“Good, I’m glad. Maybe next time, don’t leave me, and you won’t have to dream about them.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“That’s it!” Ivanov was full on shrieking as he whipped the gun up, pointing it at Marc’s chest. “I kill you and make your girlfriend watch it happen!”
Now free from his gun, Lily yanked her arm up as hard as she could. The pain that ripped through her nervous system was intense, unlike anything she’d ever experienced. But she pushed it down, way down into her psyche, where most of her feelings were sent to die. The blade was stuck in her flesh, the handle resting against the top of her arm, the jagged point sticking out the other side. She twisted to her side, and with a shout, shoved the exposed blade right into Ivanov’s stomach. She pressed forward, using her chest to jam the knife into place.
He let out a strangled yell and fired off three rounds, right into Marc’s chest. Lily shrieked as she watched him go down, flat on his back. Ivanov growled and rolled forward, towards her. She leaned away, pulling the knife free. Blood gushed from his wound, but he didn’t stop moving. He grabbed one of her legs, trying to hold her in place and crawl up her length.
“Stop it! Stop it! No!” she shouted, trying to kick and wiggle as best she could. The knife finally slid free from her arm, clattering across the floor. Ivanov ignored it, just kept on crawling.
“You. For you, quick death is too good. I am going to rape your mouth, and then I am going to allow every many in Tangier to do the same. I will send video to your mother. And then when you are all used up, dirty and disgusting, I will put a bullet in you, just like De Sant,” Ivanov was threatening, struggling to crawl with only one good arm, his weight pinning her legs in place.
“Like I give two fucks! You’re never getting those diamonds. And you wanna know why!? Cause I threw them in the goddamn ocean!” she screamed. The look on Ivanov’s face. Shock mixed with absolute terror. He paused his movements.
“You lie!”
“Like hell I am! Why do you think I stopped in Casablanca!? Why it took me so long to drive here!? Because I made a special little detour, drove all the way to the beach, rented a boat, and I threw those cursed fucking stones into the darkest part of the ocean. You thought I brought them here!? So fucking stupid. No one will ever have those diamonds. Not you, and sure as shit not Stankovski!” she swore.
“How could you do something so stupid!? So much money! I will kill you! You are dead!” he started shouting.
“And Stankovski will kill you! The only one getting raped around here will be you,” she threw back at him, then spit in his face. He cried out and stopped moving, wiping the saliva away.
“Stupid girl! You must want to die!” he proclaimed.
“Not quite yet.”
Lily had been able to draw her legs up, getting her knees in between his chest and her body. She braced her feet against the tops of his thighs, then she pushed. The motion caused him to stumble up into a standing position. Lily immediately scooted backwards, pressing herself up against the windows behind her. Ivanov made a face and went to step forward.
“Princess.”
Both of them whipped their heads to the side, just in time to see Marc sitting upright and pulling a shotgun from behind his back. Ivanov barely had to time to gasp before the trigger was pulled. Lead pellets ripped through his torso, causing him to spin around. Then another blast from outside, and a bullet zipped through the room.
One minute, Oleg Ivanov was the Brigadier for the Stankovski Bratva, second only to the Pakhan himself, Anatoly Stankovski.
The next minute, his head was a water balloon that had been popped, and Oleg Ivanov was nobody.
Lily slumped back, letting her eyes flutter shut. Letting the water run over her body, easing the sting in her cut. In her head. In her soul.
“Baby! Stay with me!” Marc was shouting, suddenly kneeling at her side.
“I’m not unconscious, you idiot, I’m just tired,” she groaned, opening her eyes as he picked up her arm.
“I just saved your life, a little gratitude would be nice!” he yelled at her, but he was smiling. He ripped off the bottom edge of his t-shirt and wrapped it tightly around her forearm, over where she’d been stabbed. She hissed, then frowned at the amount of blood that was pooled on the floor next to her.
“That hurt like a bitch,” she hissed, pulling her arm free from him.
“Oh yeah? Try getting shot in the chest three times. Kevlar ain’t as strong as it used to be, I swear.”
