Page 18 of Lethal Alliance

“Ifyou deliver that project you keep promising me, andifyou actually help open that vault, then maybe we’ll talk. But until and unless both of those things happen, you’re nothing more to me than the scum you’ve always been. The scum I’m going to make you be again, now that we have these two.” Vilnus’s eyes narrow unpleasantly as he nods at Masha and me. “You’re going to be using your knife on these two. I’ve missed watching you cut into little girls, Alexei. Remember how much fun that used to be? You might have been reluctant at first, but you got the hang of it eventually, boy, didn’t you? And it looks like you couldn’t wait to begin on this one, no?”

He eyes the cut on my face with an almost envious expression. It makes me sick.

“Oh, well. That cut on her face should make the right impression when we give Roman a call. The sooner he launches whatever attack he’s planning, the better.” He smiles coldly at Alexei. “Don’t tell me we’re not ready for war, Petrovsky. I have plans you can’t begin to imagine, with people powerful enough to bring Borovsky to his knees before you can say open fucking sesame.” He stands up and comes around the desk until he’s standing directly in front of me. He pulls Masha’s hand out of mine and thrusts her to Alexei, who holds her small body against his legs and puts a hand over her mouth when she tries to protest. I nod at her, trying to convey reassurance. She stands still in Alexei’s grasp, her wide, terrified eyes on me.

Vilnussmells of sweat and cigarettes.I have to force myself not to recoil. One large hand reaches out and grabs my breast, squeezing it hard enough to make me cry out.

“And when I’m done with thatmudakBorovsky,” Vilnus says in a low, insidious voice, “I’ll make him watch while I fuck your sister in front of him. I’ve waited a long time to feel Darya Petrovsky’s tight little pussy around my cock.” Vilnus moves behind me, his hand still brutally clamped on my breast. Masha cries out and tries to run to me, but Alexei restrains her with one hand, his face entirely still.

“Then,” Vilnus goes on, his hot breath foul on my ear, “after I’ve fucked little Darya bloody, I’ll make Roman Borovsky watch while I fuck his daughter.”

Why is he calling Roman by a different name? Who is Borovsky?

And what does he mean by Roman’s daughter?

He releases me abruptly, pushing me with so much force that I fall straight into Alexei’s body. It’s like falling against a wall. Alexei doesn’t move. In fact, he’s watched the entire exchange with a face as still as a marble statue.

Vilnus glares at Alexei as he lights another cigarette. “Since you took it upon yourself to act without my orders, you’ve earned yourself babysitting duty.”

He waits, as if he’s expecting Alexei to argue, then, when the other man stays silent, his fat lips spread in a sneering smile. “Wise choice, Petrovsky. And it’s not all punishment. You can still play with that knife you like so much. Just make sure to keep your games to parts of her body that are hidden—and make sure I get to watch.”

Alexei grips my arm hard enough to make me wince. “What about the little one?” His voice is sickeningly eager, as if he can’t wait to sink his knife into Masha.

It’s a game,I remind myself.It’s pretend.

Vilnus’s mouth twists contemptuously. “You’re a sick fuck, Petrovsky, you know that? But no. You know the rules. Nobody touches my daughters except me.”

Hisdaughters?

But I don’t have any time to absorb what that might mean, because Alexei’s knife tip is pressing into my side.

“Move.” His lips touch my ear as he speaks, and he smells sharp and dangerous, like the cold edge of a winter night. I don’t know whether to recoil or press myself against him for safety.

Instead his knife presses me toward the door, and I walk ahead of him, through the long marble corridors, then down a long set of stairs that lead to a series of underground tunnels.

I gulp the still air, trying not to let terror overwhelm me. Masha clings to me like I’m an anchor in a storm.

Finally Alexei opens a door and pushes Masha and me inside. We sprawl on the stone floor, hard enough to hurt.

The door slams closed behind us, and Masha and I are alone.

6

ROMAN

“Our men boarded theGuapaand searched it from bow to stern.” Bryce delivers his report evenly and without losing eye contact.

Which takes no small amount of balls, given my barely restrained fury.

“Ofelia and Masha aren’t aboard,” he goes on. “There’s no evidence they ever were. The Orlovs were smart. They knew we’d focus on theGuapa, and they got it into international waters fast and kept cruising at top speed. Between dodging the Spanish coast guard and flouting a dozen international maritime laws, we’ve wasted over twenty-four hours chasing a false lead.”

I grip the edge of the long oval dinner table, staring blindly out the penthouse window at the distant sea. It was only recently that I had Darya bent over this table, naked and moaning beneath my hands, while the children slept peacefully on the floor below.

Now two of my three children have been taken, and Darya is gone.

It feels like an age has passed between those days and this one.

“Was Alexei Petrovsky aboard?”

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