Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 52062 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 260(@200wpm)___ 208(@250wpm)___ 174(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52062 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 260(@200wpm)___ 208(@250wpm)___ 174(@300wpm)
Another shot.
My body moves before my mind catches up, and I pivot toward the sound. I should run the other way. I should run back inside, find security or call 911. I should do anything except what I'm doing, which is creeping forward, my heels silent on the damp ground.
There's a dumpster halfway down the alley, and I press myself against it, peering around its edge.
Three men.
Another on his knees in front of them. A foot away from him in the ground is a gun.
The kneeling man is pleading in a language I don't understand, his words tumbling out rapid-fire and desperate. He's wearing an expensive suit, but it’s crumpled and disheveled.
One of the men is pointing a gun at him.
But it’s not just any man.
It’s the sexy stranger I was just speaking to inside the gallery. The one with the champagne and the dangerous smile and the joke about being in the mafia.
The one I’d just fantasized about getting under.
Is this what the phone call was about?
He says something in what sounds like Russian, his voice cold and final, and nothing like what I’d heard inside.
And then he pulls the trigger.
"No," I breathe, so quiet it's barely a sound. "No, no, no."
The kneeling man crumples, his body hitting the ground with a soft thump.
I can't breathe. I can't move. I can't do anything except stare at the body and the blood spreading onto the cobblestones beneath it.
The stranger turns.
And looks directly at me.
For a heartbeat, we just stare at each other. His face is expressionless, but something flickers in those cold eyes. Probably the same thing that flickers in the eyes of a lion right before he rips you apart.
Then his gaze drops slowly down the length of my body. Even from this distance, I feel it like a physical touch, and some animal part of my brain understands exactly what that look means.
I’m the prey.
Goosebumps tear along my skin.
Run, Holly.
I kick off my ridiculous heels and bolt.
Behind me, heavy footsteps pound against stone. I don't look back. I just run, my breath coming in short, sharp gasps that cloud in the frozen air.
The alley opens onto a street I don't recognize. Left or right? I choose left because it's downhill and I can run faster. The soft rain makes everything slippery and treacherous. But I can’t slow down because I can hear them getting closer.
A car turns onto the street ahead, and like all my prayers are answered, I realize it is a taxi, its light on. I wave my arms frantically, nearly sobbing with relief when it slows. I yank open the door and throw myself inside before the driver can protest.
"Drive.” The word comes out as a shriek.
"Lady, I…"
"Now. Please, please, just drive."
“Where to?”
“Vine Street…please hurry.”
Maybe it's the terror in my voice, or maybe he sees the men rounding the corner behind us, but he hits the gas. The taxi fishtails slightly on the wet road, then finds traction and speeds forward.
I twist in my seat, looking back through the rear window. The three men have stopped in the middle of the street, watching us go. One of them is already lifting a phone to his ear.
But it's the one in the center who holds my gaze. The shooter. The stranger. Even at this distance, our gazes meet.
And I can see the small, cold smile curving his mouth.
2
NIKOLAI
I watch the taillights disappear into the light drizzle, two red dots fading into the darkness of downtown Seattle.
Well, that was unfortunate.
I remove a handkerchief from my jacket and wipe the blood from my hands with methodical precision. The metallic smell doesn't bother me. The fact that Holly just witnessed this doesn’t bother me. Nothing much does. I don’t rattle easily, because men who do don't survive in my world. They make mistakes that get them killed.
I'm known for my calmness. And it’s this unshakeable control that has made me an integral part of The Six. A union of six powerful crime families that control every coast and major city of the United States. Four men and two women who wield so much power and money it can bend the fate of the world with just one phone call.
"Boss?" Alexei, my driver and bodyguard, shifts beside me, waiting for orders.
I take my time folding the handkerchief, tucking it back into my pocket. A witness is a complication, but complications can be handled. They always can. And I certainly won’t mind handling Holly.
Her face flashes through my mind. Those big eyes wide with fear. The soft gasp from her plush lips.
I wonder what she'll look like when I find her. Because I will find her. And I will deal with her.
The thought sends a surge of heat through me, and I adjust my stance slightly, not surprised by my body's reaction when I think about her. By the way my mind keeps returning to the way she crushed her teeth into her luscious lip when we were talking, and the wave of lust it sent straight to my cock when she did.