by Beth Abbott
“You seriously think this chick has been sunning herself in the Med?” Kellen laughed. “I’ve a friend who is Albino and has more colour. This woman doesn’t look like she’s seen a ray of sunshine since she hit puberty.”
“It’s her heritage.” Logan insisted. “Russian women think pale equals interesting, and skinny is sexy. She’s probably made herself bulimic trying to stay that thin.”
Hollywood was shocked at the fury behind Logan’s words, and the silence that followed told him that he wasn’t the only one. Kris and Yuri didn’t look happy, but they said nothing.
“Logan, we’ve worked really hard, not just to get a foot in the door, or to have you guys inserted as our eyes on the ground, but to do so in such a way as to make your insertion as safe as possible.” Hannah said quietly, but with something in her voice that Hollywood could only describe as pure steel. “If you have any sort of problem with Nikita Federova, I suggest you make it known now, because if you’re caught looking at her or speaking about her with the contempt you’re displaying now, I guarantee that you’ll end up suffering a very slow and painful death at the hands of Ilya or his men.”
“You don’t need to worry about me, lady.” Logan bristled. “I can look out for myself.”
“I’m sure you’re well capable of taking care of yourself in the right circumstances.” Hannah nodded. “My concern is for the team-mates that you could take down with you, if those circumstances go against you because of that sneer you have on your face.”
Hollywood watched Hannah walk up to Logan, all five feet nothing of her, and get right into his personal space.
“Tell me you can handle your shit, Logan, or by Christ I’ll have you off this team and out of this company so fast it’ll leave you with a nose bleed.”
There was a general team wide examination of the tablets in front of them, as most people did their damnedest to avoid making eye contact with Logan.
Not Hollywood. He stared at the asshole to see how he would respond to the Queen of Badass.
Logan blushed as he realised he was being slapped down by a woman the size of your average twelve-year-old.
“I can deal with my shit.” Logan bit out. “Federov will find nothing in my attitude to complain about.”
“And his sister?” Hannah continued to push him. “Will you be polite to her.”
“As the need arises.” Logan nodded. “Not that I’ll have much need to speak to her.”
Hannah stared him down, but Hollywood didn’t see the man blink.
“I hope for everybody’s sake that you’re right.” Hannah said quietly, before turning away. “Everything you need to learn is on those tablets. Learn it all by tomorrow. There will be a test.”
Hollywood watched in admiration as the little spitfire walked from the conference room without a backward glance.
He shook his head in amazement.
No wonder everyone referred to her as the heart and soul of the Alpha Stalwart family. Not because she was a genius, and not because she really was the Queen of Badass.
But because she really cared about all of them, even though she’d only just met them a few weeks ago.
He wondered idly whether Hannah would take this issue with Logan straight home to Danny, or whether she would deal with it herself.
Hollywood chuckled to himself, ignoring the stares of his team-mates. He guessed he’d know if Hannah had involved Danny by whether Logan had any teeth left in the morning, or maybe the odd black eye or two.
At the moment, he reckoned it could go either way.
Chapter 10 –JT
“It’s not going to work.” Hannah flopped down into a seat in JT’s Guardians’ office, and closed her eyes, rubbing her temples as though to ease an aching head.
“Care to be more specific?” JT watched her intently, not used to seeing Hannah be negative, or act in any way defeatist. “Are we talking about the new microwave oven the guy is fitting into the staff kitchen as we speak? Or something a little more life-threatening?”
“You can jest!” Hannah growled. “But I am indeed referring to something life-threatening, and the lives in question are our new Guardians.”
JT stared at Hannah in surprise.
“Ok, I’m all ears.” He sat back in his chair. “What’s on your mind?”
Hannah stopped rubbing her temples and opened her mouth to speak, before pausing and shutting it again.
In JT’s experience, that meant that Hannah had been about to let loose a tirade, and she was even now trying to temper her words to make them more balanced.
“What do you think of Logan?” When she finally spoke, Hannah’s words left him stunned.
“Logan?” JT asked, more than a little confused. “He’s a fine soldier, or, I should say, he ‘was’ a fine soldier before he left the military. He came to us by way of Delta company, and all of the reports from his peers and superiors speak of a great team player, a man of courage and integrity, and someone you can turn to in a jam. I wouldn’t have hired him otherwise. Why?”
“Did you ever hear anything about a problem with his attitude towards women?” Hannah asked, frowning.
“What attitude?” JT leaned forward now, frowning as hard as Hannah. “Has he been rude to you? Disrespectful?”
Hannah shook her head.
“Not rude to me, exactly.” She explained. “But I was telling them about Ilya Federov and his sister Nikita, and the comments Logan made about Nikita were absolutely awful. He had nothing but contempt for her, and worse, he seemed to have made up his mind already that she must be as big a scumbag as her big brother, if not bigger. He doesn’t even know the full facts.”
“Do we know that she’s any different?” JT asked.
“JT, that’s not the point!” Hannah protested. “It doesn’t matter what she is or isn’t, or whether she’s straight out of the convent or a devil in hot-pants. What matters is that Logan can’t go around scowling at her and treating her with contempt. The essential point is that she’s Ilya’s sister, and the Guardians have to treat her with neutrality or risk putting the whole mission in jeopardy.”
