by Beth Abbott
“Soon?” Niko wondered what he was talking about. The trip was supposed to last another five days according to the original schedule.
“We’ll be in Rotterdam before you know it.” He reassured her.
“I guess we will.” Niko lowered her eyes, so she didn’t have to lie straight to his face. “Good for us at least, but not so much for those women.”
She lay quietly for a few minutes, while Hollywood ran his fingers up and down her arm, almost as though he was distracted by something.
“What will you do when the auction is over? Do you have another job lined up?” She asked.
“There are always jobs lined up.” Hollywood smiled. “Whether we want to do them or not, they’re there. What about you? Will you get a few days off?”
Niko looked at him like he’d grown another head.
“Do you think Ilya gives me weekends off?” She laughed. “You think national holidays and stuff like Christmas come into Ilya’s head? I work whenever he tells me to, and I stop when he doesn’t have anything left he wants me to do.”
“You shouldn’t have to put up with that.” Hollywood growled. “You should be free to go where you like, when you like.”
“How? Where would I get the money?” Niko hissed, trying not to get upset. “It’s a bit hard to travel with no ticket and no money in your pocket to buy one.”
“Let me buy you a ticket.” Hollywood ran his hand down her arm and slid his fingers around her hand, lifting it to his mouth to kiss her fingertips. “Pick a destination and I’ll get you there.”
“Antarctica.” Niko said quickly and then grinned. “Hollywood, I don’t have my passport, so unless Ilya is with me, I can’t go anywhere. The same goes for Roman. Plus, don’t forget there’s the lack of money, even if I could get somewhere. I’ve always wondered whether there was an inheritance I should have received, but I’ve never been brave enough to ask Ilya about it. And even if I could find where my parent’s money was, I doubt there’d be anything left for me.”
“Were they rich?” Hollywood asked.
“Not at all.” Niko shook her head. “But my mama always said that papa had insurance. If anything happened to them, we’d be Ok. But something did happen, and I’ve never been further from Ok.”
Hollywood wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer.
“You shouldn’t have to live like this.” He growled, and she could almost feel the anger rippling off his body.
Niko lifted her hand and rested it on his chest.
“I’ll do something about it when the time is right.” She whispered, desperately wishing she could trust him enough to confide in him what was going on.
Sadly, she knew that if she told him anything, he would have no choice but to tell his team-mates what she was doing, and while she trusted Hollywood and Kellen, she didn’t really know the others. They might think more of protecting their employers’ interests than of helping her and the women.
If she was going to tell him, and she knew she would have to, if only to stop him getting hurt, then she was going to leave it until the last moment, to give herself the best chance of getting them all to safety.
“You know you can always come to me for help.” Hollywood assured her. “You only have to ask, and I promise you I’ll be there for you.”
Niko looked into his eyes and the sincerity she saw there brought tears to her own.
“You’re a good man, Hollywood.” She smiled, realising that his given name couldn’t be Hollywood. Was it his last name?
“Hollywood? What is your proper name?” She watched his grin appear.
“My name is Landon Hillwood, named after my granddaddy.” He laughed. “Although if you actually asked my team-mates they’d tell you it was Don Hillwood, which was what my mom always called me. Hollywood was my call-sign when I was in the military, given to me by an officer on my very first day, because he said I showed up looking like I just stepped off a film-set, with not a crease in my uniform, and a hundred-dollar haircut.”
“Landon Hillwood.” She tried out his name to see how it rolled of her tongue. “I like it. It’s strong and honest. Like you.”
Hollywood leaned down and kissed her softly, and she wondered if it was to conceal his blush.
Before she could think any more about it, there was a banging sound, and a man’s voice yelling her name impatiently.
“Shit! Ilya’s here.” She mumbled, reaching for her jeans and hoodie, and pulling them on quickly, as Hollywood reached for his boots.
He pushed the door open and jumped out before she could get her trainers on.
“Who are you?” She heard Ilya demand.
