by Leah Wilde
“You’re thinking of the ocean, you idiot,” Chase teased his fellow knucklehead.
“Alright, knuckleheads, radio silence unless it’s important. If there’s a chance they might see us, there’s also a chance they might be able to listen in on this frequency,” I told them.
My nerves were beginning to knot up in my stomach as our target grew closer and closer to us. It wasn’t because I was worried about Ivan or Dimitri, or even the job we were doing for the mayor. I was worried about Julia. I was worried for her safety.
My veins ran icy cold as I realized I was going into the very situation I had hoped to avoid with her. It was Lisa all over again. I could see the scene with Lisa playing over and over in my head. I couldn’t let the same thing happen to Julia, but I was sure we were too late. There was little opportunity to avoid it at this point.
“What’s going on, Gage? What are you thinking about?” Ricky’s concerned voice came over the line, snapping me back to the water with the yacht getting ever closer to us as we approached it. I could feel the mounting tension among my men. It was an eager kind of tension as they readied themselves to pounce.
“Alright, guys,” I said, deciding to address the operation ahead of us. “In just a few moments, we’re going to be diving into the water to swim the rest of the way to Ivan’s yacht. I want to thank you all for coming out here with me to hopefully finish this rivalry for good. We have a mission ahead of us. I’ve given you all the names of the men we’re supposed to capture for the FBI to pick up on the boat later.”
I took a deep breath and sighed. I was as ready as I was ever going to be to do this, but I wasn’t ready at all. I was just tired of this shit. I was ready to get back on top and simply maintain our position.
“This is going to be another gunfight, guys. Understand that there is a chance we won’t all make it back. Let me thank you now for your commitment to the MC. Everyone here tonight has already proven themselves to me by showing up and showing that you’re ready to go through with something like this,” I continued.
“You suck at motivational speeches,” Ricky joked over the line. “Guys, let’s go kick this Russian’s ass!”
Everyone cheered over the line, and I heard the splashing sounds of my men diving into the water to swim out the rest of the way to the yacht. I was the last one in. I had my doubts about our mission. I had my doubts about how trustworthy the mayor was, but I felt like I owed it to Julia to do whatever I could to try to save her. I’d fucked up in the past, and this was my last opportunity to get it right. If I couldn’t set the record straight by taking out Ivan, then at least I wouldn’t have to wake up in the morning to face another day of failure.
“What time is it?” Ricky asked as we got closer to the boat.
“I don’t know. Probably about three or four in the morning,” I told him. “Why?”
“There are people moving around on the boat,” he said.
“That’s probably just security,” I told him. “Chances are Ivan and his higher ups are asleep at this hour, resting up for tomorrow’s big deal.”
“Or your buddy, the mayor, gave us up,” Jorell reminded me.
“I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt.” I looked at the people walking around on board. There were only a few of them. It wasn’t enough to be more than just security. We were going to be fine.
“If you say so.”
The line went silent again.
“Everybody look for a way up. If you find one, let the rest of us know,” I ordered the team as we reached the boat.
We quickly found ways up onto the deck.
“What now, fearless leader?” Ricky whispered.
“Now, we start shooting,” I said, pulling off my night vision goggles and approaching one of the guards from behind. I put the barrel of my handgun right against the back of his head and pulled the trigger. The shot rang out in the darkness as he crumbled at my feet.
“Jesus Christ,” Chase exclaimed. “Next time, silencers.”
I laughed. “You know, guys, in the old days, we would be in the process of fucking over the mayor and FBI right now.” The first shot felt so good I started musing.
“What do you mean, Gage?” Ricky asked cautiously.
In our all-black suits, we were able to hide in the shadows all over the boat, which was good. I ducked down as one of the dead guy’s comrades came around the corner to check on his friend with the new hole in his head. I heard men talking in Russian as they came out to see what the commotion was.
“I mean, if this mission had occurred just a few years ago, we’d be shooting everyone instead of leaving a few alive to make someone else’s job easier. Then, we’d take all the drugs and all the weapons with us,” I explained.
“Sounds like you’re finally coming to your senses,” Jorell said, chuckling.
“I didn’t say I wanted to do it that way, just that I remember a time when it was that way,” I argued.
“Fair point, but still.”
Several men stood on the deck with guns ready. They couldn’t see us in the dark. They looked around, dumbfounded, unable to find who had shot their comrade.
“I don’t see any of the guys we’re looking for,” I told the guys over the line.
“Maybe they aren’t here,” Ricky said.
“No, they’re here,” Jorell said. “A deal like this wouldn’t go down without leadership.”
“You’re right,” I agreed. “They’re probably inside. They probably just sent security out to try to stop us.”
“What’s the plan, boss?” Juarez asked.
