Page 135 of Fire and Ice

"I'm not sure. Viktor hasn't exactly been forthcoming with information," Derek admitted. "I expect him to brief me in the upcoming meeting. Maia did tell me a little about her mission before she left."

"I think she confided in you more than she ever did me," Jack said bitterly.

"Don't pull that pathetic shit on me, Jack," Derek said tersely. "Are you really ready to hear about how a sniper nearly took her out in the last mission?"

"What?" Jack whispered in horror.

"You cannot handle thenot knowingand you broke up with her. Can you blame her for keeping things from you? Now that you know what shit storms she goes through, can you honestly say you'll be there for her, be her anchor through all this craziness? Can you handle that, Jack? That at any time, a sniper could take her out? Because that's herreality," Derek finished off almost in a shout.

"Damn you, Derek!" Jack snapped.

"Do you still want her back? To be with her? Because there's no guarantee that if she gets out of this alive, it's not going to happen again."

"I want her back. But things are going to change. I'm managing her and making sure she doesn't get into shit like this again," Jack stated resolutely.

"You're managing her," Derek let the words roll on his tongue as if Jack had lost his mind.

"I fucking am. Viktor cannot keep her safe so I'm taking over. She doesn't like it? Tough. I'm through letting her have her own way. I'm reining her in whether she likes it or not," Jack growled.

"This I've got to see," Derek muttered to no one in particular.

"So what's the plan on getting her back?"

"Jack, you're not going. One of us needs to run the company," Derek said. "This is a high-risk mission. Gavlik has an army guarding that compound where he's holding Maia and the other Guardians."

"You stay."

"The hell I will. You have too much at stake here, you are too close to Maia to think rationally!" Derek argued angrily.

"I bet you Viktor is going," Jack stated grimly. "The stakes are high, Derek. If I lose Maia, I lose everything. There will be no company. There is no going on without her. Do you understand that?"

"Man, since when have you become so maudlin?" Derek muttered in resignation.

"Since I fell in love with her."

CHAPTER TWENTY

The room didn't look all that bad. There was a bed with clean sheets, a side table with a plastic pitcher of water, and a plastic tumbler. A sheepskin rug was on the tiled floor, a minimalist bathroom off to one side of the bed. No not bad at all, except for the fact that one of her ankles was in a shackle.

Maia looked at the bed apprehensively and saw more shacklesattached to the headboard and the foot of the bed. This was a kink room.

They had been ambushed on their way to the Volynksy stronghold of Samara. They had no idea how Gavlik's men knew they were coming. Fortunately, none of the Guardians were killed. Manning had been injured, but she was assured that he was receiving medical treatment. Maia called a ceasefire when she realized they were outnumbered and that it would be suicide to fight back. Better to live to fight another day.

The door opened and Mikhail Gavlik walked in. He had silver hair and was a couple of inches taller than Maia. He was in his mid-fifties and had a slight paunch in his stomach. He was dressed casually in corduroy and a wool jacket, but Maia caught a glimpse of a sidearm.

"Ah, my lovely houseguest. I trust your accommodations are to your liking?" he said in a slightly-accented, cultured voice. His dark eyes coldly appraised Maia's body which lent credence to the rumors that she had heard that he was gay. There was no lust in those obsidian eyes, just a calculating malevolence.

"I've seen better," Maia replied sweetly.

"You can learn to curb your insolence," Gavlik warned scathingly. "You have a beautiful face, it would be a shame to ruin it. Now, I have been told that the DEA has something that is mine. I believe your dear friend can procure it for me."

"In exchange for our release?"

"Just your three friends. I think I'd like to keep you to trade for something else," Gavlik replied, again appraising her body.

"For what?" Maia's eyes turned wary.

"The timing of your arrival is impeccable. You just solved a pressing dilemma. I have a sheik who loves redheads, and you have the most amazing skin." Gavlik lightly caressed her face as she tried hard not to flinch.

---