“Shut up, Marc.”
“God, I thought you were dead,” his voice got lower and his hands went to her face. Brushing her wet hair out of the way. Cupping her cheeks.
“Yeah, there were a couple moments there that had me nervous. I didn’t … I just … thought that you …,” she couldn’t find the words.
“I came back for you,” he breathed, then he leaned in and kissed her. Not his usual kiss – there was no roughness. No hard edge. No strict boundaries. It was soft and it was warm and it was gentle.
And it still stole every breath she’d ever had.
“I didn’t think you would,” she whispered when he pulled away.
“I never should’ve let you go.”
She grabbed his vest and pulled him close. His hands slid around to her back, yanking her up against him. His tongue plunged into her mouth, sweeping along her teeth.
“I can’t believe you came back,” she breathed in between kisses.
“I had to. I had to save you. I’ve never wanted to protect anything in my life, but I always want to protect you. I was ready to burn this city down,” he told her.
“When I got rid of the diamonds, I kept praying you’d come find me. I didn’t know where you’d gone, didn’t know how to get a hold of you,” she realized tears were mixing with the sprinkler water on her face. “I was so scared that I’d never see you again.”
“Never be scared. I never want you to be scared, ever again,” he whispered, kissing along the side of her jaw.
Such beautiful words from such a rough man.
Lily shifted around onto her knees, trying to get closer to him. Needing to be closer to him. But without the proper use of her hands, she became unbalanced and started to fall to the side.
“Get these off of me,” she growled, moving away from him and yanking at her handcuffs. The heavy moment between them broke, and they both remembered exactly where it was they were.
“Yeah. Yeah, let’s get the fuck out of here,” he said, then grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet.
Marc searched Ivanov’s corpse, but didn’t find any keys. The dead bodyguard didn’t have any, either. Marc helped her to wrap the chain around her torso, then led her down the hallway. She’d taken her Glock back from Ivanov’s dead fingers – maybe it wasn’t cursed. None of its bullets had ever killed anybody. Maybe it was her guardian angel.
They slowly made their way downstairs. The second floor was clear, but on the landing to the first floor, they heard shouting, and before they could retreat, a man in a suit came running up the stairs. Lily got right behind Marc and he backed them into a corner, shielding her body with his own, his back flattening her against the wall.
“You shoot I shoot!” the other man was yelling.
“No one fucking shoots! Just walk away!” Marc yelled back.
“You no shoot! You, down! You gun down!” the man yelled in broken English. Lily pressed her forehead to Marc’s shoulders, beginning to shiver, which was strange, considering how warm it was in the building.
“I’m not fucking around, back the fuck up!” Marc’s voice was aggressive, almost unhinged sounding. It had been a long morning.
“You back fuck up!”
A gun shot rang out, causing both Lily and Marc to flinch and duck. The bodyguard howled in pain and dropped to the ground, gripping his leg. Blood began to pour out of a bullet wound in his calf.
“Are we having our afternoon tea? I would really enjoy it if we could get the fuck out
of here.”
Lily smiled as the soft, posh British accent filled her ears. She peeked over Marc’s shoulder and watched as Kingsley de-armed the man on the floor. Once all the guns were pulled away, Marc moved forward again, reaching back to grab one of her hands.
“Took you long enough,” Marc growled as they hurried through the bottom floor.
“Excuse me? Did I, or did I not, just save the both of you?” Kingsley asked as they flanked the front door. Lily looked around and grimaced. The floor and walls were riddled with bullets, and several men were lying on the ground, dead and shredded by bullets.
“What!? I shot Ivanov at point blank range with a shotgun! He was dead before you even pulled your trigger!” Marc snapped. Both men turned in unison and went through the front door, making sure the street was clear. Then Marc reached back through the door, grabbed her handcuffs, and pulled Lily along behind him.
“Is that so? Who shot Lily loose? If I hadn’t done that, you both would’ve been as good as dead,” Kingsley pointed out as they crossed the street and slipped down an alley.
“I had the drop on him, you know I could’ve made that shot,” Marc replied.
