by Beth Abbott
“I’m taking it that ‘snogging’ is the same as making out, right?” He wondered whether Evan even spoke English half the time.
“Oh yeah!” Evan grinned. “And when you’re sixteen, getting to first base makes you feel like you conquered the world. Even if you do risk coming in your pants.”
Hollywood rolled his eyes, but like the others, he wasn’t so old that he couldn’t remember those first few encounters with a young lady.
“Wait till you get to second base, Ev.” Kellen teased. “That really will get you blowing your load.”
Evan flipped him off.
“Har-har! You’re so funny, man.” He grinned. “A real wit. Well, half of one, anyway.”
Kellen shrugged good-naturedly, and they all settled back as the car sped through the quiet early morning London streets.
“Are we collecting Yuri and Kris along the way?” Logan asked, glancing out of the window. They were almost out of London already, and well on their way to the private airfield where Tuck’s plane would be waiting for them.
“Nope.” Hollywood grinned. “They were having dinner with Gregor and his wife Tulli last night, at Gregor’s place just outside of London, so they’ll be flying to the airfield in his helicopter. Apparently, it’s one of the perks of being BFF’s with a billionaire.”
Evan grunted.
“Tell me again why those two idiots chose to give up cushy jobs running Gregor’s security detail, to take part in an operation like this?” He shook his head. “I just don’t get it.”
“Maybe it’s the thought of doing something for one’s fellow man? Or in this case, woman?” Kellen suggested. “Maybe because helping those women escape the fate that awaits them is more important and fulfilling than sitting behind a desk tapping on a computer all day?”
“Jeez, don’t let Hannah hear you say that.” Hollywood grinned. “She’ll leave you singing soprano.”
“Hannah does a different kind of tapping, man.” Kellen grinned. “Besides, I don’t think Yuri or Kris actually qualify for Hannah’s ‘genius’ status.”
“I guess not.” Hollywood shrugged, bracing himself as the car slowed and turned into the entrance to the airfield.
“Anyway, what I want to know, is whether anyone else’s balls are itching like crazy?” Evan rearranged himself as if to prove a point. “You don’t think I’m allergic to the tracker implant, do you?”
Hollywood was sure Evan hadn’t meant it to sound so funny, but within seconds the other three were doubled over, crying with laughter.
Evan scowled at them all.
“I’m taking that as a no, then.” He grunted.
“Man, they warned you that it might itch for a day or two.” Kellen laughed. “That’s why they gave us the cream.”
Judging by the look on Evan’s face, he hadn’t been paying too much attention to that part of the process.
“You did pack the cream and bring it with you, right?” Hollywood snorted a very undignified laugh.
“Umm, possibly?” Evan didn’t sound at all sure. “Or not?”
“Don’t worry, pal.” Logan patted Evan’s leg. “I haven’t had need to use mine yet, and, hopefully, if it hasn’t started itching already, it’s not going to start now. If you’re nice to me, I might let you have some of mine.”
The car drew to a halt, and they climbed out in front of a shiny white jet.
“Well, hello fellas.” Hannah stood at the top of the steps with Danny just behind her. “So glad you could join us.”
Hollywood retrieved his bag, and along with the other men, they climbed on board the plane, where a lady in uniform was checking Kris and Yuri’s passport details.
He pulled his passport from his pack and handed it over, as a crew member relieved him of his bag to be stowed away.
Hollywood had flown on a few of Tuck’s jets, and even now they never failed to impress him.
The official finished doing her checks and passed all the paperwork back to Hannah.
No sooner was she off the plane than the doors shut, and the steward activated the locking mechanism.
“Are you flying with us?” Kellen asked, noticing that Hannah and Danny hadn’t left as he’d expected them to.
“My beautiful wife has acquired some new intel overnight which she wanted to share with you.” Danny explained. “It was either fly with you for the first part of the journey, so she could tell you about the developments, or wake you up two hours early for a briefing. We opted to join you on the early flight.”
“Much appreciated.” Evan muttered.
“Yeah, well, I have an ulterior motive.” Danny grinned. “Three hours on the return flight, a bedroom in the back, and no kids barging in on us. I didn’t take much persuading.”
“Well, thank you for sharing that with the guys.” Hannah punched her husband in the arm with about as much force behind it as a slap from a three-year-old girl.
“Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats for departure.” The announcement came over the speakers.
Hollywood turned to take his seat with a grin.
It looked like the outward flight was going to be a whole lot more entertaining than he’d expected.
Chapter 27 – Niko
Niko stood with Drago inside the arrival hall, her eyes glued to the doors as they swooshed almost silently open and closed, allowing more and more passengers to pass through on the way to meet loved ones and business associates, or pick up hire cars on their adventure to explore Turkey’s capital city.
The flight they were waiting for had landed almost half an hour ago, so to say Niko was getting anxious was an understatement.
“Niko, for fuck’s sake, stop twitching.” Drago growled at her. “You’re tweaking like you’re high, and it’s attracting unwanted attention.”
Niko glanced around, and sure enough one of the airport security guards had her firmly fixed in his gaze, and she couldn’t be totally certain he wasn’t thinking about arresting her.
