Page 57 of Saint

“They don’t want me,” Nik said.

“I certainly don’t blame them. No, I meant Mia.”

And there it was—the final betrayal that lit her soul with rancor.

“You’d hand your only daughter over to the Russian mafia?” Nik’s nostrils flared. “So they could sell her to traffickers?”

The absolute rage and disbelief in Nik’s voice sent a chill through Mia.Her protector.Always looking out for her. “Nik,” she whispered, looking up at him. “He isn’t my real father. My mother had an affair right before they got married. He admitted it before he brought me to you.”

What looked like a combination of surprise and relief flooded his dark eyes.

“Returning Zaitsev to The Agency is my number one priority,” Chadwick stated coldly. “Mia is no longer my problem.”

She turned her undivided attention to the monster and sent him her most frigid look. “Eat a bag of dicks, Chadwick.”

???

Despite seeing the hurt in her pretty blue eyes moments earlier, Mia’s unlady-like retort made Saint snort out a laugh. God, she was fucking marvelous. Maybe he was rubbing off on her. Or, maybe his kitten had just come into her own. Either way, he was so damn proud of her and it was a goddamn relief to find out Chadwick Carlisle’s blood didn’t run through her veins. Because he was claiming her for good and she would never be put in the terrible position of having to choose sides.

Grendel was reaching for the pliers when Carlisle raised a hand. “Wait. If you want to make this beast break, that isn’t the way.”

The way he said the words, so self-assured, had Saint’s heartbeat picking up. If The Agency had intel about his past, if they had any idea how he’d react in an enclosed space, he was in big fucking trouble.

Or, if they dared to lay one finger on Mia, he’d go berserk.

Mia sent a panicked look his way, probably blaming herself for pushing the other man too far. But it didn’t matter what she’d said. These men had every intention of breaking him. Mia had nothing to do with it. She was merely a means to an end, collateral damage.

The Agency wanted to destroy Ex Nihilo. They weren’t going to let anyone stop them.

Carlisle pointed to something on the other side of the room, but Saint couldn’t really tell what was over there. The corner was dark and his damn vision was still blurry from all the shocks. The moment Mia gasped, he knew he wasn’t going to like whatever it was.

“Help me drag it over here,” Carlisle ordered Grendel and Salinger. The three men worked together to move a heavy, wooden box. They dropped it in front of Saint with an ominous thunk.

Fuck me.He’d rather deal with getting his junk electrocuted than be put in that coffin. The idea of being trapped in there sent his pulse racing, his hands sweating and a palpable terror skittering down his spine.

“Please, don’t,” Mia begged, but they ignored her.

“Money can get you anything you want,” Carlisle stated with a smirk, “including intel on a Russian orphan turned Bratva turned Vory turned FSS turned assassin. Of all the things we could do to you,Nikolai, I find it rather interesting that putting you in this box would be the worst.”

A tremor tore through Saint’s body as Grendel ripped the patches off his chest.Keep it together,he ordered himself.For Mia’s sake.Goddammit, he didn’t want her to see him break. For that to be her last memory of him.

“Are you going to scream once I shut the lid?” Carlisle taunted, pulling a gun from inside his jacket. “How about after we nail it shut and leave you to die a slow death? Desperate, trapped and alone…”

Nik didn’t give a shit about the gun aimed at him. The moment Grendel removed the manacles, he was going to grab Carlisle and smash him against that fucking wooden box until it broke apart. And, if he got shot in the process, he didn’t give a shit. Anything was better than being sealed in that godforsaken coffin.

Carlisle must’ve guessed his intentions, though, because right before the cuffs came off, he grabbed Mia and shoved theend of the gun against her temple. “Get in the box. Or I will blow her head off.”

Mia’s eyes squeezed shut, tears leaking from beneath her lids, and Saint knew he was momentarily out of options. He had no doubts Carlisle would do it.

Doing his best to keep his shit together, Saint’s arms dropped after Grendel unlocked the cuffs. Slowly, he approached the wooden box. His team was on their way to Russia, but what if they didn’t have their current location? They’d had the previous location because Salinger and Carlisle had been messaging. And now, they weren’t texting.

Fuck. C’mon, guys.He needed his team now more than ever before, but he had no fucking idea what was going to happen.

He glared at the coffin. If he could zone out and shut down his mind from what was happening, maybe he would be okay. The good news was Mia would never fall into Petrov’s greasy hands because he was dead. The bad news was once Carlisle found that out, he’d have no reason to keep Mia alive. There’d be no trade happening and she’d be worthless to him. Just a loose end to be eliminated.

At the edge of the open coffin, Saint hesitated. He looked up, meeting Mia’s distressed expression, and communicated to her with what he hoped was a confident look that everything would be alright.

“You’re okay,kotyonok,” he murmured, taking a moment to memorize her. Soft blonde locks framed her distraught face and those bright blue eyes shone with tears, but he would always remember when they’d been filled with ecstasy.

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