by Lietha Wards
“No, I didn’t know, and yes, I did lie, but not to hurt you. I had to keep my identity secret. And I only lied about the female assassin. There was no such assignment. I made that up to get you to trust me. I just didn’t tell you anything else. I didn’t think I could trust you, Katya. You are part of a family that tore mine apart. I’m asking you to trust me now.”
“Trust you? After what you just told me!” She felt so betrayed. “We’ve been together! You could have told me then.”
“That was unexpected—us. You need to know that it was you that had me look at everything in a different light and want to just leave, taking you with me.”
She just stared at him in disbelief.
“It’s true. But then I see my brother’s corpse on a cold steel slab, and I get driven by anger and grief. It’s at that moment that I don’t care who I hurt to get retribution my brother and the family he left behind.”
“Oh God!” How awful to be controlled by such emotions and lose sight of who you really are. Yet, she knew she could relate over the loss of her sister. She wanted those men dead. She even felt a sense of satisfaction that some of them were.
He could clearly see the devastation on her face. He did his best to return some emotion to his expression and show that he was sincere. He softened his voice. “Listen, I will just walk away with, or without you. Just say the word. Before you do, though, you need to realize something—my vengeance aside. Your father will go on killing, selling drugs, exploiting women and destroying lives. I’m here to stop him so no one else will suffer my brother’s fate. It’s not just that. There’s more at stake here than you know. It’s not just about my brother. Your father has money and political connections that have him gaining power in circles he shouldn’t be in. Some very particular members of the government are getting jumpy about it. My superiors want him stopped.”
She buried her face in her hands and sobbed.
“My brother had a family. He left behind a widow and two children.”
She wretched again. “I’m sorry.”
Here was this woman, instead of feeling sorry for herself, was empathetic towards him even though she was angry. “It’s not your fault,” he said gently. He felt his chest constrict. They were both suffering great losses, and just escaped for their lives. Yet through it all, she still had strength in her to fight. She could not be more beautiful to him at that moment. He was sure about one thing now; he didn’t want to lose her.
She lifted her head and stared at him.
He reached over and brushed a tendril of hair off her wet cheek again. Her green eyes glistened with tears, sadness and anger, but unbelievably stunning. “I’m willing to do anything you want. I will leave with you now, or go back and finish what I’ve started.”
She swallowed and looked past him out the window. “Would you trust me with the decision I make?”
He hesitated slightly. “Yes.”
“No matter what it was?” Her eyes met his again.
It was his turn to swallow hard. “Yes. You have my word.”
That right there meant a lot to her. She had to know how much she meant to him.
“Before you decide, there’s two more things. You’re not going to like it, but you have to know. Like you said, no more secrets.”
She was definitely apprehensive given what he’d just told her. What could be worse than that? God, she didn’t want to know, but she’d asked for this so she nodded for him to go ahead and tell her.
He told her about her mother and her sister. Then he waited. She turned and looked out of the shattered front windshield. Steam was rising out of the grill and he knew there wasn’t much life left in the vehicle. They had to get going, but she needed this time to sort things out. So he kept silent.
She wasn’t crying now. She just sat there and stared for about twenty minutes. Then she slowly turned and looked at him. There was clear anger and betrayal in her eyes. “We go back, and you finish it. I don’t want anyone else to suffer at the hands of my twisted family.”
“As you wish.” He started the engine.
CHAPTER FIVE
They drove in silence. Katya needed it. He must’ve known because he never said another word and gave her that grace. Like she thought before, he could read her like no one else she ever knew. Anger and hate mixed in her gut like a toxic stew. Her father was responsible for murdering the only person that ever loved her, and her sister put her through hell.
Yes, she was struggling with the decision she made, but she was going to stand by it. She didn’t have a family. She knew now, she never did. No one loved her, except maybe her mother, but it was so long ago she could barely remember her. Her sister! All the grief and betrayal twisted in her gut and it hurt. How could she do that to her? Terrorize her? Who would do that to family? She grieved for her! The sibling she’d thought she lost, but all along she was just like her father! Oh, she could really shoot someone right now!
Her attention went to Ryan. Despite everything he was the only person that was honest with her. Well, that she could tell so far. She didn’t know if she could trust him, but God, she cared about him so much! Right now, he was the only person that knew and understood what she was going through, and she needed him. In all honesty, he opened her eyes to the truth about everything.
She checked his wound a couple of more times while he concentrated on driving. It was still bleeding but not as bad. What man could take a bullet and barely grunt?
The rest of him looked pretty beat up too. She had some cuts and bruises from the accident, but nothing like he did. He was a big man and the impact was harder on him. It was on his side. Granted the car had side impact air bags, but still, it was flipped into the ditch. She had a suspicion that this wasn’t the first time his body experienced this hell. She was surprised he was still able to walk. Yet, he was acting as if there was no pain, and managed to stealth through a house that he’d never been in before, rescue her, and still function. He was a machine.