“I’m one of the security team.” Hollywood said reasonably. “I’m also the driver of one of your trucks.”
“Yeah?” Ilya wasn’t impressed. “And where’s my sister? Have you been fucking her?”
“She was in the back with Roman.” Hollywood’s voice had an edge to it now. “I had to get out for her to be able to climb over the seats to climb out. She wouldn’t be able to get across the front seats with me still lying on them. And no, I haven’t been fucking her.”
“Ilya? What’s going on?” Niko dropped to the ground. “Why are you giving the driver a hard time? He hasn’t done anything wrong.”
“No?” Ilya stared at her, glancing between the two of them. “Are you sure about that? It must be quite cosy in there.”
“Either the driver or his team-mate have slept in the cab every night.” Niko snapped at him. “They’ve been protecting the truck and making sure your goons don’t get anywhere near me at the same time. Not that you’d care that your thugs have repeatedly made it clear what they’d like to do to me given half a chance, but if you’d actually been here, you might at least know that much.”
Niko didn’t see Ilya’s hand shoot out and grab her face, but the next second, he was gripping her chin tightly enough to leave a bruise. His face was so close to hers she could smell his rancid breath, leaving her guessing that he hadn’t bothered to pack a toothbrush.
“Maybe I told my men that they could have you as a reward.” He smiled into her face, and Niko wondered if he may be telling the truth. “After all, I agreed that you could have these assholes protect the cargo, but I don’t remember saying anything about them protecting you.”
As much as Ilya was invading her personal space and intimidating her with his threats, Niko wasn’t particularly worried about it, as this wasn’t the first time he’d acted out this way. He liked to show his men that he had complete control of every aspect of his life, and that included his women.
In contrast, her skin was almost scorched by the fury rolling off Hollywood, and she prayed he wouldn’t interfere or lose his temper.
Ilya was just being Ilya, but Hollywood wouldn’t necessarily know that.
Luckily for them both, her brother lost interest in his little game at that moment, and released her face, allowing Niko to flex her jaw again.
“Was there actually something you wanted?” She asked, wanting to keep his attention away from Hollywood.
“What?” Ilya looked at her strangely. “Oh, yeah! I was just going to tell you that I have some more business to take care of today, so Drago and I will be taking a slight detour. I’ll meet you in Budapest, but not until late tonight.”
“More drugs?” The words came out of her mouth before she could stop them.
Instead of exploding, Ilya laughed.
“Drugs, guns… women? Does it matter?” He shrugged, turning away from her. “Make sure you leave here on schedule. I want you in Budapest before nightfall.”
She watched him climb into his car where Drago was already waiting for him.
Before he was out of the warehouse, Hollywood reached for her face.
“You should put some of Kellen’s balm on that to bring out the bruise.” He growled.
Niko stepped back, aware that some of Ilya’s men were now awake and watching them, and Hollywood’s hand drop
ped to his side.
“I’m fine.” She said quietly. “I’m going to check on the women. Can you keep watch over Roman until I get back?”
“Sure.” Hollywood nodded.
Niko headed for the building, desperately trying not to let the tears fall.
If everything went to plan, that might be the last time she ever laid eyes on her brother.
Were they tears of sadness? She mused. Hell, NO!
Chapter 54 – Hollywood
“Is everything ready?” Hollywood murmured into his phone, one eye on the child sleeping next to him.
“Everything we can possibly think of.” Hannah confirmed, sounding utterly exhausted. “Of course, we can’t plan for every eventuality, because when you’re dealing with a narcissistic psychopath like Ilya, the possibilities for change are literally endless.”
“The latest is that he’s detouring along the route to meet someone about another deal he’s cooking up.” Hollywood confirmed. “Niko tried to ask him what the product was, but he wasn’t letting on. It could be drugs, or guns, even. We just don’t know what he’s up to. All we know is that he’ll be arriving late tonight.”
