by Vi Carter
The cold air presses against my naked flesh as the dress falls to the floor.
Lucca steps away from me before reaching back in and picking me up. My arms instantly wrap around his neck as he carries me to the bed and places me in the center. Everything he is doing is gentle, and as I lay down, each kiss he presses to my flesh gets absorbed like light to the darkness inside me. I want to ask him what he’s doing as he picks up my hand, raising my arm slightly in the air. He leaves a trail of kisses up my arm that causes all the hairs to rise. He stops at my neck and leans over me.
His silver gaze roams my face. My breaths are harsh as my heart pounds rapidly. Each touch, each kiss, feels like an apology. Lucca moves down the bed until he’s in between my legs. His fingers run along the inside of my thighs, and he parts my legs.
I’m staring at him, waiting for him to remove his clothes, but he doesn’t. His head dips, and I gasp as he presses a kiss against my entrance. Each kiss has me falling away from the pain and closer to the pleasure as he runs his tongue along my clit before entering me. My hands leave the quilt and sink into his thick black hair.
He presses his tongue deeper inside me, forcing my back to arch as my body sings with the pleasure that’s pumping through me. The ache that was constantly between my legs fades the more he licks and sucks me. My mind jumps to why the ache is there, and I freeze for a moment. One of his hands reaches up and touches my stomach gently, and it quietens the anger in me, and I refocus on the pleasure I’m feeling.
Lucca’s tongue does all the work inside me as his fingers work on my clit. A groan slips from my lips, and I glance down. Seeing Lucca in between my legs has my orgasm coming quickly. I cum hard and fast and cry out as I sink my fingers deeper into his hair. My body jerks and spasms as I release myself onto Lucca’s tongue. Once my body stops jerking, Lucca licks a few more times before coming up.
His chin and lips are coated with my juices, and he grins at me. I’m still struggling to breathe as he wipes his face with the edge of his shirt.
I lie back and close my eyes as my body slowly returns to some semblance of itself.
“I meant it, Evie. I can take care of you.”
This time when I look at Lucca, his gaze carries a vulnerability like he was the one lying on the bed naked, with his legs sprawled. I sit up, pulling my legs closer to my body.
“I know.” My answer doesn’t seem to satisfy him, and he moves back to the edge of the bed and sits down.
I hold still and don’t drag my legs closer to me like I want to.
His gaze bores into mine. “What is it that you want?”
I want to go home.
I don’t answer him because my tongue feels too heavy in my mouth right now.
“Anything you want, I can get it for you.”
“Like what?” My voice cracks, and I clear my throat. I hate how much emotion is in my voice, but Lucca seems happy with me speaking.
“Anything. Clothes, a car…”
“A car? Where would I go?”
“We could go anywhere you want.” He smiles at me.
We? Meaning I couldn’t go by myself.
The door to the bedroom opens a fraction; it’s not enough to see us but enough to let Nicolai speak.
“Lucca, a moment.”
Lucca gets off the bed. “Have a think about it.” He tells me before leaning in and placing a kiss on my knee. I don’t look away as he leaves the room, and when the door closes, I let my chin rest on my knee as I try to picture a life here with Lucca. With the Lucca who just touched me like I was precious. For that reason, staying with Lucca didn’t seem so scary.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
LUCCA
“Igor is out of the office.”
I close the door gently behind me as I step out into the hall—Nicolai’s gaze darts to the door before they return to me.
“You know this how?” I cross my arms.
“I have eyes and ears everywhere.” Nicolai steps away, and I take one final glance at the door and follow him.
“He should be busy for an hour. So it’s a quick in and out.” Nicolai glances at me over his shoulder and grins. “I’ll come with you.”
That part I’m not sure about. I stop Nicolai once we are downstairs. “You don’t have to.” Breaking into Igor’s office would be a death sentence if we got caught.
I couldn’t put that kind of threat around Nicolai’s neck.
“I am going with you. Who will keep the security busy?”
“I haven’t thought that far,” I admit.
Nicolai opens a door and removes two black rucksacks, one he fires at me, and I catch it.
“I’ll distract them while you go in and get what you need.”
I open the bag. It’s a standard go bag that most of us keep in our homes. I strip off my shirt and pull on the black jumper. The dark gloves I push into the back pocket of my suit trousers. I don’t remove the money but take out the gun, knife, and earpiece that will allow Nicolai and me to communicate. He’s getting ready also, as I hide the gun and knife on my body.
“How will you distract them?” These men were trained to kill.
“Don’t worry about that. All you need to worry about is getting in and out.” Nicolai picks the bags up off the ground and pushes them back into the storage space.
Before we leave, Nicolai grabs a bottle of vodka and takes several deep drinks.
“A bit of Dutch courage?” I ask.
“Like I ever needed courage.” He grins as we leave the house.
***
Fifteen minutes later, I’m outside the building as I pull on the dark jacket. Nicolai stays in the car. When I walk through the same double doors I did only days before, it feels like a lifetime ago.
The lobby is quiet as I make my way to the elevator. There is no security on the lobby floor; they don’t need it. I take the elevator up to the top floor.