The whole time she watched him, he kept his eyes on the road. She was sure he knew she was looking at him because, she knew now, nothing escaped him. He was giving her that time to reflect on everything he’d told her. Despite how hurt and angry she was with him, he did save her life, twice. He kept his promise to protect her and he could have just left her back at the house with those horrible men that worked with her sister. Her sister! She would confront her about this. It wasn’t over.
They were never really close growing up. It wasn’t that she was mean towards her. She was just indifferent. Anna was six years older than her, and once she graduated, was hardly ever home. Katya felt like an only child most times. So that night she asked her to go clubbing with her, she accepted thinking that Anna wanted to get to know her. If only she’d known it was a setup. That’s the night they were kidnapped.
Ryan was right. They had to finish this or she’d never be free. It would have been so easy just to leave with him, but as he said, others would suffer.
He pulled into an expansive parking lot of a mall and drove the SUV around like he was looking for something. Suddenly he pulled into a parking spot with a quick crank of the wheel, cut the engine which was still smoking and opened his door. “Come.” He grabbed the weapons and got out.
“What are we doing?”
“Changing vehicles.”
“Seriously?” She was confused, but again, knew not to hesitate. She followed him out of shot up SUV, walked around and took his outstretched hand. He led her a few vehicles away to a silver jeep.
“Are we stealing this?”
“Not quite.” He bent down and felt under the front driver’s side fender, pulling out a set of keys.
“How—?”
“Get in.” He unlocked the doors with the fob, opened the rear door and took out what looked like fresh clothing.
She watched as he tossed the guns on the back seat and literally changed right there.
He then grabbed the guns, shut the rear door and got in t
he front. He was fast. Really fast. People were in the parking lot, either leaving or approaching their vehicles but no one even noticed.
He tucked the guns in the middle console, started the jeep and pulled out of the parking lot.
“Who’s jeep is this.”
“Mine now.”
“Ryan, I asked you a question back there and you never answered me. Who are you?”
His jaw clenched.
“No more secrets,” she reminded him. “If you care about me, you need to be honest.”
After a moment he nodded. “I’m nobody.” He glanced at her. “And everybody.”
“That makes no sense.”
“I work for the government.”
“You’re a cop?”
“No, I’m an agent, soldier or spy—however you want to look at it. I do things that need fixing.”
“FBI?”
“No.”
“CIA?”
He shook his head. “Something higher, more powerful. We don’t really follow rules. We get sent in to do things others can’t. Mostly anti-terrorist.”
“That’s really dangerous, isn’t it?”
“Always.”
“So that’s why the threats my father throws around doesn’t bother you and why you can kill without hesitation, and blow up an entire house without a second thought.”
He didn’t like where this was going. “I didn’t blow it up.”
“Oh please, it’s not like comparing apples to oranges. You initiated it, and that’s just the same. You act like a psychopath, Ryan; like my father.”
“I know.”
“You don’t even deny it.”
“I do it to protect my country Katya. Do you have any idea of how many terrorists a year try something?”
“No I don’t.”
“And that’s why I exist, so the public doesn’t find out. It’s why people like my brother was able to raise children and go to work each day without worrying about them. I do things like this to protect the innocents.”
Patriotism like this didn’t exist anymore. She stared at his handsome profile. He possessed righteousness the likes of which she’d never seen. He’d saved her even though he had another agenda. He was also willing to walk away from it all, for her. She was wrong, he was completely opposite of her father. That was a true psychopath. “Why would he do that with a family?”
“I asked myself that a thousand times. Georgy wanted to make a difference too. He worked undercover before he was married. Maybe it was all he knew. It runs in our blood.”
“You offered to walk away from this if I said the word.”
“I did.”
“I know you care about me or you wouldn’t offer to abandon something that means so much to you. You’re the first person to ever make that kind of sacrifice for me.”
He didn’t look at her or speak, but he did nod. She just kept surprising him. God they made a twisted couple though. The emotionally traumatized fucked up girlfriend, and psycho killer-patriot. Sounded like perfection to him. He suppressed a smile. To do so probably would have seemed a little disturbing in light of what had just happened.
“Thank you.” She couldn’t remember another time in her life that someone was willing to sacrifice so much for her.
He reached over and squeezed her hand.
It was nightfall when he pulled up to the gates of the estate and buzzed the intercom.
The camera focused on him and gates opened.
“What are you going to do?” Katya asked. She looked at her father’s mansion and shivered. She honestly didn’t want to go back in there after what she’d just learned.
“We’re going to carry on as normal until I find out who actually pulled the trigger on Georgy. I want you just to go to your room when we stop. I don’t want your father to know about Anna, and I don’t want you questioned by him, so keep hushed on that.”
“Why?”
“Because it will work to my advantage.” He pulled the jeep around to the front. Five armed men were waiting for them on the front steps.
Her father came out of the house at that exact moment.