“We take out security first. Then we wait and see who else shows up to the party. Keep your eyes out for the four most wanted and for Julia. We need to keep them alive,” I answered.
“It feels like the list just keeps getting longer. Why don’t we just grab the girl and go? Let’s leave them all alive,” Jorell protested.
“No, sir. One’s already dead. Leaving him as the lone casualty would be just as bad as leaving no one.” I couldn’t shake the urge, though, to just run out and start shooting everyone. If it had been up to me, Ivan and Dimitri wouldn’t get off the hook so easily with just a little jail time. I would have put bullets in every head until I reached them.
I gritted my teeth against my desire to give up on the plan and screw over the mayor. I wanted to show him we weren’t afraid. We could have been bigger than the mayor if we wanted to be, and if we went along with his plan, we would be one day. Or, we could do it the way we used to do it. We could take the power ourselves.
I closed my eyes and breathed. I saw myself walking straight into the yacht, down the steps to where Ivan and Dimitri sat with the other two guys we needed to keep alive. I saw the shocked look on their faces as I pulled out my gun and my knife, shooting one in the face and stabbing another in the gut until everyone died where they sat.
It certainly would have been beautiful, but it would have created a lot more struggle for us on the back end of all of this. Instead, I decided we needed to go along with the plan. We needed to secure the guys the FBI wanted. We needed to clear the other guys out. And we needed to take Julia with us when we left.
“Are we ready?” I asked everyone.
“Ready,” I heard each of them say in turn. It filled me with pride to know that these men were following me into battle against Ivan. Even if they disagreed with me, they were going to trust me enough to walk in behind me and put their lives on the line.
“What’s the plan again?” Juarez asked.
“Take out security. Look for the four we need to leave. Wound them so they aren’t likely to try to escape, but let’s leave them alive for the Feds. Got it?” I snapped.
“Got it. Let’s do this.” Juarez was ready. With him and Chase at my back, I knew we were going to be successful. My grip on my handgun tightened. I could hear the assault rifles my guys had as they got ready to strike.
“On my word,” I told them.
Time seemed
to slow down. Ivan’s guards moved in slow motion, spreading out to secure the perimeter of the yacht in the dark. I didn’t see the night vision goggles on any of them.
Then, the lights came on, eliminating any shadows on deck. The water lit up a few yards out from the boat. Everything was suddenly visible, and that included us, all ten of us, crouched down with our guns, waiting for the opportunity to strike.
“Fuck.”
Chapter 31
Julia
Dimitri came back in, saving me from my wandering thoughts. Unfortunately, it meant having to deal with him again.
“What time is it?” I asked him, curious enough to finally say something about it.
“It’s about four in the morning,” he said. “It’s still dark out. That’s all I really know. I haven’t checked the time. Time changes when you spend as much time locked away in a cell as I did, don’t you think?”
I smirked. “I think it does,” I agreed. “It doesn’t feel like it’s that early. It doesn’t feel like anything really,” I added, realizing for the first time that my internal clock was on its own time. It wasn’t trying to calibrate with clocks, just with its own natural rhythm and timing. Also, I started wondering how long I’d been on the boat, and if Dimitri ever slept. Surely sleep changed with this sort of detachment as well.
Dimitri pulled out the knife he’d taken from me back at HQ and ran it down my neck. I closed my eyes and swallowed hard.
“I can’t wait to stick you,” he said in my ear in a strained whisper. I could hear the almost sexual desire in his voice
“Then don’t wait,” I told him. “Do it. Kill me, Dimitri. Kill me and enjoy it.” I knew I was playing with fire by calling his bluff, but I was also pretty confident he wasn’t going to do anything. It seemed like he was just teasing himself with me at this point.
I opened my eyes and looked down at his crotch for confirmation. The obvious lump in his jeans was just as nightmarishly massive as the rest of him. I hoped he didn’t plan on doing anything with what he was packing other than jerking it in his hand. If he wanted to kill me, all he had to do was stab me with that massive piece of manhood a couple of times. It was truly terrifying to imagine what it must have looked like out in the open.
None the less, I continued taunting him. “Cut me, Dimitri. Draw out my blood. You bled at Gage’s hand. Let me bleed at yours. I owe you that much.”
His hands grew shaky as his desire grew.
“You want to see it, don’t you? You want to see my blood.” I was disturbed by how much pleasure I was getting out of talking shit to him. Gage was definitely going to have his hands full with me when all of this was over.
“Shut up,” he growled, regaining his composure and pushing the blade of the knife against me. “I don’t need your permission to do anything. I’ll cut you if I want to.”
“Then do it, or are you scared?” I challenged him.
“I’m not scared. No one scares Dimitri.”
“Somebody does.” I laughed. “So, did Ivan tell you not to touch me? Is that why you can’t do it?”
