Page 42 of Bound by Blood

Jin giggled and slapped her mom’s hand. “Mama, nanny says we shouldn’t swear!”

Laney settled Jin back into the bed and smoothed the covers up to her small chin. “She’s probably right, my darling. I’m just rusty at the mom thing.”

“You’ll get better,” Jin whispered closing her eyes.

Laney smiled and pressed her lips against Jin’s forehead. “Yes, I will. I’m never leaving you again, baby girl.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

When Laney woke the next morning, Jin was gone. She blinked and sat up, expecting to see the little girl playing on the floor or something, but there was no trace of her and the pink backpack was gone. Laney leaped from the bed and ran from the room, her heart pounding in panic. She nearly ran into a man standing just on the other side of her door.

He looked down at her as she halted in front of him. “Master wants to see you.”

“Where’s Jin?” she demanded instantly.

He shrugged. “With the nanny. Saw her leave. Now get dressed, Master wants to see you right away.”

Laney nodded and retreated back into her room, taking deep breaths to calm herself. She had no reason to disbelieve him about Jin. She just wished she had woken up when her daughter had left. She had laid awake late into the night plotting their escape for the next evening. She must have been tired enough to sleep through the nanny’s removal of her daughter. Damn it!

She showered quickly and pulled on a pair of olive coloured cargo pants and a white T-shirt. Exiting the building, she swiftly made her way toward the great hall. The faster she got this meeting over with, the quicker she got back to Jin and her escape plan. Rain splattered against her once more as she treaded across the stone paths separating the buildings.

“Laney!”

She halted upon hearing her name shouted by a man’s voice. She turned in confusion when she saw the Master standing in the courtyard next to the Eastern wall with several of his people. Changing directions, she walked quickly toward him. As she approached, she saw two fellow assassins and several Yakuza enforcers that she had trained with before. She nodded at them, but they did not nod back. She wasn’t entirely surprised. There had been plenty of resentment each time she kicked a man’s ass or outshot one of them. Sensitive little bunnies.

She glared at one guy she particularly hated. He was twenty-three, the same as her, and had grown with her in the compound. There the similarities ended. He was a ruthless piece of work with a side helping of slimy. He would sell out his own grandmother if he had one. The smirk stretching his thin lips gave her no comfort.

Why wasn’t this meeting with the Master private? Something was definitely wrong here.

She stopped in front of her father and raised her eyes to meet his. She could read nothing in their cold depths. As always, his gaze gave none of his thoughts away. They studied each other in silence as the moment grew increasingly tense. The rain was light but began to fall faster, soaking into her clothing.

Other than her intense blue eyes and slightly paler skin, Laney didn’t look like her mother. She wondered if it bothered her father or if he was pleased she took after him. Though he treated her badly, constantly locking her up and controlling her every movement, he had loved Dana. She had been soft and kind and beautiful. He had wiped all of these things out of his only child’s life.

“You failed,” he announced to her, loud enough that everyone in the courtyard could hear.

Ah. So, he knew. Laney dropped her eyes from him and stared at the uneven paving stones and the grass that was poking up between them.

“For seven months, you were ordered to watch Boris Grekov with the single goal of disposing of him when ordered, correct?” he demanded.

“Yes, Master,” she answered swiftly keeping her head bowed. Her heart pounded painfully in her chest. She was familiar with this routine. She had seen the results of failure. Death. Was that to be her fate too? Would he stand by and watch his own daughter killed?

She fought back tears, hoping she could be brave if that was his intention. At least she had been able to see Jin one last time. To touch her skin, talk to her, hug her and kiss her.

“I had an expert on Russian mafia look at those photos. He discovered immediately that you killed the wrong brother. The tattoos aren’t right.”

Damn it. She’d tried to get as few tattoos as possible in the pictures, knowing they could be a giveaway if the right people examined them. Apparently, she’d been right. She should have tried to leave the compound with Jin the night before, but she knew the Master would have her watched closely her first night back.

“Youknew, didn’t you daughter, that you had the wrong brother? You knew that you were betraying us?” he demanded in a voice that came as close to emotion as she had heard in years. Not since the night he discovered his virgin assassin was no longer a virgin and cut off the head of her lover.

She raised her eyes to meet his and nodded. Of course she’d known. How could she not know which brother was which? She’d spent nearly a week in the arms of one of them, touching him, tasting him, learning him.

She knew the blow was coming and did not try to duck it. She felt her lip split against her tooth and her head swing around. Unable to keep her footing, she stumbled and fell to the uneven cobbles, catching herself on spread fingers.

He bent next to her form and spoke for her ears alone. “Blood has always been my weakness. As it is yours. You could have disappeared, but blood is what brought you back to your death.”

She spat blood onto the stones and turned her face to glare at him. His head was only a few inches from hers. “No,” she whispered. “Blood did not bring me back, love did.”

He nodded briefly. “I will care for my granddaughter.”

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