by Maddie Wade
Megan held tight to his arm as he watched men leering at her with unchecked desire in their eyes. It was taking every ounce of training not to lose his shit and annihilate the bastards. He stopped a passing waiter and took two glasses of Champagne, handing one to Megan.
They were standing on the edge of the dance floor when he spotted Usov talking with some associates across the room. The man glanced his way as if feeling eyes on him. That’s it, you sick bastard, come to papa.
He turned to Megan, pulling her tight to his body, every luscious curve melted into him, as she placed her hand on his chest, looking up at him for direction. Lifting his hand, he trailed it over her face, before leaning in close to her neck, as if he was kissing her.
“Usov is on his way over, follow my lead.” He felt her go rigid and inwardly cursed. He needed her to relax. He ran his lips over the soft skin of her neck as his hand skimmed the exposed skin of her waist, his thumb rubbing circles on the delicate pulse in her neck. She shivered with desire, leaning in closer to him, tilting her head to give him better access.
She tasted like peaches and he fought the urge to grab her and drag her into the closest dark room, pull up her skirt and taste her properly. Instead, he pulled back, and looked down into her heavy-lidded eyes. He felt trapped as her dark brown eyes held his, a question in them, an invitation. One which he so desperately wanted to take her up on. He bent his head to hers and watched as her red lips parted for him, her breath escaping with a small sigh of submission.
“Ah, she is a beauty. I can see why you cannot keep your hands off her my friend,” Usov said jovially, breaking the spell between them.
He saw understanding dawn on her, she thought it was all an act, little did she know that it had only started that way. He was falling deeper into the trap that she was. “Usov, good to finally meet you face to face,” he said in a flawless Italian accent. Daniel shook his hand and resisted the urge to wipe it on his jacket afterwards.
“Welcome to my humble abode,” the pretentious prick said.
Daniel could see his men hovering behind him, the bulges in their jackets giving away how many weapons they wore. Where the fuck is Drew?
“Thank you for inviting me,” Daniel said with a slight bow of deference.
“And who is the beauty beside you?”
Daniel felt his lip curl at Usov’s interest in Megan. “She is mine,” he replied coldly.
Usov frowned and his men stepped closer. Daniel braced, pulling Megan closer. He could feel the tension in the room rise. Megan had his arm in a death grip but as he looked at her he saw that she remained outwardly calm.
Fuck she was something else!
“Sofia Enchancia,” Megan said, raising her hand for Usov to kiss.
Daniel almost spat the mouthful of Champagne he had just taken across Usov’s jowly face at her words. Did she really just use the name of the Princess from Paige’s favourite programme?
“It is a pleasure,” Usov said as he kissed her hand, lingering far longer than necessary. Daniel snatched her hand back and Usov chuckled.
“Your reputation is correct, Vincent. You really should learn to share,” Usov chastised as he let his eyes wander over Megan’s body.
“Never,” he said coldly as he fought the urge to hide Megan away.
“In this instance, I can understand. You are a delight, my dear. Maybe after the auction we can discuss a little business, Vincent?”
“Of course. What time will the auction begin? I am anxious to get Sofia home.” Daniel let his own gaze wander over her curves blatantly lingering on the curve of breasts, before he ran the tip of his finger along the edge of her dress, touching the soft skin. It was demeaning, but it was also staking a claim for the man in front of him. It was the only thing his kind understood.
“It will be within the hour. I will leave you to the delectable Sofia in the interim,” Usov said with a chuckle as he took his leave.
As soon as he was out of sight Daniel dropped his hand and glared at her. “You weren’t meant to speak,” he growled as she glared back at him.
“What was I supposed to do, let you start a fight over a name?”
“You were meant to be at home,” he ground out.
“I don’t have a home and anyway I wanted to help. So, get over it,” she snapped.
Daniel felt his lip curl into a smile as she fought back for the first time. Unfortunately, it also made him want to kiss the sass from her mouth. He didn’t, instead, he let her have her win. “Come on Princess Sofia,” he said with a sexy smirk, “let’s walk the room.”
Chapter Fourteen
They had made it to the entrance near the east wing when Zin and Mustique arrived right on cue.
“Any trouble?” K asked.
“A couple of perimeter guards but they won’t be a problem now,” Mustique answered.
“Let’s go, you know the plan. We have no time to spare, the auction will start within the hour.” He led the way, with Roz behind him and Zin and Mustique at the back. He was worried about Roz, she had really zoned out earlier and he knew they were approaching the dungeon where she had been held.
The dogs were going to be a problem, but he could use the tranq gun on them. He was more concerned about Roz’s reaction to them. They had found human remains when they had rescued her, but they had never been identified. He would bet that had something to do with her reaction. They rounded a corner as they descended into the lower level of the house. Two guards shouted, and a bullet whipped past his ear. He returned fire, dropping to one knee as he did, allowing Roz to fire too. The men went down but now they had alerted men further into the tunnel.
As more men came at them from several angles, bullets flew as cries of death rent the air. He heard Zin and Mustique as they took on some of the guards in hand to hand combat.
“Keep going,” he urged as the way became clear. He saw the door to the cell where he had found Roz and his heart tripped over in pain as he remembered their first meeting.