She turned to Drago, sliding her arms around him with a big smile on her face.
“Hug me you idiot, and make it look like we’re a happy couple waiting for a bunch of friends.” She hissed up at him.
The look on Drago’s face was priceless as he wrapped an arm around her automatically. He gazed down at her in what she supposed was a loving way, although his green eyes narrowed as he stared at her.
“You do realise that if your brother could see me touching you he’d have me castrated, don’t you?” He grumbled.
“For God’s sake, I’m not asking you to make love to me. Just act natural and make it look like we’re a couple.” Niko gave him a squeeze that was far from loving.
“Sweetheart, acting naturally like we’re a couple is a contradiction in so many ways, it would take me a week to list them. Nothing about us being a couple would ever be natural. It would be like dating one of my sisters.” Drago grinned down at her. “Besides, I think our guests might have just arrived.”
Niko looked around to see half a dozen guys walking through the swooshing doors, looking like they just stepped out of an army recruitment ad. The only thing missing was the camouflage pattern on their t-shirts and pants.
The men obviously knew who they were looking for, as they were heading straight for Niko and Drago.
She stepped away from Drago and almost skipped up to the guy in front, a mountain of a man with dark hair and eyes, and a bemused look on his face.
As she wrapped her arms around him as far as they would reach, she made eye contact with the men standing behind him.
“Make it look like a reunion, and for goodness sake, smile.” She instructed. “Security are watching, and you guys stand out more than a lot.”
The guy she was hugging wrapped his arms around her, lifting her up and swinging her around in a circle.
Niko giggled in surprise before she could stop herself.
When her feet were returned to the ground, she found herself staring up into a pair of chocolate brown eyes that
were filled with humour.
“That’s not exactly the welcome we were expecting, but I’ll take it.” His lips twitched, and Niko smiled in return.
“Just trying to be convincing for the authorities.” She shrugged. “Have you got your gear? There’s a van waiting for us outside.”
Drago stepped forward and there was a general round of grins and backslaps that was surprising to say the least, seeing as they didn’t know each other at all.
Niko grabbed the big guy’s arm and led him through the door, turning left and making a path through all the people waiting for taxis.
About fifty yards along the kerb there was a white van waiting with its engine idling, and Niko yanked on the handle of the side door, pulling it back so they could all climb in.
Wooden benches had been fixed on each side of the van, with no sign of a seat belt or creature comfort in sight.
“Nice.” Evan mumbled as he climbed in, throwing his pack to the back of the van. “Just like being back in the military.”
The rest of the men followed, with Niko and Drago climbing in last.
Niko leaned over and spoke to the driver, giving him the green light to get the hell away from the airport. He immediately pulled out into traffic, not caring if any other cars were around them.
She sat down quickly and braced her feet on the floor to stop herself being thrown around.
“Ok, so we’ll get the introductions out of the way.” She glanced around. “I’m Niko Federova. My brother Ilya runs the business, and Drago here is his right-hand man. If anyone is going to give you orders it will be one of us, and we expect them to be followed without hesitation. Understood?”
The six giants nodded in response.
“I don’t need your life histories, just a name I can use to identify you.” She looked around the van.
“I’m Hollywood.” The big guy she’d hugged offered up. “Going anticlockwise, you have Kellen, Kris, Yuri, Logan and Evan.”
“Are you all American?” Niko frowned. His accent was unexpected as her contacts had been British.
“Kellen and I are American, Yuri and Kris are Russian by birth but now live overseas, and Logan and Evan are British.” Hollywood explained.
“And which one of you is my truck driver?” Niko asked, knowing this would be the man she’d be travelling with.
“That would be me.” Hollywood held his hand up. “It’s been a while since I drove anything so big, but I’m fully licensed and have all my papers with me.”
“My son will be travelling with us, so you’d better make damn sure you drive safely.” Niko said abruptly, wanting him to understand where her priorities lay.
“We weren’t able to bring weapons through customs for obvious reasons. We were told we’d be provided with what we needed.” Kellen stated. “Do you have suitable equipment for us?”
“The trucks have all been equipped with everything you might need, including guns. You’ll be able to pick up food along the way, when we stop to refuel, and when we stop for the night, a meal of some sort will be provided.” Drago nodded. “Our routes won’t always be direct, and of course we have to keep to the law regarding the number of hours driven per day, etcetera. We don’t want to give the authorities any excuse to stop and search the vehicles. That means you’ll be spending a lot of time in the cabs.”
“I think we’ve all spent our fair share of time in uncomfortable transporters, driving from A to B.” Kellen shrugged. “At least on this trip we aren’t expecting to come across any IED’s. I’m so past done waiting for my legs to be blown off.”
His team-mates nodded their agreement and Niko wondered how many years these men had spent in the military, worrying about things like losing body parts. She couldn’t fathom how anyone, male or female, would volunteer for such a job.
“We have three large containers carrying our human cargo, plus assorted other goods.” Drago explained. “In addition, there will be anywhere between six and twelve support vehicles around us at any one time, carrying Ilya, myself and the rest of Ilya’s men. Should any one of the trucks be stopped by the authorities, the rest will carry on as though nothing happened.”