“How are you doing?” Nicolai’s voice booms in my ear and I adjust the device in my ear, so he isn’t as loud.
The ding of the doors has my answer dying on my lips, and I step out into Igor’s lobby. His security moves towards me. I don’t stop walking.
“I have a meeting with Igor.”
One of them blocks my path. “Igor isn’t here.”
“He’s en route to Sheriff’s for a suit fitting.” Nicolai’s words echo in my ear.
“I know he isn’t. He’s at Sheriff’s for a suit fitting and told me to meet him here.”
The security man eyes me for a second before moving aside. I take a seat across from his door, and the two men return to the station at the elevator door.
I want to check my watch to see how much time has passed. Nicolai had said we had an hour. It took fifteen minutes to get here, and five must have passed. If I was to search his office, I needed to move soon. I could just kill both men.
“I’m on my way, don’t do anything stupid.” Nicolai’s voice has me fighting a grin. He knows me too well.
Fifteen seconds later, the ding of the elevator doors has the security shifting.
A tall man stumbles out; a cap dragged down over his eyes as he continues to stumble into the security.
“I need to take a piss. Where’s the bathroom?” Nicolai’s voice is slurred, and both security men reach for him. He’s struggling against them, and I meet his gaze for a second before I get up and enter Igor’s office. His drinking the vodka makes sense now, and he’s close enough to the security for them to smell the alcohol on his breath.
I had less time now. Nicolai couldn’t wrestle them for long, and when they turned and saw my chair empty, they would know that I didn’t leave, that I was in one of the rooms on this floor.
The minute I step into the office, I make a beeline for a chair that I pick up and push under the door handle. Once it’s secured, I walk back to Igor’s desk and sit down. Papers of contracts sit on his desk in a neat pile to my left. I scan them. They are jobs, but not the one I was doing or anything that was relevant.
Turning on the computer is unfruitful as the moment it powers up, it requests a password. I could try to guess, but I didn't think that would be a wise way to spend my small amount of time, so I abandon it and pull at the top drawer. It’s filled with stationery, cigars, and a cell phone.
I take out the cell phone and turn it on. I leave it sitting on the table to power up as I search the next two drawers.
A bang on the door has me grinding my teeth.
“Can’t you hold them off longer?” I press my finger to my ear as I try to speak to Nicolai.
No answer, but no one bangs on the door again. Getting out of the chair, I try to pull open the filing cabinet, but it’s locked. Removing the knife from my pocket, I wriggle it around in the lock. Using the palm of my hand, I slam it into the handle of the knife; the lock gives way. They aren’t built very strong.
I pull open the top drawer and search the B’s. I’m looking for The Brigadier, which I knew won’t really be filed, but time is tight, so I start with the obvious. It’s two drawers down that I find a file on me and open it.
Another loud bang on the door has me stuffing it into the band of my trousers. Closing the door of the filing cabinet, I return to the desk where I left the phone. It’s looking for a fingerprint. I power it off and put it back in the drawer.
“Can I come out?” I ask Nicolai.
No answer. I remove the chair carefully from under the door handle. And listen. But there is no noise.
“Yes, come out and tell everyone what you are.” Nicolai’s voice is still slurred in my ear.
I open the door to an empty hall. I don’t stall but get into the elevator and take it all the way down to the ground floor.
The moment I step out, the noise of Nicolai has attracted every member of staff as he fights with Igor’s security. I’m surprised they haven’t taken him out back and beaten him.
Nicolai spots me, and his voice grows louder. The lobby is large enough that I go unnoticed out the front door.
Getting into the car, I take out the file and start to read it. I’m expecting to find a list of jobs about me, but that’s not what I’m reading. It’s about my childhood. All about my father being incarcerated and how I went to Camp Cempt.
I’m flipping to the next page that lists all my training. How the fuck did he get this information on me? The door opens, and I look up as Nicolai gets in. He starts the car, takes a glance at the papers. “Did you get what you needed?” He asks as he pulls away.
“I’m not sure.” I return to the pages and continue to read my fucking life.
“He was investigating me,” I say as I turn to the next page.
“Why?” Nicolai asks, running his hand through his hair. Red marks on his neck make me pause.
“It got rough?”
“Nothing I couldn’t handle. Was it worth it?” Again his gaze darts to the file.
“General Obshcheye’s pet.” I nearly fucking laugh at that. The General didn’t have pets. I was his favorite, but that didn’t mean anything if I fucked up.
It’s just pages and pages about me. Flipping to the next page, I find a report. “I might have something,” I say to Nicolai, who keeps looking at me. It’s a report about the job.
All seven bodies were found burned at number forty-two, Court Town, Industrial Estate. “It’s a report,” I say to Nicolai as I read on. “It’s a report by me closing the case on Evie and the girls.”
Nicolai frowns at me as he slows down outside his home.
I glance down at my signature at the end of the report. “It says I found seven bodies at the warehouse where the girls are being kept.”
“So he takes you off the case saying he found them but files a report saying you found them dead?”