“Can you both shut the fuck up!?” Lily snapped. “If I hadn’t stalled, and I hadn’t gotten you to shoot the chain, and I hadn’t stabbed that asshole, none of it would’ve worked out, so really, I did all the saving. I’m the badass here.”
They stopped at the end of the alley and the two men glanced at each other. Looked back at her. She glared back at them. Marc was soaking wet, but otherwise looked none the worse for wear. Kingsley was in his all-black assassin gear, making him look devastatingly handsome and chillingly dangerous.
Lily was wearing a black bikini, a sleeveless orange shirt, was bleeding from multiple points on her body, and had multiple bruises and contusions.
“She has a point,” Kingsley admitted. Marc snorted.
“Shut up.”
They loaded up into the same car Marc had been driving when she’d left them in Tarfaya. She pulled herself into the backseat, hissing in pain, feeling every wound. She held her arm against her stomach and glanced into the large back end of the car. A huge gun was laying on its side.
“Is that what you were shooting!?” Lily exclaimed. Kingsley slid into the passenger seat and looked back at her.
“Ah, Sheila. I don’t leave home without her.”
“What is it?”
“She is a Barrett M82A1, fifty caliber. Make you shit bricks or eat lead, good for any situation,” Kingsley answered.
“Except for close range,” Marc added, then burned rubber as he drove out of the neighborhood.
“Either way, I’m glad you brought it. Her,” Lily sighed, leaning back in her seat.
“Hey!” Marc shouted, snapping his fingers. “Hey, don’t fall asleep back there, sweetheart.”
“Are you joking!? I’m tired in a way I didn’t even know was possible,” she moaned, settling her head back on the seat and closing her eyes.
“You’ve lost a lot of blood. Stay with us,” Marc instructed.
“You know what I want?” she asked through a yawn. “Pants. I would love some pants.” She could feel goosebumps break out across her skin and her teeth started to chatter.
“Hello, darling,” Kingsley grunted as he crawled between the seats and sat down next to her. “Let’s take a look, shall we?”
He peeled back Marc’s makeshift bandage on her arm, examining her wound. She didn’t look at the cut, but watched as Kingsley grimaced. He leaned over the seat and reached into the back end, pulling a black bag up.
“Is it bad?” she asked.
“I’ve seen worse. You’ll be fine. Just want to stop the bleeding,” he assured her, taking a first aid kit out of the bag, as well as a lock picking kit.
“Got any pants in there?” she asked, glancing at the bag.
“You know, I just might,” he replied, then pulled out a black pair of dress slacks.
“I think my ass will be too fat for them,” she joked.
“Pity. Guess you’ll have to keep walking around in your knickers,” he sighed, getting to work on opening her handcuffs. Lily laughed.
“You would like that. Can I sleep now?” she asked, yawning again.
“No, I think Marc’s right. I think staying awake would be a very good idea,” he urged. She shook her head.
“Marc’s never right,” she mumbled.
“I heard that! Lily! Lily!?” Marc yelled from he front seat.
But she was too tired to answer. She slipped into unconsciousness, grateful for the blankness.
*
In one version, Ivanov shot Marc in the head, not the chest.
In another version, he stabbed Lily in the back, not her arm.
In yet another version, the bodyguard shot Marc in the neck.
And still another version, Ivanov slit her throat, and while she watched, he shot Marc in the temple.
NO!
Lily jerked upright, gasping for air, still halfway caught in her nightmares. She was being bound to something and she struggled, pulling away from her restraints.
“Stop. Stop it, you’re safe. You’re safe,” Marc’s voice filtered into her brain, and she felt hands on her arms. She stopped moving and looked around. Found his blue eyes.
“I was dreaming,” she panted.
“I know. You kept talking. But I’m not dead. You’re not dead. We’re fine. We made it.”
She didn’t quite believe him, but she nodded and glanced around. She was in some sort of medical center, or possibly a field hospital. She had an IV drip going into her arm, and when she turned her head, she saw ugly looking stitches trotting across her other forearm. She frowned.
“That’s going to leave such a scar,” she complained.