JT nodded, but stayed silent for a moment, unsure what he could share with Hannah.
“I’ve never known Logan to be disrespectful like that, but I do know of something in his past that might influence his thinking in this case.” JT admitted. “I’ll speak to him about it, and make sure it won’t affect his performance.”
Hannah stared at JT for several seconds before her jaw dropped open in surprise.
“That’s it?” She huffed. “You know of something that could affect this operation, but you’re not going to share it with me? You’re just going to ‘speak to him about it’?”
JT knew Hannah didn’t like people keeping secrets from her, but sometimes there were things you just couldn’t share.
“I don’t think Logan is going to be a problem to you or the operation, Hannah.” He shrugged. “I’m sorry I can’t give you any more detail than that, but you’ll just have to take my word for it. It won’t affect how you go about doing your job.”
Hannah sat in his office glaring at him, leaving JT in no doubt she was well on the way to an eruption. What he wasn’t sure about was whether he should be preparing for evacuation, or whether earplugs would suffice.
“How many years have we worked together.” Hannah asked quietly, taking him by surprise.
“I’m not sure.” JT shrugged. “Maybe ten or eleven?”
“And in all that time, have I ever given you any reason to believe that I can’t be relied upon to keep something confidential?” Hannah continued. “Have you a reason to not trust me?”
“None whatsoever.” JT leaned his arms on the desk. “But I also have to respect that our employees have a right to confidentiality as well, and that includes who their information is shared with within the company. You know that, Hannah.”
“Even if it could have consequences for the operation?” Hannah asked. “For the safety of the
men?”
“I understand your concerns, honey, I really do.” JT nodded. “And I will speak to Logan myself to see if there is really anything to worry about. But I don’t think there is. And once I’ve confirmed that, I’ll give Logan the green light to carry on as planned.”
Hannah continued to stare at JT, and once again, he felt uncomfortable under her scrutiny.
“I have worked this case from the beginning, nurturing the relationship with the contact, getting everything to do with the Guardians up and running, and getting the fake auction set up.” Hannah pointed out. “And you expect me to take your word for it that Logan, about whom I have serious reservations, is fit for duty, simply because you’re going to have a little ‘chat’ with him?”
“Hannah, I…” JT didn’t get a chance to finish.
“Because, I am not prepared to put our team’s lives, or the lives of all those women, on the line. Especially not if you’re going to brush real issues under the carpet and pretend your little Delta buddy just needs a little ‘chat’ to get him on board!” Every word was now coming from between Hannah’s gritted teeth. “Because if this is more than an attitude problem, and we’re talking about a veteran with PTSD, then you owe it to Logan, me, and the rest of the team to make sure that we do something to help him, and not put him in a situation which will cause him further problems and endanger our men.”
JT stared at Hannah, and could never recall having seen her so angry, and, well, hurt.
“Hannah, I honestly don’t think that’s what we’re looking at, and you might be seeing problems that don’t exist because you’re so vested in this operation.” He said calmly. “But, just in case it is in any way a factor, will you accept my assurance that I will explore the possibility with Logan when I see him. If necessary, I’ll insist he has a conversation with Drew, so I can get a second opinion before I send him out into the field.”
Hannah bit her lip before finally nodding.
“Ok. I’ll trust that you will speak to Logan, and you’ll involve Drew if there’s the slightest suspicion of PTSD or other psychological problems.” She stood up. “But can I just remind you, that while the decision rests with you, so does the responsibility. As an employee of the company, I believe I have the right to voice my concerns, and I’m formally notifying you, as my employer, that I have very serious concerns which I expect you to take seriously. If you send Logan on this mission and it all turns to shit, and people get killed, then the buck stops with you, JT. You need to decide whether those shoulders of yours are still wide enough to carry that sort of responsibility.”
Hannah didn’t wait for him to respond, she just stood and walked from the room, leaving JT feeling like crap.
Logan was entitled to his privacy, but Hannah was JT’s equal, in every way that mattered.
Should he have explained to her what Logan’s problem was?
He picked up his phone and called up Logan’s contact details.
“My office. Now!” He typed and sent the message before he could call it back.
Hannah was right. If Logan fucked up this operation and men got killed, it would be on JT’s watch, and he was damned if he was going to let that happen.
He needed to get to the bottom of what was going on with the Scot, and then he had to go and apologise to Hannah.
He called up his contacts again and hit the call button. The call connected within two rings.
“Drew? I’ve got a problem that requires your expertise. Can you meet me in my Guardians office right away?”
Chapter 11 – Niko
“You wanted to see me?” Niko asked her brother, speaking in English as they always did so that his men wouldn’t know what they were talking about. Niko was wary as to why her brother had called her to his nightclub in the middle of the day. “Is it urgent? Only I’ve got a lot to get done today.”
Ilya turned to scowl at her, before turning to Drago, his right-hand man.
