Page 64 of Twisted Fate

Once they’re down the stairs and out of sight, I wriggle from beneath Luca’s dead weight and crawl to the edge of the closest staircase, my heart pounding so hard I feel sick. Lying flat, I peer over the edge.

Below me on the swim deck, the blond holds Sabina off to one side, his gun still at her temple. Damian and Leo stand on the far side of the platform, backs to the ocean, the other gunmen aiming their weapons at them. A large motor boat floats off to one side. I hear the waves lapping at the sides.

“What did you do to my men?” Leo asks.

“They’re fine,” a woman’s voice says. “Fast asleep. It was easy enough to distract the chef this morning and put something into their breakfast. After all, everyone trusts Leo Russo’s assistant, don’t they?”

For a second, I don’t know who’s speaking, and then I do.

Nicole moves to stand in front of Leo. Her hair is scraped back in its tight bun, her body covered by a horrifically ugly, oversized sac of a greenish brown dress. But something about her is different. Her posture? The tilt of her head? The timber of her voice?

I remember that both Luca and the guy who wanted to intervene in the fight between Damian and Leo seemed woozy, dizzy. They must have been drugged.

“Guess you found your spy, Leo,” Damian says, sounding bored.

“What the actual fuck…” Leo’s attention is fixed on Nicole. “How long have you been working for the Ivanovs, Nicole?”

“I don’t work for them. This isn’t about your war with the Ivanovs,” she says.

“You betrayed my father,” Leo says, his voice low, even. “You worked at his side for almost two years. You celebrated holidays with my family. You were invited to my cousin’s baby’s christening. And all along you were a spy for the enemy. You repaid my father by collaborating in his murder.”

Nicole’s chin kicks up a notch. “Sorry to disappoint, but I knew nothing about the hit on him until I heard about it with everyone else after he was dead. Saw it on the news. Too bad, really. It would have been an eye for an eye.”

Leo stares at her for a long moment. I would expect his expression to be one of anger, hate. But he looks at her with a calculating gleam, as if he’s sizing her up. “What the fuck are you talking about, an eye for an eye?”

“This is all because of what you did to my father. Killing yours would have been sweet justice. Instead, it seems I’ll have to settle for killing you.”

“I’ve killed a lot of people,” Leo says, sounding bored. “You’ll have to remind me who your father was.”

She jerks as if he slapped her. Then she glances around the swim deck before turning to the blond gunman. “Where’s the other woman?”

“What other woman?” he asks.

I shrink back, holding my breath.

Nicole looks at Damian. “Where’s Alina?”

“She got up early this morning and grabbed some breakfast,” Damian says. “Then she fell asleep again. Out cold in our stateroom. She must have eaten whatever you used to drug the guards.”

There are men holding guns on him, on his brother, his sister, and he’s lying to keep me safe. He’s a good liar. His gaze doesn’t so much as flicker.

Nicole nods. “It’s unfortunate that she’ll wake up to this mess, but I think she’s a tough one. She’ll survive.”

She’s not wrong. I am a tough one and survival is my specialty.

I crawl silently back to Luca’s side. I noticed that neither Leo nor Damian carry a gun while they’re on the boat, but the guards do, so maybe…

I exhale in a rush. There it is. Luca’s Glock, tucked nice and comfy at the base of his spine. I pull it free and do a quick press check to confirm there’s a round in the chamber. Then I wriggle back to my vantage point, calculating odds and angles.

There are six gunmen. One has his weapon on Sabina. Five have their weapons on Damian and Leo. As far as I can tell, Nicole is unarmed.

I swallow, adrenaline pounding through me. I have years of experience at the gun range, aiming at paper targets. But I’ve never shot a person. I don’t know if I can. And which person am I supposed to shoot? How many can I take down before they shoot me?

The blond presses his fingers to his ear. He turns to Nicole. “Our lookout says that Russo’s men have been alerted. Some sort of silent alarm. They are on their way. We need to go.”

“Nicole—” Leo says.

“Shut up!” She whirls on him. “This is your fucking fault. Own it. You’re responsible for the bomb that set all of this into motion.”

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