His eyes flicked to the older man through the passenger side window. “Katya, you need to act tired and traumatized. I can’t have him dragging information out of you when you’re vulnerable. He will want to speak with you because he doesn’t trust me.”
First of all, she was tired and traumatized, so that wouldn’t be too hard. Secondly, she wouldn’t tell him a damn thing. As far as she was concerned, her whole family was dead to her. Still, she couldn’t help but feel a little scared and nervous that he would do as Ryan said.
“Nod that you understand.”
She did.
“Thank God.” Peter approached Katya and embraced her when she got out of the vehicle. She did not return the hug.
“The police were here. They found my car overturned in the ditch smashed to shit. No one knew what happened. I feared the worst.”
“We were attacked and taken hostage.” Ryan came around the front of the jeep.
Peter assessed the condition of Ryan’s face. “What the fuck happened to you?”
“It’s been a rough twenty-four hours.” He gave Kat’s arm a squeeze. “Katya, go to your room, clean up and get some rest.”
“I want a debriefing,” Peter ordered.
“I’ll give you that.” Ryan stated as Katya walked through the men and into the house without a word to anyone. “She’s dealing with too much right now and really didn’t see anything. They had her locked in a cell.” Peter seemed to accept that and focus his attention back on Ryan.
“We all thought you were both dead when we saw the car. You saved her again.”
“Yes.”
“Who were they? Did you see them?”
He nodded. “A few won’t be bothering us anymore.”
“What exactly does that mean?”
“They threatened my client, so I took care of them.”
Peter and Ivan exchanged a glance. “You killed them?”
Was he hard of hearing? “As many as I could. Others had left the house before I got free.” Peter looked quite pleased. Ivan was a different story.
“And just how many men did you kill?” Ivan asked not believing him.
Ryan shifted his gaze to Ivan and the corners of his mouth quirked upward saying a lot. The man’s jealousy was like a billboard and Ryan basically called him on it.
“You son of a—”
“Shut the fuck up Ivan. At least he did something none of you imbeciles could. My daughter is home unharmed. When you were supposed to be looking after them, Anna got murdered.”
Ivan did as he was told, but continued to glare at him.
“Where is this house?”
He told them. He didn’t say that they’d find nothing but ashes though. Let them go for a drive.
Peter looked over his shoulder, “Ivan, get a crew out there. Everyone.”
“Yes Mr. Nickolov.” With a final glare at Ryan, he turned and waved his arm. The men followed him.
“Your shoulder.” Peter noticed that blood started seeping through the shirt.
“Ah, yeah, I was shot. I need to go get mended. Do you have a first aid kit?”
“You are a machine!” Peter slapped him on the back, causing him to grunt. That shoulder. He laughed. “Sorry.”
***
“This is crazy. I can’t sew well with fabric.” Katya hovered beside him with a suture and thread. She’d had a shower while he was still speaking with her father, and only put on a robe. Then he showed up with a first aid kit telling her to sew him up after he washed up a little. He was covered in dirt and blood. She watched as he removed his shirt showing some difficulty for the first time as he walked into the bathroom.
When he came back out to his room, he had on draw string pajama bottoms, and sat in a chair for her to suture him. She felt awful. He was hurt because of her, yet didn’t complain. Not once. Her heart swelled. This was the first p
erson to ever risk anything for her and he had no reason to do it, if even for the money. He could have left her at the house, but he didn’t. Was there such a thing as loyalty like this, or was he getting a lot of money? “Is it the money?”
He turned his head and looked at her trying to figure out what she meant.
“That my father pays you.”
“You think that has something to do with what I did—for you?”
“Forget it…it’s a stupid question.”
She was vulnerable and looking for reasons on why he would sacrifice so much for her. Well, if she only believed what she saw in the mirror, she would understand. And it wasn’t just what was on the outside, but it certainly didn’t hurt any. “Money has nothing to do with it. I told you what you mean to me. I would have done it, with my training, or even without because of how I feel.”
She was relieved. “I’m sorry. I’m doubting everything. I don’t even know where that came from. You did tell me, and I believed you. I don’t know why I’m revisiting it.”
“You had a nightmare happen twice. You’re vulnerable. It’s understandable. Besides, I don’t need money Kat. I have enough to last me comfortably for the rest of my life. Trust me. This isn’t even about my brother anymore.” He squeezed her hand. “Now before I bleed out, we should get started. Just loop it three times, front and back. It will be fine. I won’t feel it—much.” He chuckled.
“You are crazy.” She released a laugh. He certainly wasn’t boring. She felt brave after those words though, and with surprisingly steady hands, did as he asked. He didn’t even flinch. Then she covered the area with gauze and tape. “You have an incredible pain tolerance.”
“Oh, it hurts like hell. I have just learned not to react to it.” He stood up and went into the bathroom to look in the mirror and admire her work. She followed him in. “Not bad.” He bent and kissed her on the mouth. “Good job,” he said against her lips before he lifted his head and looked down at her.
“You’re still battered looking.” She moved her eyes over the marks on his face.