“D’you hear that, man? My little sister thinks she’s the only one who’s busy around here?” He sneered, the expression just pulling the scar down his face tighter, making it appear even whiter against his tanned skin as he turned back to her. “You think I sit on my ass all day and wait for people to do all the work for me?”
“You know that’s not what I said, and it’s certainly not what I meant, Ilya.” Niko frowned. “I work my ass off too, doing the best I can for you and the business. But you know how I hate to be interrupted, as it throws my whole day out. I like to pick Roman up at five o’clock every day. He needs the stability.”
“He gets stability from Noni.” Ilya pointed out. “She looks after him every day, so he’s used to spending time with her.”
“But I’m his mother.” Even though Niko knew he was trying to goad her, she couldn’t help but rise to the bait. Roman was her son, not Ilya’s, and certainly not Noni’s, and Niko refused to let anyone else make decisions about his welfare or upbringing, no matter how dangerous it was to argue with her brother.
She glanced at Drago, but his face remained completely neutral.
Drago had only been on the scene a few years, having quickly risen through the ranks of her brother’s men once Ilya realised the guy was not only built like an ox, but was smart with it.
He could be an Ok guy when her brother wasn’t around, treating her almost like she was his own kid sister. In fact, when her brother wasn’t around, and Drago could relax a little, she thought he quite reminded her of a short-haired Charlie Hunnam, the British actor who starred in that American biker series Ilya liked to watch. Smart and kinda sexy.
Unfortunately, when Ilya was present, which was most of the time, Drago was her brother’s guy, and Niko had better not forget it.
“Yes, I think we’ve established you gave birth to Roman.” Ilya nodded. “And you’re going to have a lot more time to spend with him this week.”
Niko looked at her brother strangely, waiting for him to finish the thought.
Ilya could be serious one minute, joking the next, teasing or tormenting her, depending on what mood he was in.
“Are you going to keep being cryptic, or are you going to explain whatever it is that’s on your mind?” Niko asked, trying to keep the attitude from her voice.
Ilya shrugged, as though the whole conversation was starting to bore him.
“Noni has been taken to hospital.” He informed her, as though the act of speaking was too dull to bother with.
Niko’s immediate response was one of elation, that her beautiful child would be away from the old crone for a few days, but then she realised that was not the reaction she was expected to have.
“Really? Poor Noni. What’s wrong with her?” She tried to sound sympathetic.
Drago caught her eye and with his back to Ilya, he flashed her a wide grin, his green eyes lighting up with mirth, telling her he knew exactly how much she hated the old woman.
“Maybe appendicitis?” Ilya guessed. “Anyway, it seems certain she won’t be around to take care of Roman this week.”
Niko’s heart stopped. Was Ilya suggesting that she stay home and look after her son instead of accompanying him on the auction trip?
“So, he’ll have to come with us.” Ilya announced. “Vanya can look after him while you’re busy with your duties, and then when you’ve finished, I’ll have Vanya available to take care of me.”
Vanya was Ilya’s latest whore, and though Niko had nothing personal against the woman, if Ilya’s boasting was anything to go by, the only two things she seemed to have a talent for were blow-jobs and anal sex. Childcare hadn’t appeared on her CV once.
“Does Vanya know how to take care of a child?” Niko frowned at her brother. “I’m not sure if I trust her with Roman. He has too many allergies and dietary needs which I don’t think she’ll be able to cope with.”
“Well, she’s been looking after him for the last two hours and he hasn’t come to any harm yet.” Ilya grinned. “And unless you want to stay here with Roman w
hile we take the cargo to Rotterdam, then there’s not much alternative. Of course, I can’t guarantee that my men won’t take advantage if you’re not there to stop them. You know what they’re like if they’re left to their own devices.”
Niko knew he was goading her, but she also knew he was right.
Ilya didn’t pay too much attention to the condition of the women when they reached the selling point, but he was at least prepared to humour Niko when she argued that the product was more valuable if it wasn’t bruised and battered. It helped sway Ilya that Drago had backed her up.
Niko had insisted it was more important to their clients to receive quality merchandise, so if she told the men to back the fuck off and keep their hands and other body parts away from the cargo, then with Ilya’s backing, and Drago’s fierce glare, that was exactly what they did.
This trip was more important to Ilya than ever, because of the new partners who were arranging an auction to sell the women. Depending on how things panned out, this could be either the first of what could be many auctions, or it could be the one and only, but either way, it was crucial that she be around to stop the women from coming to any harm. She had explained this to Ilya until she was blue in the face, but the only words she’d really needed to repeat were ‘more valuable’.
In the past, Ilya had been happy to sell the women to the brothels and pimps in the big cities in France, Holland, Belgium, and Germany. England was another ideal destination in Ilya’s opinion, but getting the cargo into the UK was always much more problematic.
When they’d been contacted by a trusted acquaintance, who claimed to have an auctioneer and big-spending buyers available, the potential to make five or ten times the money for each of the women was too much for Ilya to resist.
Niko had been the one to see the real opportunity such an alliance would create, and it had taken almost six months of negotiations to reach this point. She was not going to have it fucked up by not being there for the final delivery.