by Anna Antonia
Marcus knocked on the door and opened it a brief moment later.
“It’s time, Elaine.”
She inhaled deeply, as if trying to prepare herself for what was to come next. “Thomas is there?”
“He’s on route. The packages are in play.”
“Good. You’ll follow behind us. Prepare her. Take care of her with your life, Marcus.”
“Of course.”
Elaine studied me beneath a placid gaze. Now I knew what roiled beneath the calm façade. Pain. Terrible, soul-draining pain.
“Thank you for everything you’ve done, Risa. It was never fair to ask it of you, but I appreciate your sacrifice more than I can ever truly convey. Thank you.”
I pressed my lips together. I couldn’t break down in tears. She didn’t need that from me. Elaine needed my compassion. Not my argument. She wasn’t to be swayed. But how could I just not even try?
What was the right thing to do? Fight her or respect her choice? Save her or lose Damian?
“You’re welcome, Elaine. I would do it all over again.” I chewed on my lip then blurted out, “I’m pregnant. Damian’s going to be a father. Which makes you this baby’s grand—”
“No.” The one word shot through like a bullet. “I am not anything to you and your family, Risa.”
“That’s not true.” Logically, I understood her denial but it hurt still the same.
“My actions may not make sense, Risa, but know they are done with love for Damian…and you…and your little one.”
“Elaine, you’re breaking my heart—”
“I know I don’t deserve this confession, but I needed someone to know. You’ve been both—the wife and mistress. You understand how badly it hurt to be forgotten and thrown away. I…I regret what I did, but I never regretted loving Damian. One day, far from now, deliver my message to him. Let him know I loved him with all of my heart. Will you do that for me, Risa?”
Tears ran unchecked down my face. “Of course, I will.”
“I’ll see you in four hours.” Elaine straightened her coat. “How do I look?”
“Beautiful.”
A ghost of a smile touched the perfect line of her pink lipstick. “Good.” She nodded, granting me another tragic smile. “Take care of him, Risa. Give him all the life I couldn’t.”
Elaine walked out of the room, head held high.
I waited until the echo of her heels faded. “Marcus, this is a suicide mission for her. We can’t let that happen.”
He didn’t show a change in emotion. “It’s her decision.”
“I know! But it’s the wrong one, Marcus!” I composed myself, angrily wiping the tears that wouldn’t stop. “She doesn’t deserve to die for making a mistake.”
“No, she doesn’t.”
“Then help me stop this!”
Marcus tilted his head. “Saving Elaine could put this entire mission in jeopardy. She’s worked too hard to throw it all away. Your emotions are taking control and clouding your judgment.”
“My emotions are what gives me strength. They’re telling me this is wrong. We can save them both.”
“Be that as it may, I need to you change into this suit, Miss Kelly. As always, time is ticking.”
Frustrated, I took the black jacket and pants along with the crisp white shirt. I didn’t have to question if I had enough precious time to change in privacy.
“I’m not done talking about Elaine.”
“I hardly expect you to be.” He turned around and gave me his back.
“There has to be something else I can do, Marcus. Or you.”
“What if I say there is?”
“Then let me hear it!”
“Let’s get to the site and I’ll let you know what I’ve come up with. Deal?”
“Marcus, come on. For once, stop being cryptic. We don’t have the time.”
“Exactly.” He then threw out, “Have faith, Miss Kelly. In the end, it will all work out. You’ll see.”
“I’ll hold you to that.”
“I expect you will.”
Adrenaline took over. I stripped down to my undergarments and quickly put the suit on.
It felt different. Stiffer.
“Did you have these starched?”
“It’s bullet proof.”
“The jacket or the whole thing?”
“The whole thing.”
“You’re serious?” Incredulous, I gaped at the outfit. “How can something this thin stop a bullet?”
“Cutting edge technology.”
I shook my head. “What kind of world do you live in, Marcus?”
“One that you’ll get to leave by the end of tonight.”
