpet cushioned my feet. A long, caramel suede sofa took up one side of the plane, and two comfy looking, dark chocolate leather chair recliners sat on either side of a small mahogany desk across from the sofa. Further down the plane’s cabin appeared to be a doorway to a bedroom. All shiny pristine fittings and classy furnishings. Collapsing back onto the sofa, I giggled.

  “Does that mean it’s to your liking?” Hart asked from the doorway.

  Sighing, I rolled to my side and drew my legs up to my chest. “It will do.”

  15

  HART

  The low hum of the jet was comforting. I loved flying and the moments between jobs where I could sit back and sip on a glass of scotch and just relax. Outside of my home in Mexico was about the only place I truly felt like I could switch off and just exist. Beauty had fallen asleep before the plane had even left the ground, she was curled up on the sofa with a warm blanket over her tiny frame. Her youthful excitement over the prospect of flying had been refreshing. She’d likely be pissed when she woke and realized she missed the entire ordeal. Raul was using the bedroom to make a call to Sylvie so Henry and I didn’t have to listen to their incessant dirty talk. Henry sat across from me, the cockney bastard brooding with the best of them. He’d dropped the ball and missed the infiltration on Algimas’ property, and Henry didn’t drop the ball, ever. His attempted warning came too late, and it was sheer luck that the fuckers who shot up Algimas’ kitchen couldn’t shoot worth a damn. I’d already had a quiet word with him, but there’d be no punishment. Even though mistakes in our line of work meant life or death, a mistake was still a mistake. There was no more loyal a man than Henry, and he’d beat himself up over his fuck-up enough for all of us.

  “The package arrived intact?” Henry finally asked, breaking the silence.

  Nodding, I smiled. Charlie had sent me to retrieve Algimas and the order was to return him breathing. He was breathing, albeit with difficulty.

  “And this doll we are following?”

  “Her name is Ruby, last known location was a holding room in Vilnius, but Raul had a contact that has checked the location and found it empty. The Albanians are involved in the sale, and it looks like they have her bunkered down somewhere in St. Petersburg.”

  “Viktor?”

  “Will meet us there.”

  Henry grunted. “What happens with this one?” He nodded toward Beauty, and my gaze was drawn to her sleeping form. She looked so young and innocent as she lay there. Definitely not the knife wielding, gun toting femme fatale she had proven she could be.

  “She’s invested in finding this child.”

  I hadn’t had a chance to inform my team of Beauty’s addition, and Henry’s raised brow told me he was curious, but understanding the chain of command meant he wouldn’t actually voice his questions.

  “She dissected Algimas like she’d been born with a knife in her hand. She watched me fillet Matis and smiled the entire time. She also killed a man as we were leaving the property. She’s . . . different.”

  Henry nodded, but I could still see the doubt in his dark eyes.

  “Madness should stick with madness, don’t you think?”

  “You think I’m mad?”

  Beauty’s softly asked question came from the sofa. She was awake and peering out the window, a pout on her lips, her brow creased, a look that told me she was unhappy with the clouds that blocked her view.

  “Of course,” I replied, and she cast me a sardonic look that made me chuckle. Directly across from me, Henry had slipped in his earbuds and was doing his best to ignore us. Standing, I moved across the small space that separated Beauty and me and sat down beside her. Our thighs were touching, the heat from her body reaching out to mine, and it made me happy that she didn’t attempt to move away. That was the thing about Beauty. Even if she was uncomfortable, she wouldn’t cower or show that discomfort, she’d battle through it. At this moment, though, her body language suggested she was completely relaxed with my nearness, no battle in sight.

  “It takes something special to be able to kill a man and not suffer any lingering effects.”

  “They raped and abused me for three years. I think I’m entitled to a little payback.”

  Her voice was tempered with anger. Lifting my hands in surrender, I agreed. “But there are many women who have been in your predicament and were unable to do what you did.”

  “So, what? I’m crazy and a killer. You going to lock me
away now?”

  Panic flared in her eyes and her back stiffened as she readied herself to fight. Reaching out, I gently held her chin between my thumb and finger.

  “Not a chance, Beauty. We are partners, remember? We are the same side of the same mad coin, you and I. We are different, up here.” I tapped the side of my head. “It doesn’t make us wrong, nor does it make us right, it just makes us us.”

  Her body lost some of its tension. “Will your boss try and take me away.”

  “Never.”

  Seemingly satisfied with my answer, her attention returned to the windows.

  “You’re not a captive here, Beauty. We are equals, and anything you want to do, I’ll make it happen.”

  Surprise etched into her features, her reflection in the window staring intently at me. Resting my chin on her shoulder, I stared right back.

  “I’d really like to kill Algis.”

  Grinning, I poked her gently in the ribs and was stunned silent by the contagious laughter that spilled from her lips. It was a sound I would do anything to hear over and over. Apparently, my Beauty was ticklish.

  “Within reason,” I murmured.

  Her smile dropped, and she sighed loudly, her chin settling into her hand as her gaze left mine to find the clouds.

  “The men who infiltrated Algimas’ property were American.”

  Beauty glanced back over her shoulder.

  “Is that unusual?”

  “Not entirely unusual, most definitely unexpected. It makes me curious as to who or what they were there for.”

  “You think they were there for me?”

  The thought occurred to Raul, Henry, and myself, but until we knew more we wouldn’t speculate.

  “What’s the first thing you’d like to do when we get to St. Petersburg?” I asked her, changing the subject.

  A curious expression morphed into a dreamy smile.

  “Go shopping.”