“Why me? Why did he pick me for the job? Why investigate me?” Frustration claws at me. I should have taken the phone with me. We would have been picked up on video footage along with the security saying I had been there, but stealing the phone would have been wise.
I turn the page, and it’s the final one. It’s a request to retrieve the girls and bring them back safely. It’s a request to Igor. Initials that I can’t make out are scribbled on the bottom.
“Igor was requested to get the girls.”
“That just confirms what we already know. That he’s a soldier, the request must have been from The Brigadier. I rip the piece of paper out of the file and hold it up to the window to see if I can make out the initials.
“OB is the initials,” I say as Nicolai parks the car and turns it off.
I drop the page. “We need to get to the warehouse, get the girls, and burn it.” I tighten my grip on the file. “We need to do what the report says before he does it.”
“What if he knew you would break-in? What if this is a setup?”
“This is a setup.” I hold up the letter again. “He picked me for a reason. He signed the report with my name for a reason.”
My past intrigued him.
“General Obshcheye,” I say as it all clicks into place.
“You said the initials were OB.”
“Obshcheye Baluev. That’s the General’s name.” I exhale as I place the file on my knee and grin at Nicolai. “He picked me because the General is the Brigadier, and I’ve always been in his favor.” I laugh now as I think of how clever Igor was. “He picked me to the do the job because the General wouldn’t question a report by me. He trained me. Igor found a way to steal millions from the Brigadier.”
Bastard set me up.
“You’re in the favor of a Brigadier.” Nicolai sounds in awe. I don’t blame him, but knowing who it is, is dangerous, and if the General ever found out we knew, I know he wouldn’t hesitate to drag a knife across my throat.
“We need to burn the warehouse and get the girls.”
Nicolai restarts the car without question. I glance up at the window, hoping to see Evie, but no one is there.
“She’s safe.” Nicolai confuses my look.
“I know.” She was safe in Nicolai’s house. It was a fortress.
“He’ll know soon that I broke in.”
“We should have the girls by then and be on our way back.”
“We need a van to transport them.”
I glance at Nicolai. He’s picking up his cell phone. “I’ll arrange it now.”
I place all the information back into the file and roll it up before stuffing it inside my jacket. It was something that I would have to burn. No one could ever get their hands on this information. Not about me, but most importantly about the General. That wasn’t knowledge that should ever be shared.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
LUCCA
The factory is blazing in the distance. The silence in the van is loud. I adjust the rear-view mirror to make sure I did, in fact, place all six women in the back.
They are there—all silent.
Fear is etched into their downcast faces. Igor’s number flashes up on the screen of my ringing phone as I fetch it from my pocket. Any other time I would answer it straight away, but not right now.
He continues to ring. I keep stealing glances at the women in the back just to make sure they are actually there. I had expected them to put up a fight, but they just obeyed what Nicolai and I told them. We led them to the van, and they filed in. My gut tightens. Their obedience made me wonder what they had suffered.
I drive back to Nicolai’s and pull around the back. The women starts to shift, and I meet a pair of doe eyes in the mirror. The moment it happens, the woman looks away. She looks broken.
“Which one of you is Leah?” I ask. All heads snapped up in unison at my question.
I see how they move their legs towards the woman with the doe eyes. It’s like they can’t help but be drawn to her.
“Me.” It’s a squeak.
Evie is right. She is fragile. More so than the rest.
Nicolai’s car pulls up behind the van, and he jumps out, approaching my rolled-down window. From here, I had no id
ea what I was doing.
“The guest house out back is empty. I’ll have food and clothes brought out there if you want to get the girls settled.”
Nicolai is ready to walk away. “He keeps ringing.” I don’t say Igor as twelve pairs of ears are no doubt glued to our conversation.
“It couldn’t be the building. It’s too soon. So he figured out you broke into his office.”
I nod. My thoughts exactly. “I’ll ring him back soon.”
“What are you going to bargain with?” Nicolai asks as I push the door open and climb out.
“Nothing.”
I’m ready to open the back door when Nicolai grips my arm, stopping me. “He won’t stop coming for you. You know that.”
“I know.” We stare at each other for a few seconds, and the moment Nicolai releases me, I open the double doors of the van.
“Everybody out.” There is no panic or hesitation. The women climb out and huddle together as they look around.
“This way.” They follow me to the guest house. I keep waiting for one of them to break formation and take off in a sprint, but they follow me. I think now of my Evie. She wouldn’t have followed so easily. I didn’t think so anyway.
The guest house is nearly as large as Nicolai’s home. Nothing was spared with the décor.
I leave the front door open, and two women arrive shortly after us, bringing clothing and blankets.
They smile at the terrified women. “Fresh clothes.” One of them holds up piles of clothing. Four security men enter the house, and the women who were still tense, freeze.
“You can all go outside,” I say.
None of them move.
I’m ready to repeat myself when Nicolai comes in and clicks his fingers. “Outside.” They file out, and the women stare at Nicolai.
“No one is going to hurt you. You are all safe here.” He’s smiling like the man you might bring home to your mother. “You have my word.”
I’d fucking laugh at him; only I was glad he was trying to make them relax.