She had been such a scrawny little thing. As he’d carried her out of the dungeon and along the passage, she weighed nothing in his arms. He made it to the upper level on that fateful night when she had suddenly come awake.
She had clawed at him with her ragged nails, screaming and fighting to get away from him. She had been so weak, but even in that state and probably hours from death, she had fought. Like a tiny kitten, she was all bluster and fight with no substance, but something told him that one day she would be like any wild cat, dangerous and beautiful. But for now, she was his kitten. His Kitten, he didn’t know where the thought came from, but it felt right.
“Hey, Kitten,” he’d crooned in a gentle voice as he’d held her tight to his body. “I won’t hurt you. I’m taking you home to your brother.” Instantly she stilled and as if that had been the last of her energy, she had fallen into unconsciousness again.
He reached the door and peered in. What he saw made his stomach churn.
“Come on, hurry it up,” Roz said as she pushed him out of the way.
He unlocked the door and entered slowly so as not to scare the girls too much.
The room contained twelve girls of varying ages from around eight to eighteen. The smell almost made him gag, a mix of sweet, cheap perfume and sweat mixed with human excrement. He heard Mustique gag behind him as the terrified girls looked at them with absolute fear etched on their faces. They huddled into the corner of the room and he could see them shaking.
Their faces were made up with thick makeup and the clothes they wore made him shake with fury. Miniscule skirts and bra tops that barely covered their shivering bodies, feet bare on the freezing cold concrete.
Roz stepped closer as they whimpered and moved further into the room. “We’re here to take you to safety,” she said softly to the oldest looking girl.
The girl shook her head. So, Roz tried again in Russian. K watched as the girl’s eyes looked hopeful.
“You need to come quickly,” Roz said a
s she pointed towards Zin and Mustique. “Follow them out. They will protect you and get you to safety.”
The girl hesitated and regarded them all before she turned to Zin and Mustique. Both stood unmoving, their arms relaxed at the sides, trying to look as non-threatening as they could.
Kanan could hear Daniel in his ear. Usov is headed your way and I have no idea where Drew is.
Fuck!
“We need to move now, Roz,” he urged.
She turned to look at him, she had heard it too. “I know,” she snarled and despite the seriousness of the situation, he felt his lip quirk up. Roz rolled her eyes and turned back to the girls. “Please you need to trust us or believe me Usov will sell you to the highest bidder and you will never see your families again.” Her words got through and the girl, the self-appointed leader, moved towards Mustique.
The others quickly followed as Mustique and Zin lead them out. K moved to check the door and was about to speak to Daniel when he heard Roz’s voice.
“K, we have a problem.”
He spun back around, his heart stopped. In the corner were two girls. The first was about thirteen, with long, straight, wheat blonde hair and bright, terrified blue eyes. Huddled behind her legs on the floor was a younger girl of around eight. She too had long, wheat blonde hair with a wave in it. That wasn’t what made his heart stop, the younger girl was shimmering, with flames. Her actual body was covered in fire, but she wasn’t on fire.
He felt Roz take a step back towards him, her hand grabbing for his. Her hand shook in his as he squeezed it gently to reassure her. He needed to handle this and fucking quickly. “Daniel, you need to stall and buy us some time, we have a situation.”
He heard running and braced as he spun for the door.
“What the fuck?” Zin exclaimed as he slowed to a stop beside him.
“Where are the others?”
Zin couldn’t take his eyes off the child as he replied. “Mustique has them in the vehicle, we need to go.”
“Get them out of here,” he said and watched Zin look to his sister, who was still staring at the children.
“You vowed to me.” Zin reminded him of the vow to protect Roz with his life.
“I know. I won’t break it you have my word.”
Zin regarded him with cold eyes before he turned and left.
K let go of Roz and moved forward slowly so as not to frighten the children.
“My name’s K. What’s yours?” he asked softly as he bent at the knees so as not to look so imposing.
The older one stared with frightened eyes before the younger one answered. “I’m Natalia and this is my sister Karina.”
He heard Roz’s indrawn breath behind him but ignored it.
“Wow, those are pretty names. Well, Natalia and Karina, we need to get you someplace warm and safe. Do you think you can relax and we will get that sorted for you?” He could feel the heat from the child, but it wasn’t a burning intensity, more of a warmth. He had never seen anything like it in his entire life.
“Karina doesn’t talk. She gets scared.” The little girl said who was flickering with flames.
He could hear a commotion over the comms and felt Roz touch his shoulder. He had to ignore that and concentrate on getting the girls trust in record time or they would likely all die.
“I’m sure she does, but we need you to hurry now, or the bad men will come back. I’m asking you to trust us, Natalia. Can you do that?” He felt his jaw sag, as right before his eyes the flames flickered and went out.
“Okay, K,” she said and came out from behind her sister. He clenched his fists to control the rage he felt when he saw how she was dressed and plastered a smile on his face. She walked to him and slipped her hand into his as her sister relaxed and walked beside her. Roz looked at him in complete surprise and then a grin crossed her face and her eyes lit with warmth.
