Page 50 of The Payment

Levin squeezed her shoulder as she ended the call.They watched the floor numbers decrease with excruciating slowness.Eight...seven...six...

“If they’re waiting for us, please don’t be a hero, Lev.Just stay calm.”

“Fucking easier said than done,” he muttered as the elevator shuddered to a halt.

Tatiana’s heart stuttered as the doors slid open with a soft hiss to reveal the dimly lit tunnel.The air felt thick and oppressive.

“Did you honestly think Polov isn’t an expert on hidden escape routes, Princess?”The familiar voice sliced through her like a blade.“It was the first thing he looked for on the blueprints of this very fine establishment.”

“Skull,” she whispered miserably as the massive figure emerged from the shadows flanked by four of his men.His scarred face was twisted into a cruel smile.The man who had taught her to shoot and how to defend herself was now aiming a gun at her heart.Her stomach churned at the sight of him as memories of training sessions were at war with the present danger.

Levin moved, trying to shield her with his body.Rage and terror warred inside her.Rage at Gregor for sending this monster, and terror for Levin’s life.He had no idea what he had just stepped into.

“No, stay back,” she said urgently as her fingers dug into his arm, attempting to pull him back.

Skulls’ scorn echoed off the concrete walls.“I don’t have time to babysit this asshole.”The gunshot was deafening in the enclosed space.

“NO!”Tatiana’s scream tore from her throat as Levin crumpled to the floor.She caught him as he fell, frantically pressing her hands against the spreading crimson stain on his chest.“No, no, no...”His eyes, already glazing over, stared sightlessly past her.The warmth of his blood seeped through her fingers, but she couldn’t stop, nor could she accept the message those empty eyes sent.

Something snapped inside her.Years of training under this man, years of fear and submission to Gregor—they all crystallized into pure fury.She launched herself at Skull with one leg sweeping up in a vicious arc.The sharp edge of her heel connected with his jaw in a satisfying crack.

The giant barely stumbled but growled at the cut from the spike of her shoe.His eyes darkened with anger as he wiped the blood from his chin.

“You asked for this.Gregor’s princess or the fuck not, I’m not babying you.”

She never saw the punch coming.One moment, she was coiling for another attack; the next, darkness exploded behind her eyes.As consciousness slipped away, Jarek’s promise echoed in her mind.“If they take you, stay calm, Tatiana, and know this...I will find you.”

Her last thought was of Levin’s lifeless eyes and the prayer that Jarek would make them all pay for her best friend’s death...Gregor Polov most of all.

Chapter Nineteen

Jarek

Fifteen minutes later, the Callahan Tunnel, Boston...

“Talk to me, Declan.”

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