“I think scars are sexy,” he told her.
“You would.”
She laid back down and Marc explained that she had passed out in the car, due to blood loss and shock. Kingsley had done his best to slow the bleeding, then they’d driven around, looking for a hospital. Only, they couldn’t go to just any major hospital. Ivanov still had allies in the city. They needed somewhere no one would think to look for them; after forty minutes of driving, Marc had found a Globa-Doc field hospital.
Ironic.
“How long have I been out?” Lily asked.
“Most of the day. Kingsley’s actually asleep in the bed next to us,” Marc explained, moving his chair to sit right next to her.
“Are you okay?” she asked, her eyes wandering over him.
“Oh yeah, just a few bruises. Breathing kind of hurts – that flak jacket wasn’t exactly top of the line, but I can’t complain,” he assured her.
“Good.”
“Tell me something,” he started, leaning onto her mattress. “Did you mean what you said?”
“When?” she asked.
“Back in that room, to Ivanov. You kept saying you hid the diamonds, but then at the end, you said you threw them away. Did you really?” he asked. Lily was instantly suspicious.
“Is this why you came back?” she demanded. “For some fucking diamonds!? Well, good luck finding them, I hope you can hold your breath for a really long time.”
“Shut up,” he snapped. “I came back for you. I don’t give two fucks about those diamonds. But if you’re lying and if they are somewhere out there, hidden away, they can help you a lot. Help us a lot.”
She cleared her throat.
“Us?”
“Yeah, sweetheart. Us,” he sighed, then took her hand into his own, linking their fingers.
“We make a pretty good team,” she whispered. He nodded, kissing the back of her hand.
“We make the best team.”
“I was so scared,” she whispered. He nodded.
“I know, but you didn’t show it. That was very good.”
“You weren’t scared at all.”
“I was.”
“You didn’t show it, either.”<
br />
“I push it away. You’ll learn to do that, too,” he told her.
“I will?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know if I can.”
“I know you can. You’re the strongest person I know. Stronger than me.”
Who would’ve thought over a month ago, when she’d watched the rough and tumble mercenary walk across a yard, that they’d be a team. An unstoppable duo. She wondered what that meant for the future. For her. For them.
“Marc?” her voice was shaky, and she cursed herself.
“Hmmm?” was all he said in response, his thumb tracing the edge of her jaw.
“I’m really glad you came back.”
He moved then, and crawled onto the bed with her. He was careful of her IV drips and her banged up arm, and he spooned up next to her. Buried his face in her hair and sighed.
“Me, too.”
DAY TEN
The next morning, they managed to slip out of the hospital unnoticed. She kept the hospital gown and wore it over the pants Kingsley had given her. They didn’t stop for anything, just drove out of the city without looking back.
“Darling,” Kingsley called out. They had all the windows down, the air rushing through the car.
“Yes?” she called back, scooting to the edge of the back seat and sticking her arm out the window.
“You’re sure you threw those diamonds away? All of them?” he double checked. She glanced at him, then in the rear view mirror, just in time to catch Marc staring at her. He looked away quickly.
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you only came back to get the stones,” she replied. Marc kept his eyes trained on the road, so obvious in his attempt to be un-obvious. She narrowed her eyes.
“Never, darling! Never entered my mind. I was just thinking if you’d held back a few, it would do wonders in getting us out of here.”
Lily cleared her throat and looked away. Stared at her arm as she slowly waved it in the breeze. Let her eyes wander over the ace bandage, which covered her wound.
“No, I didn’t hold anything back,” she whispered.
“Pity.”
They drove back to Casablanca, figuring if anyone went looking for them, they wouldn’t think to look somewhere so close, since it was only about four hours away from Tangier. They didn’t talk about what they were doing or why they were going there. Marc just drove. They stopped at one point, and Lily wandered through a market, picking out clothing. Using money they’d lifted from Ivanov’s wallet, she bought herself underwear and shorts and two t-shirts, and a good pair of hiking boots. As she got dressed in the backseat of the car, she began to feel almost human again.
Best Laid Plans Page 27