Page 38 of Den of Thieves

“Come on ladies, if anything, you’ll look so hot when we return, you’ll be the envy of all your friends.” AK jumped in.

Excited murmuring filled the kitchen. Karina quirked a brow but said nothing once she saw the excited smiles on everyone’s faces.

“Why didn’t you mention their husbands?” she asked later while they were going over their shopping list.

“Most of them hate their husbands or at the very least see sex as a chore they must endure once or twice a month. I meant it when I said you were special, Tinkerbell.”

Karina bit her lip and closed her notebook. If her housemates stopped trying to kill her with smoke inhalation every four hours, she’d feel a bit more sympathy for the women. “Come on. The sooner we leave, the sooner we return.”

The pair grabbed their purses and headed downstairs.

The other women stood in front of the door to the garage like they were guarding sentry. Aksana ran a hand down her face at their dramatics.

“We wanna go!” Yaya cried.

“No, you will all be a distraction.”

“Please, I have the cabin fever!” Ivanka pleaded while Hana and Mariana nodded eagerly.

“Me too!” Milah said, piping up from behind them. She was the shortest out of the bunch but just as helpless in Karina’s eyes.

“It’s barely been a week,” Karina deadpanned.

She understood how they felt, but she was not budging on this. She needed a freaking break from these prima donnas. And to somehow get her hands on a toaster because one of them tried to cook ham in theirs.

Aksana crossed her arms, not falling for their big eyes and pushed out lips. “Who here knows how to drive?”

Their hands dropped, and they scooted to the side of the door.

Karina fixed them all with a withering glare as she yanked open the garage door. “No cooking. I mean it. And don’t answer the door for anyone.”

“They’re not five, Tinkerbell.” AK laughed.

“Twenty house fires AK! Twenty!” Karina yelled, hopping into the Beast. The blacked-out Mercedes G63 AMG G-Wagon was bulletproof and armored. The tank on wheels was the only vehicle Karina and Aksana were allowed to travel in while they were away from Moscow.

“Hmm, good point.” Aksana turned around. “Don’t do anything stupid. If we’re not back by nightfall, bolt the gates.”

“Okay, I think we can make the trip in three hours, tops.” Karina nodded at the clock. Aksana revved the engine and started down the long driveway to the front gate.

“Yeah, if I speed the entire time. I thought you needed a break from the girls.”

“I’m terrified there’s not going to be a compound to come back to.” She shivered.

“They’re not that bad.”

“Yesterday, Yaya put a plastic bowl on the stove and turned on the burner.” Karina reminded her.

“Okay, that was not her brightest moment. I’m surprised she knew how to turn it on at all.” Aksana laughed.

“It’s not funny. I’m going to need another therapist after this ordeal,” she said, rubbing her forehead.

“Volodya said two weeks to a month, maximum. It could be worse.”

“Could it?”

“Yes, he could have sent us to the mountains without running water.”

“Has he done that before?” Karina gasped.

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