“Let’s go, Kitten.” He ushered her out of the room and came face to face with a gun barrel.
Quickly he pushed the girls behind his body as three of Usov’s men faced them. For a split second, nothing happened then a shot was fired and one of the men fell. He saw Drew nod before racing back the way he had come. In a heartbeat, K launched himself at the first man as he felt Roz move. He blocked some punches and took some as he tried to knock the weapon out of the man’s hand. Finally, he got a grip on his arm and smashed it against the hard stone wall making him let go. With a well-placed elbow, he broke the man’s jaw before knocking him unconscious.
Noise was coming from above now and shouts were heard. Daniel was trying to get Megan out and cursing Drew out for disappearing on him. Roz brought her knee up to her opponents face and he was knocked out. They each grabbed a child in their arms, him the older one who struggled as he ran with her, his gun out in front of him. They made it to the exit and Zin grabbed the struggling, screaming girl from him as he turned to take Natalia.
“I have her,” she snarled as she ran to the vehicle. He shrugged and followed as the cold air hit him in the face. They needed to get these kids warmed up before they all caught pneumonia.
Mustique already had the engine running when they jumped in, then the car sped away as K looked at the frightened faces of the six kids in the vehicle. He brushed his hand over his face as he listened to Daniel on the comms.
“Is everyone out?” He heard the bite in Daniels’ voice and couldn’t blame him, this was almost a complete FUBAR.
“Yes, everyone is out,” he answered.
“Fine, see you at the new location,” he replied, and the line went dead. Daniel would make sure the other six kids got to the location in the limo.
K tore the comms out and threw it at the dash in frustration. He felt his blood pumping through his veins with fury. They had been completely blindsided at the end. With Will not warning them of the threats, kids going up in fucking flames. He ran a tired hand over his face again, fuck I’m too old for this.
He felt eyes on him and twisted to see Natalia who was curled up on Roz’s lap. She reached a hand towards his and brought it to her lap, then held it tightly as if her life depended on it and once again he lost his heart to a bedraggled female.
Chapter Fifteen
They approached the safe house that Rykov had loaned them as a light rain began to fall. They pulled into the underground parking, where the harsh artificial lights seemed bright. They were now in the heart of the city, one of the more affluent parts of town. Roz followed K as he slipped out of the vehicle. Turning, he reached for the sleeping child in her arms. She instantly felt the loss of warmth from the child who had been wrapped around her as Zin drove them to safety.
She felt her muscles tense as she heard a vehicle roll down the ramp behind them, every instinct ready for battle, but relaxed when she saw the limo. Daniel got out, looking around the carpark with an awareness that was ingrained in them all. He had blood all down his left arm, while his face was a mask of contained fury ignoring them as he helped Megan out of the limo. Roz helped Zin and Misty get the other girls inside the large private elevator.
She stood beside K in the plush contained space of the elevator as he held Natalia close to him. The child slept peacefully with her head on his shoulder. Roz marvelled again at what she had seen. The girl had been encompassed by flames, yet she had acted as if it was nothing. Karina, the older sister, still had not spoken but she stayed close to K and her, not seeming to trust the others.
Poor kids, they never asked for any of this, but it would be like a scar on their lives forever. She knew that the chances were high that this had been the least of the abuse they had suffered. Finally, the elevator dinged, and they stepped out onto the dark grey tiled hallway of the penthouse suite. A bank of windows along one wall gave a magnificent view of the city around them, lights twinkling. Drew moved quickly closing the electric blinds and shutting out the night. The rest of the large apartment was mainly black and white, it was sleek and stylish. Zin and Mustique checked the rooms as she watched the g
irls.
Once Zin had checked every room, Will then proceeded to check for bugs and set up a secure network so they could talk with Zack.
“Will you help me?” K asked as he moved up the glass stairs and towards one of the five bedrooms. Nodding she followed, pulling back the blankets of a king size bed as K laid the child down in the centre. Karina instantly climbed in beside her sister, curling herself into her. Both children were filthy but right now they needed rest more than they needed a bath.
“They look so peaceful,” Kanan said as he looked down at the children with a guarded look on his hard, handsome face.
Roz forced herself to look away and down at the children who were now resting together safely. “Yes, they do,” she replied softly. Everything in her wanted to reach for him. It was a compulsion, but she didn’t want to give him false hope. His body was so close to hers as they stood side by side. Their hands brushed, and she shivered as she felt electricity shoot through her from the simple touch.
The heat from his hand just barely touching hers started a thaw in the ice-cold walls of her heart. No, that wasn’t right, the way he had handled Natalia had done that. It was a side to K she had never seen. She felt her throat clog with emotion when she felt him hook his pinkie finger around hers.
She cast him a sideways glance, but he was looking at the girls. Her heart hurt painfully in her chest as she imagined what it would feel like to stand like this as they looked at their own children. Would she ever know what that felt like, did she want it? Until tonight she would have said no, but suddenly the ache for a family of her own cut deep.
It wasn’t something she could allow herself to want though, because until Usov was dead she would never be free. She was his wife in his eyes and he would never let her go and by then there would be nothing left for a man like K except a shell. He deserved more than that, he deserved the world.