“That’s a damn nuisance.” Hannah sighed. “The Hungarian Special Forces team was hoping to have everyone inside the warehouse before they moved in. That way there’s less chance of them being spotted before they’re in position.”
“I can’t even tell you which direction he’ll be coming from.” Hollywood sighed. “Is there no way you can intercept him?”
“I’m not sure. I’ll have to check with the locals whether they can get a roadblock set up once you guys are all inside the warehouse.” Hannah confirmed. “Although from my memory of the map, the roads around the warehouse are very busy. He’d have to be pretty close to the warehouse before he could be stopped, and by then he’d probably be close enough to raise the alarm.”
“Well, if I hear any more I’ll let you know.” Hollywood shrugged, knowing there wasn’t much more he could do. “Do we know which of our guys are coming in with the Hungarian SF team?”
“Yeah, Alex and Jordan are already on the ground.” Hannah confirmed.
“Is Alex fit again?” Hollywood frowned. “He was still having physio on his shoulder last time I spoke to him.”
“He wouldn’t have been fit enough to rope in, that’s for sure.” Hannah chuckled. “But as that’s not necessary, he’s been passed 90% fit, which is about as good as he’s going to get. Luckily it doesn’t affect his ability to shoot or hold a rifle, so he won’t be limited. Besides, Sophia has flown over there with Ellen, so she can be on hand to check out the women’s health as soon as the situation on the ground is stable. You don’t seriously think he was going to let her fly out without him, do you? They’re still in the honeymoon phase.”
Hollywood chuckled. Hannah did have a point.
“So, Ellen is here as well, hmm?” Hollywood couldn’t help but marvel how all the Alpha-Stalwart women managed to get right in the thick of the action. “No Luke?”
“It was either Ellen or twelve separate translators. Not too difficult a decision really.” Hannah pointed out. “And Luke’s not there because his parents are on a cruise, and someone had to stay home and look after their kids. Two sets of twins are a bit much to foist on friends for days on end, even if they are great kids.”
Hollywood couldn’t imagine having one set of twins, let alone two.
“Anyway, Ellen won’t be on site while there’s still any danger.” Hannah explained. “She’ll stay on the fringes with Sophia, and only come in when all the action is over. Her main role will be to help interview the women after they’re rescued, to figure out where they all came from.”
“Fair enough.” Hollywood shrugged.
“Have you decided whether or not Niko is our informant yet?” Hannah pressed. “We’ve continued to get messages from them, right up until early this morning. They know what’s going to happen later, or the outline of it, anyway.”
“I honestly don’t know, but I can’t risk telling her anything yet in case she’s not. It’s so frustrating!” Hollywood ran his fingers through his hair. “Either way, I’ll wait until the last minute before I tell her. She’ll need to know so that she can protect herself and Roman.”
“Do you really think she’d tell Ilya if she knew what the plan was?” Hannah asked. “I thought you said she hated his world and was desperate to get out.”
“She does hate it, and she is desperate to get out.” Hollywood confirmed. “But she’s also petrified that he’d try and take Roman from her somehow, and she struggles to trust anyone. If she thought that our plan might go wrong, and Ilya could snatch her son away from her as a result, then there’s no saying what she would do in fear. She’s a mom, first and foremost. Roman’s safety is always her priority.”
“I understand where she’s coming from.” Hannah sighed. “Ok, then I’ll leave it up to you to get the timing right of when you tell her. Call me as soon as you arrive to give me a full description of the interior of the building. I need to know the layout and details of any new interior walls. I have the original blueprints, but they might have altered the layout in the fifty years since it was built.”
“Will do.” Hollywood said distractedly, watching as Roman started to stretch himself awake. “Gotta go.”
“Ok, talk soon.” Hannah confirmed before disconnecting the call.
Hollywood watched as Roman stretched again before opening his eyes.
“Hey, buddy.” He smiled. “Had a good sleep?”
Roman looked up at him with sleepy eyes.