56
DAMIAN
After going down a rutted country path for seven minutes and twenty seconds, we arrived at the site. It looked to be an old paper mill. Darkness enveloped everything the scattered work lights didn’t touch.
The SUVs rolled to a stop just outside the circle of one large lamp.
The driver sprang out of his seat and popped open the door. I got out, conscious of Sascha and Ivan following behind me. The hair on the back of my neck sprang to attention.
Although I couldn’t see anyone I felt eyes on me. We were being watched, but it hadn’t erupted into an ambush.
Not yet.
The Volkovs positioned themselves, spreading their pattern into the shadows. I stood in their midst.
Sascha addressed me only to say, “Be ready to make the transfer.”
I clenched my cell. It galled me that my Risa had become a product for sale because of me.
I would make it right for her, even if I had to die. I faced death once before. I was ready to face it again, paying the price with my life as long as it meant Risa was free.
Hold on a little longer, my love.
57
RISA
High above in one of the mill offices, I watched Damian with hungry eyes.
Even at this distance I could see he looked feral, worse than he did at the aquarium. I ached to hold him in my arms, to soothe the sickening fear he’d been forced to live with ever since I walked off the property.
Probably longer than that.
It was true. Damian didn’t know what true freedom felt like. Except when he was with me. No wonder he refused to let me go. I was his link to a life he never dared allow himself to have.
The pain and pleasure he courted with me, all of it was a fantasy he indulged in bed. Outside of it, Damian had to keep all the pieces hidden so no one would know him.
His name.
His fears.
His love.
This man who had a beautiful life on the surface lived with razor awareness that none of it was true.
Infinitely aware of the child within my womb, I prayed we’d all survive to meet each other.
The office door flew open. Thomas strode through straight to Elaine. His clothes were rumpled and he looked like he hadn’t slept in days. From the look on his face, I hoped he was about to dissuade Elaine from her suicidal plan.
Instead they both exchanged a nod.
“Thank you, my friend, for all you’ve done.”
His pale mouth parted slightly, as if he wanted to say something. Whatever it may have been was lost when Elaine’s phone rang.
My pulse quickened. Things were winding down and I felt so out of control. There were too many variables and unknowns.
Looking back down at my Damian, I focused my thoughts and emotions on him.
“I love you.”
Three words to say everything I felt.
Damian Black-Price.
My beautiful sun.
My mysterious moon.
My infinite heaven.
My sinful hell.
My glorious eternity.
A touch on my shoulder and then a whisper, “Miss Kelly—do you still want to save them all?”
Wide-eyed, I nodded.
“This is how you’ll do it.”
58
> DAMIAN
More work lights lit up at the same time. I resisted the urge to cover my eyes, not trusting those around me to avoid taking advantage. Still, it took a long minute before my sight partially adjusted.
“Make the transfer.”
I wasn’t in the best position to negotiate or stall, but I said, “Not until I see her.”
“She’s already there.”
I squinted, damning the spots ruining my view. Then out of the darkness and harsh lighting, I saw her.
Dressed in a suit, hair pulled back, and face set in stone, Risa took my breath away. I wanted to charge towards her and yank her to me.
The rage and bitterness I carried against her dissolved. I didn’t care anymore what she did or didn’t do towards me. My love for Risa was greater. I simply wanted to pay her ransom and take her far away from the ugliness in my life.
Risa didn’t deserve this. She deserved a life where she had a husband, children, and the eternal sunshine of true love.
I’d give it to her if it was the last thing I or any of these motherfuckers did.
Looking to my left and right, I saw Volkovs flanking me from every angle. Their weapons were drawn. The message was clear.
I was as much a hostage as Risa.
Elaine’s pale hair caught my attention.
A thousand memories of her scorched through me. She had taught me all I knew of life. She’d been the hand to shape me as much, if not more, than my father.
I’d hated her for weeks, but now that the end was near, all I could feel was suffering and grief.
Where did I lose her?
“I still don’t see my transfer, Damian,” she called out in her typically emotionless tone.
I was never going to get a satisfactory answer, I knew that, but some small lost part of me wanted to know when did I fail her.
