Page 47 of The Dancer and the Grumpy Billionaire

“I do not care,” Sasha booms, inconsolable. “This man goes nowhere –nowhere– until we get my daughter back safe. And then, his throat is slit and you throw him in the river.”

I open my mouth but Roman shakes his head vigorously, so I close it again.

“Will you pay the ransom?” Roman asks, trying to get his boss back on topic.

“Fuck no,” he answers. “I am a giant and he is a tiny bug I will smash. We will find the location and wipe them out.”

“Let me know what I can do from here,” Roman answers.

“Watch that fucker,” he says, then adds, “A fuckingboyfriend.”

Next, the line is dead.

I feel sick as I look at Vera and Roman. Vera sits back in her seat as Roman paces.

“I am not surprised,” Vera says.

“About?” I ask.

“He has a no-pay policy,” Roman explains. “He says the strongest currency is blood.”

“But he will go after her, right?” I ask, hearing the desperation in my own voice.

“He might,” Vera says. “Or he might hit one of Baranov’s assets, kill his men, kill his wife. He will send a message somehow.”

“What do you meanhe might?” I ask, my voice high-pitched and strained with panic. “She could be hurt. They could be…”

I shudder at the thought of what Gigi might be experiencing right now, at the hands of men who only want money and revenge.

“If it were my daughter,” Roman says quietly, “I would burn down the world to get her back. Sasha may, if other tactics do not work. But he will save face first. He will not show weakness and paying shows weakness.”

Vera sighs and tells Roman, in Russian, that he is sharing too much. He gives her a harsh look and she makes a noise of annoyance and wanders back toward her bedroom.

“It’s almost as if she forgets I speak Russian,” I say.

“She doesn’t,” Roman says. “She just wants to remind you sheisRussian. And you are not.”

“Mmmf,” I grumble, thinking. After a long moment, I say, “I have connections, too. And money. Maybe you could help me pinpoint her location. I can take it from there. Pay the ransom or…”

“Or what? Storm the location with your non-existent band of renegades?” he snorts.

“I work for a US Senator,” I say seriously. “I have connections.”

Something in my tone must convey a side Roman hasn’t yet seen from me, because he stares at me with a new look on his face. One of serious consideration.

“Sasha will most certainly kill me if he finds out I let you get involved.”

“And Gigi may die because he refuses to act. I’m not willing to take that chance. Not when I have the resources to pay right now.”

“I’d rather you keep your money and blast his men straight to hell, but perhaps that is my upbringing in crime talking.”

I look up and meet his grin, feeling a strange sense of kinship with a man who could easily be my enemy. I nod sharply. Message received.

“Okay,” he says. “Make your calls.”

CHAPTER 21

Galina

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