Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 91266 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91266 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
The same woman sleeping in the bed not ten feet away? He narrowed his eyes. “Who’s she to you?”
Dmitri sighed. “Her family and I have a complicated history. It would serve my purposes to have possession of the woman.”
The pieces clicked into place with a snap that had Jude feeling like a fool. On its own, the Romanovs had more enemies than the beach outside this house had grains of sand. Add in the connection to the Sheridans…
Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
He should have goddamn well known it by her fucking name. “Sloan’s an O’Malley.”
“You didn’t know?” The Russian laughed softly. “So you aren’t perfect. I had started to wonder if the rumors could possibly be true.”
He would have figured it out. It was just shitty that it was right in front of his face and he’d been more concerned with getting between her thighs than with using his goddamn brain. “Killing her will only ensure her family burns yours to the ground.”
“They can try.” Dmitri continued, his tone downright imperial. “However, it’s a moot point. I have no intention of harming the girl.”
Jude didn’t believe that for a single second. There were so many ways to break a person, many of them possible without ever laying a finger on the victim. Jude eyed the open windows again. This house wasn’t fortified in the least. He could take it by himself, but he couldn’t defend it by himself. Three or more men, and he might lose.
Dmitri wasn’t fool enough to send fewer than three men.
He stalked into the kitchen and reached over the top of the upper cabinets to where he’d stashed a .45 behind a dusty pot with some sort of seaside flower arrangement in it. “I’m disinclined to give her up.”
He’d told her this wasn’t forever, but he would have to be without a soul to hand her over to Romanov. Especially when it was clear she’d fought so hard to get out of Boston and leave that life behind.
You didn’t run far or fast enough, sunshine.
Dmitri snorted. “You and the waif? Forgive me if I find that incredibly amusing.”
“Forgive me if I tell you to fuck right off.”
All amusement disappeared from the Russian’s voice. “Play with the girl for now. I don’t care. But I will require her at some point, and I’ll pay any price to ensure it happens. The amount is of no consequence.”
No, it wouldn’t be. The Romanovs were richer than God.
“I’ll think about it.”
“You won’t. You’ve already made up your mind.” Dmitri laughed again. “Like I said, Jude MacNamara. I don’t need her quite yet. And many things can change in the course of a few short weeks. Enjoy her—for now.”
Jude readjusted his grip on the gun, not liking where his head was at. He knew better than to borrow trouble when the end was in sight. He pictured the light dying in Sloan’s eyes when she realized he’d betrayed her. He couldn’t do it. He might be more monster than man, but he couldn’t hurt her like that. “As delightful as this conversation has been, I’m hanging up.”
“I have a business proposition for you.”
Now we get down to it. Threatening Sloan was just foreplay to get a read on me. He leaned against the wall. “I’m listening.”
“We seem to find ourselves with a common purpose.”
“How do you figure?”
Dmitri tsked. “You’re smarter than that, so do us both the favor of ceasing with this act. You want Colm Sheridan in the ground. That happens to align with my endgame, and I’m willing to pay handsomely to see it done.”
The plot thickens…“I’ll consider it.”
“You’re playing coy. I’ll see half of your going rate deposited into your account, with the remaining half provided once you’ve eliminated our mutual acquaintance.” He ended the call, leaving Jude fighting to keep his curses internal.
Jude considered his options. He might have conflicting feelings about removing Callista and Sorcha, but he had no qualms about killing the Sheridan patriarch. If anyone of that family was guilty, it was the man who pulled the trigger all those years ago. He’d been fully intending to do the job for free—for his mother—but if he could get something else for it in the process, he’d be a fool to say no. In addition to that, if Romanov didn’t already know where they were—and that was doubtful—he would soon. He might have given a slight reprieve for his own purposes as long as Jude fell in line, but if he disagreed, Romanov would come eventually.
And he would come in force.
Jude set his phone gently on the kitchen counter. What the fuck was he supposed to do? Whisk Sloan away and spend the rest of his life protecting her? It wouldn’t work. There were too many men out there like Jude, men who had no qualms about taking offered money and tracking their target to the ends of the earth.