Page 76 of Kings of Violence

The guard looks at me. “Better thanyougetting it.” He reaches out for my laptop, and I can already see all the progressdisappearing and having to start from scratch. Without thinking, I throw myself at him to keep the transfer going.

I really hope that the seven-minute estimate is exactly seven minutes. Or less! Less would be nice.

I crash into him, but of course the impact shakes me more than it does him. He gets his thick arms around my torso and pulls me closer.

“Bad idea, little girl,” he says with a disgusting grin. “The boss is gonna love a girl like?—”

“Let her go,” Yuri interrupts, his voice dark and dangerous. I glance at him and inhale sharply when I see the gun aimed at us.

The guy tightens his hold on me. “You want to risk shooting her?” he asks. “Or destroying this data you’re so keen to steal?”

“There is no risk of shooting her,” Yuri says. His icy glare terrifies me. “You will let her go.”

“Yeah? Or what?” the guy taunts. “Because from where I’m standing?—”

A shot rings out.

The hands around me loosen, and something warm and wet drips onto my head.

Warm, wet, and with a familiar smell that permeates my senses even before I can identify what it is. I jerk free from the man’s grasp, turning slightly.

The man drops to the floor.

Nikolai is standing in the doorway, gun out.

“You could’ve shot me!” I fight not to shout as he keeps the gun trained on the guy who’d been holding me, who’d been threatening to hand me over to yet another man to use me.

Yuri closes the distance between us and pulls me against him, hugging me tight. “Sierra,” he says, and I can hear the waver in his voice.

It’s enough to pull my attention away from Nikolai, and I look up at Yuri, baffled. I pat his back awkwardly, unsure of what to say or do. I look helplessly over at Nikolai, and his expression is just as bewildered.

Nikolai recovers first, though, even as Yuri holds me tight. “The data?” he prompts. “We need to get out of here.”

Yuri kisses the top of my head before slowly, reluctantly, releasing me. “Check the laptop,” he says, pointing. Then he glares at Nikolai. “What took you so long?”

“Dodged into an occupied office,” Nikolai says, grimacing. “Had to deal with that before I could keep going.” He looks at the computer. “Two minutes.” He crosses over to me, and he pulls me into his arms. “Are you all right, zaya?”

“Shaken up.” I grimace. “Need a shower.” I don’t want to think about what’s in my hair. “But it’s fine.”

Nikolai leans in, kissing me fiercely, and I’m surprised into kissing him back. “We will protect you,” he promises.

From everyone but the three of them, at least.

A drop of blood slides down my forehead.

Yuri steps up to us and runs a gentle hand over my jaw, leaning down to kiss me just as Nikolai had. He doesn’t seem to care about the copper taste on my lips.

When he pulls away, there’s blood on his face, too.

The air feels strange now, and I try to find something to say.

In the end, I ask, “How did you know about Dave?”

Yuri blinks a few times, then points at the desk. There’s a dirty mug next to the monitor with the nameDaveemblazoned on it.

“Oh,” I say dumbly. “Yeah.” I look at the laptop, where the transfer has finished. “Guess there’s no need to try to hide my tracks, seeing as how we have a dead body here.” I sound a lot calmer than I feel, or maybe I’m just numb. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

SEVENTEEN

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