“Great, so if I’m driving and we get pulled over, I’m the one to carry the can, right?” Hollywood complained.
“You and anyone else on board.” Niko pointed out. “We’ll all be taking the same risks, and that includes me.”
As they fell silent for the rest of the short drive to the yard, Niko tried to examine the men in the van.
The two Russians were typical of the guys they used for security. Big, broad, and bald. Such a cliché!
The British guys were just as big and broad, but the shock of red hair on the one, and the mass of untamed brown curls on the other were a complete contrast. They looked less like military and more like lumberjacks.
The two Americans were more interesting. Two man-mountains, both dark, but completely different.
Kellen, the guy who’d been asking about the weapons was more intense, with those piercing grey eyes the colour of steel. He looked like he was studying everything with laser vision, and there was something about him that had Niko a bit edgy.
Hollywood, her hug-buddy, was just as dark, but his chocolate brown eyes had a warmth about them that Niko thought Kellen’s lacked. He had those sexy, film-star looks about him, and she wondered whether that was how he’d gotten his name.
He had a sense of humour too, which was going to be a definite bonus if they were going to be stuck in the same truck cab for days on end.
“Where are we headed?” He glanced over at her.
“To a factory unit on the outskirts of Ankara.” She explained. “The trucks are being loaded as we speak, and they’ll be ready for us to head straight out as soon as we get there.”
“Will we meet your brother today?” Hollywood asked, and she scowled at him.
“You’ll meet my brother when he decides it’s necessary, and not before.” Niko announced. “If you’re lucky, that might just be never, because meeting Ilya isn’t always a pleasant experience.”
“I thought the whole point of us being here was to help him get his cargo transported to Rotterdam, where he’ll make top dollar on his product thanks to our employers.” Hollywood pointed out. “You’d have thought that would make us worth meeting, at least.”
“Be careful what you wish for.” Drago warned. “Ilya isn’t a man you want to cross. And he’s not the sort of guy you have a quiet drink with, you understand? He’d as soon put a bullet through your skull as look at you, especially if he’s high or drunk. He has a very short fuse, and you’d do well to remember that.”
Niko stared at Drago before glancing around at the men in the van.
Drago’s warning might be harsh, but it was wholly accurate, and she just hoped these guys took his words to heart, for their own sakes.
Chapter 28 – Hollywood
Hollywood sat in the back of the van, desperately trying to keep his composure, and especially trying to keep from staring at Nikita Federova.
Correction, make that ‘Niko’ Federova.
His first glimpse of her at the airport had been a surprise, as from everything he’d read about her in their intel packages, she was supposed to be a single mom, and one whose brother wouldn’t allow her to have a boyfriend. At least, the intel they’d received stated that there was more than a strong suspicion that Niko’s brother was responsible for having had the father of her child killed.
But maybe now that she was a mom, perhaps Ilya was trying to get her paired off so that his nephew would have some kind of father-figure. That would certainly explain why she’d been shrink-wrapped around the guy at the airport in a hot clinch.
When she’d run up to him in the arrivals hall, the first thing he’d noticed was how tall she was. He must have read her file a thousand times, but her height hadn’t registered with him until she was right in front of him.
To look down on most women from his six and a half f
eet, usually left him with a sore neck if he did it for too long.
He didn’t have that problem with Ms Federova, as she already came up to his chin.
As part of the charade that they were old friends, he hadn’t hesitated to pick her up and swing her around, but that had simply led to the second thing he’d noticed.
Large, firm breasts crushed to his chest never got missed. And holy hard-on, Batman! That woman had curves to spare under that shapeless shirt she was wearing.
Hollywood looked down at the floor of the van, so he could close his eyes and focus on something other than the firmness of Niko’s breasts. He was getting a stirring in his pants that was gonna get mighty uncomfortable soon if he couldn’t persuade his brain to change the subject.
When he’d stared down into her smiling face at the airport, her eyes had been a warm hazel colour, with flecks of green floating in an almost golden background. Her lashes were golden too, just a shade darker than her long hair, which appeared to be a mass of natural curls, pulled back into a messy, loose ponytail, golden but with lighter blonde streaks.
Back in the USA, women would pay a fortune to have their hair highlighted like that, but from the look of it, Niko’s blonde streaks were completely natural, and probably caused by spending so much time in sunny climates.
What would it be like to grab a fistful of that lustrous hair, pulling her head back as he plundered her mouth with his lips and tongue, her firm breasts crushed against him?
Jesus Christ! Hollywood almost groaned aloud. He was supposed to be taking his mind off her breasts, not turning his thoughts into something triple X-rated.
He’d been without a woman for too long, that was it. Ever since that mission in Colombia, when Alex and Drew had been shot, he’d found it hard to get his mind off the way those women had been treated.
The shack they’d been locked up in was in every way the ‘kennel’ Castille had named it. They’d been treated like dogs.
He’d met Tulli a few times since her ordeal, and every time he did, he wondered how she and her sisters had survived it.
The whole mission had left a lasting mark on Hollywood, so much so that his encounters with women since that operation had been few and far between, and only when he’d given in to the need for a physical release.