Page 46 of Near Miss

“She’s called it an early night,” Stone said. “I’m afraid the bombing has rattled her.”

“Something like that would rattle anyone.”

“Not me,” Carly said.

“Carly, what did I tell you?” Stone said.

“Oh, right. Sorry.” She clamped a hand over her mouth.

“It didn’t scare you?” Dino asked her.

She glanced at Stone, then shook her head.

“You should probably not tell anyone that.”

“So I’ve been told.”

Chapter 26

Wait here,” Gregor Dryga, aka the Bean Counter, told his driver. “I won’t be long.”

He entered the building and went to the private elevator that serviced the penthouse. As usual, two men guarded the entrance.

“Is he in?” the Bean Counter asked.

“He is,” one of the men said, “but he left instructions not to be disturbed.”

The Bean Counter knew this meant his boss was not alone. “This is a priority one situation.”

With those magic words, the men stepped to the side, and the Bean Counter entered the elevator.

Alexei Gromyko—who, like his late brother, was also known as the Greek—pulled loose the towel that had been wrappedaround... Brenda? Brianna? He couldn’t remember her name, but it wasn’t important. After tonight, he would never see her again. At the moment, however, he was seeing everything, and it pleased him.

“That’s not fair,” she said. “You still have your towel on.”

“Then perhaps you can do something about it.”

She smiled and dropped to her knees. As she began pulling his towel away, someone knocked on the door to the master suite.

“Are we expecting company?” she asked.

“We are not.”

A second knock was followed by, “Sir?”

Gromyko grimaced and barked, “What?”

“Mr. Dryga is here. He says he needs to speak with you.”

The woman gave Gromyko an invigorating rub.

“I’m in the middle of something,” he called out.

“I’m sorry, but he said it was ‘priority one.’ ”

“Shit.” Gromyko took hold of the woman’s hands and lifted them away from his body.

She pouted.

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