“I gotta pee.” He said by way of a ‘good morning’.
Hollywood chuckled, before leaning down and picking the child up.
“Let’s get you to the bathroom.” He grabbed Roman’s shoes and slipped them on, not wanting the kid to go anywhere near the filthy bathroom in his bare feet.
He climbed down and spotted Kris and Kellen sitting guarding the entrance to where the women were being held.
Kellen met him halfway, taking Roman from him and turning the kid upside down, making him giggle.
“He needs the bathroom, so you might want to get him there before we have any little accidents.” Hollywood grinned.
“And you might want to speak to Kris and Yuri, as they’ve got some information you’ll want to pass on to Hannah.” He turned and walked towards the bathroom.
Hollywood glanced over to where his team-mates were standing guard, outside the door to the women’s ‘quarters’.
Kris stood up and walked towards him.
“News?” He asked when Kris was close enough to hear him.
“More like gossip.” Kris smiled. “But worth feeding up the line.”
Hollywood wasn’t big on gossip but was a firm believer in there not being any smoke without fire.
“What have you got for me?” He shoved his hands in his pockets to make it seem like they were just having a casual chat.
“Ok, well, Yuri and I have been very careful to only speak English in front of the guys in our truck. As they don’t know our names and have no idea of our background, I can only assume that Niko has kept that piece of information to herself.” He explained. “They speak a little English, enough for us to get by, so we haven’t had to resort to speaking Russian at all. Yuri even blanked them when they tried to engage him by calling him some rather unpleasant names, which I think has convinced them that we’re clueless as to what they’re saying.”
“Unpleasant names?” Hollywood grinned.
“Yeah.” Kris laughed. “They told him our mother was as ugly as a pig, and so short our father had to fuck her on his knees.”
“Nice.” Hollywood pulled a face. “And Yuri managed to not respond to that?”
Kris shrugged.
“As well as being quite pretty, our mother was almost six feet tall, and ruled the house with an iron fist.” He grinned. “Whilst I’ve never previously speculated on it, I’m guessing that my fa
ther would have fucked her exactly the way she told him to.”
Hollywood chuckled. Parental sex wasn’t something he’d ever given a thought to. Certainly, it was nowhere he’d want his thoughts to go to voluntarily.
“So, they don’t know you speak Russian, hmm? I’m guessing the point you’re going the long way to get to, is that they’ve had some sort of conversation in Russian that you’ve overheard which is of interest.” He suggested. “Something that could have an effect on our plans?”
“Yeah, one of them was talking about Ilya and some business deal he’s got on today.” Kris glanced around to make sure nobody else was in listening distance. “Apparently, this shipment is all about weapons like the ones we appropriated last night.”
“The AK-9’s? They all looked like they were military grade.” Hollywood frowned. “Like they’d been stolen straight from the Russian army or something.”
“Yeah, well it’s not just the AK-9’s. There are rockets and God knows what else. And from what these guys were saying, the Russian army is exactly where they’ve gotten them from, although Ilya is actually buying them from a third party.” Kris explained. “The problem is that he’s picking them up tonight with some of his goons, so there’s a good chance that they’ll bring them back here afterwards.”
“What are the chances that they won’t get their new toys out and start playing with them?” Hollywood wondered.
“Somewhere between nil and zero?” Kris snorted.
“The only thing we don’t know is what time they’re due to get back.” Kris scowled. “If it’s before us, then we’re fucked.”
“He told Niko that he wants us at the warehouse by dusk.” Hollywood remembered. “If I recall, the next part of the journey is a bit of a crawl, but as long as we leave early enough, there’s no reason we won’t be there by late afternoon, even with moderate traffic.”
“Then we need to let Hannah know what they might be facing on arrival.” Kris nodded. “They won’t want any surprises of the AK or rocket variety.”
“If we’re going to be of any help, it would be a good idea to have our new toys loaded and ready before we leave this morning.” Hollywood pointed out. “We might not get a chance later on.”