Page 28 of The Pakhan

I hadn’t paid any attention to the fact that they had already taken the other bags to the vehicle. This time, only one walked away, but I’d seen his face. He wasn’t happy at all.

Couldn’t say I blamed him.

After depositing the trash, placing the trays on top, I headed toward one of the lingerie stores flanking the food court. For a few seconds, the fantasy kicked back into my system, Vadim’s face looming in my mind.

Yes, he was one fine-looking man.

A few seconds later, I noticed a reflection. Was I seeing things or were there a couple of men dressed oddly for being in a mall standing on the other side of the food court? A cold shiver drifted through me. Very slowly, I turned around, trying to keep calm.

The two guys were still there, both dressed in black and appearing to be watching me intently.

Seconds later, Sofiya headed in my direction, not paying any attention until she saw my face.

“What’s wrong?”

I took a deep breath. “There are two guys over there. I think they’ve been following us.”

The one thing I knew about my best friend was that for all her silliness, inside was a woman trained to combat adversaries.

She’d told me that her father had insisted his daughters learn martial arts, have weapons training, and go through certain exercises in case they were being chased.

Her expression changed completely and she took a few seconds to nonchalantly scan the entire area. When she turned back toward me, she had a very plastic smile on her face. “There are four others in various areas. There is no doubt they’re after us. Now, Daddy trained my sister and me how to get away in this mall. But you need to act as if nothing is wrong.”

“What about the bodyguards?”

“I’m going to let them know via a text, but my guess is while six guys are inside the mall, another four are outside canvassing the perimeter. My father’s men are outnumbered.” She pulled out her phone, quickly texting something. To her credit she started jabbering, even laughing.

Meanwhile, I was transported into a vacuum, doing everything I could to remain calm.

“Come on,” she said. “We’re headed to a way out. Just breathe and remember to act like nothing is going on.”

That the woman had been able to tolerate this her entire life was a testament to her resolve and the fact she’d grown up immersed in danger and violence.

Not me.

My father was many things but to the best of my knowledge, he’d never been forced to kill anyone.

As we walked quickly down the crowded corridor, I was forced to remind myself that I’d had an opportunity to stay on the path of least resistance, but I’d chosen to walk straight into a world of danger.

I had a terrible feeling the consequences of my reckless decision could cost me more than a chance at a successful future.

There was a strong chance it could cost me my life.

CHAPTER 8

Two hours before

Vadim

Itsy-bitsy bikini.

Thinking about seeing Caroline in the little red one she’d borrowed from Sofiya continued to trouble me. Or maybe just arouse me. Whatever the case, I certainly didn’t have my mind on business at this point.

Nikolay had enlisted Sergei and Maxim to assist in handling the situation at hand. Maybe that was a damn good thing since my mind was obviously stuck in some gutter. With Francois and two other men on a shopping excursion, I felt as if the two women were adequately protected.

“Has there been anything else unusual with Tanner?” I asked as Sergei pulled onto the construction site. I had the man’s employment file in front of me. Tanner Banks had never to this day caused me any difficulties. That’s why he’d been promoted to construction supervisor in charge of every project. With his hands-on background, his father once in the construction business, it had seemed a perfect fit.

“Nothing that I could find but get this,” Nikolay said. “I also can’t see what he’s done with the damn money.”

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