“I can do it.” He grabbed the back of my neck and leaned back into my ear. “I can do whatever I want to you.”
A shiver of revulsion ran through my body.
“Does that make you wet?” he asked. He ran the knife down my arm to where my forearm and wrist were tied to the chair. “I could cut you free so you could help me out of these jeans,” he threatened.
I decided it was best to stop encouraging him. Gage had been right, and I should have listened, and I would have to be satisfied to leave it at that. Now was not the time to provoke this man who was already on edge. But if I had just touched him, he would have exploded.
“I can’t wait until this is over,” he continued. “I’m going to have so much fun with you. You’re going to be my little prize once we are successful in murdering your boyfriend.”
“You’re really making me uncomfortable,” I finally told him, though I knew it wouldn’t do any good. I just couldn’t take listening to this kind of talk from him any longer. He could threaten me with his knife all day and I wouldn’t feel as threatened as I did when he started acting like he wanted to sexually assault me.
“Good,” he groaned with delight in my ear. “I can’t wait to have the opportunity to make you enjoy what I have in store for you, Dr. Danvers. You’ll forget all about Gage Noll.”
There was nothing desirable about Dimitri. He was freakishly massive and tall. He looked like he had climbed out of Lord of the Rings to serve Ivan. I was not turned on by him at all. In fact, I was as turned off by him as I could imagine being. Listening to the sexual desire that dripped from his voice was enough to make me not want sex ever again.
“Just stop, please,” I said flatly. “You’re beginning to bore me.”
“Oh, you won’t be bored,” he promised. “I’m pretty confident you haven’t been with that many men, and I’m sure you and Gage haven’t had enough time for him to explore you the way he should.” His knife traveled up the inside of my thigh, along my jeans.
I closed my eyes and tried to block him out. I knew he wasn’t going to do anything because he would have already done it. If he had been able to, he would have already raped and killed me. I didn’t know how much longer I had to sit and endure this, but all I had to do was listen to him until Gage and the Kings of Hell arrived.
“I’m going to appreciate all of you,” he continued. “Your whole body is going to be mine to enjoy.”
I took a deep breath, steadying my nerves against his voice.
“Do that again,” Dimitri whispered in my ear.
I couldn’t explain why I did it, but I did. I took another slow, deep breath. I listened to him shudder next to me, and all I could think was that he’d just lost himself in his jeans.
Just then, I heard what sounded like a gunshot, but it was just one.
Dimitri’s breath caught in his throat and he stood straight up, hitting his head on the low ceiling of the room.
“What was that?” I asked him.
“Be quiet,” he ordered me, cocking his head and listening.
It was quiet outside, but we could hear voices and footsteps as more men ran outside. I barely dared to breathe, and Dimitri held a finger up to remind me to keep quiet. We sat and listened, but we didn’t hear anything other than the occasional footfall of security moving around outside.
“Something’s not right,” Dimitri said, mostly to himself it seemed.
“What is it?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” he answered absently, still trying to hear whatever was going on up on deck.
Then, more shots rang out. Many more shots rang out. We heard shouting and people running around above us. A frantic knock came at the door.
“They’re here,” the guy told Dimitri in Russian.
“No shit, really? Come on, help me out in here.” He grabbed the young man by the back of his button-down military shirt and pulled him in. He looked like a soldier in the army, and I started to realize just how bad things had gotten since the collapse of the Soviet Union—yes, I was always doing research, so if anything relevant happened at any time, I was going to plug it into my understanding of Russia.
“What do you want me to do?” the soldier asked.
“Help me get her outside. I want her to see what happens to the men attacking us when we fight back. I want her to watch her boyfriend die, and I hope she gets caught in the crossfire in the meantime. That would just be a bonus.”
Both men grabbed my chair and started dragging me outside and upstairs. I heard and felt the wood creak, threatening to finally give, but it held as they took me through the door and up the stairs.
The gunfire grew louder and louder until it surrounded us. I couldn’t believe it. He really was putting me outside in the middle of the fight, where I was sure to get hit by a stray bullet at some point.
“What are you doing?” I asked Dimitri. “Why are you taking me outside?�
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“I want you to have a front row seat for all of the exciting action,” he answered. “Plus, I want your boyfriend to see you and get distracted. You’re going to watch him die, Dr. Danvers, and for that, I’m truly not sorry. You’ve both earned the misery that’s coming to you.”
I wasn’t prepared for the shift from his sexually charged threats to his usual stony voice letting me know in no uncertain terms exactly how he expected things to go down. That shift in his demeanor meant shit was really going down. He wasn’t just having fun with me anymore, and it was all too real all of a sudden.
“Look, it doesn’t have to go down like this,” I protested.