How did the decades we spent together not mean to her what they meant to me?
There was nothing for it. The woman I thought I knew was gone. She probably never was.
Pulling out my cell, I quickly made the transfer.
“It’s done.”
Elaine’s cool amusement floated towards me. “Very good, Damian. I’m pleased you saw reason.”
She moved out of the shadows and walked closer to me. Risa moved alongside her in unison. Her expression remained tense. She was pale, too pale. Obvious fear caused her gaze to keep darting about.
This was the moment for me to let my rage against Elaine and Thomas overcome me. Perhaps give a few pointed words to him because I was sure Thomas wasn’t too far from here. Not when money was concerned.
I didn’t want to. I simply wanted to put this behind me.
Vengeance didn’t appeal when faced with the shell I’d cared for my whole life.
“Let her go, Elaine. You’ve got your money. You have everything you want now.”
“True, but not yet.” She walked until she was halfway between me and her starting point. The scene felt familiar to the one I experienced with my father.
No.
They were nothing alike.
Focus on your objective. Getting Risa out of here safely. If you’re collateral damage, so be it.
“Goodbye, Damian.”
59
RISA
We were surrounded.
High above us and tucked in every nook and cranny, a small army of corrupt FBI officials lay in wait.
Elaine knew this because she orchestrated it. Grigor and Elaine’s plans, set in motion nearly thirty years before, were about to be fulfilled. She had one last role to play.
The White Queen was about to be taken.
Marcus explained it to me in those too-short moments before she ended her call. I could barely contain my shock, but I believed every word.
Elaine traded herself for this deal. In order to free Damian, and by extension Leon, she was to die. With Thomas’s help, she laid down a perfect trail of paperwork and witnesses who would testify that it was never Damian who authorized the trackers.
It was all Elaine. Thomas would be exonerated of any wrongdoing. This was also by design because Damian needed someone to watch over him. But it would only be from a distance now.
She even set up accounts to prove she’d been embezzling money from Damian for years. He’d gotten too close to discovering the truth so she used his trust to set him up by stealing the code he’d written for his trading app.
My kidnapping and his extortion were the corrupted cherries on top.
Elaine turned over all of Grigor’s dirt on this particular set of sector officials. Ones that apparently went up rather high in Washington. Not only that, but all of Grigor’s assets were included as bribes. An audit would show Damian never received a dime.
Damian’s only perceived wrongdoing was visiting his father despite knowing his criminal background. And that wasn’t a crime in this country.
The FBI sector didn’t really care what the truth was or wasn’t. They always knew Damian wasn’t a player in the Konstantinov empire. They only wanted Grigor’s assets, routes, and information to penetrate that world.
They were prepared to leverage Damian to get it. And leverage me to get Damian.
Neither Grigor nor Elaine found that acceptable.
As far as the Volkovs went, they were already under this group’s thumb. Iliya and his sons were allowed to operate so long as they took special jobs and paid exorbitant amounts of money to key players.
Tonight the Volkovs were on the payroll to make sure the transfer happened. But they tired of dancing to certain members’ tunes. The Volkovs were ready to renegotiate a new deal.
I grabbed Elaine’s hand and felt a tremor before she suppressed it. I couldn’t do the same.
The plan was brutally simple. Once Elaine hit her mark, I was to keep walking until I got within the Volkov perimeter. A sniper would then eliminate Elaine.
She’d die protecting both her kings.
Three more steps.
Two.
One.
“Remember what I asked you. Keep my secret until this is long past. Take care of him, Risa. Take care of both of them.”
“I will.”
My poor Elaine. The only way she knew how to love was through sacrifice. Giving everything she had until there was nothing left. If sacrifice was her marker for success, no wonder I passed the test with flying colors from New York until now.
She saw me as an extension of her. Perhaps I was.
I let go of her hand. Now that the time was upon us, all the fear I’d carried fell away.
Elaine believed she had no choice but to do this thing. I disagreed.
She kept her back to me as she said her final words to Damian. It made a perfect target for the unusually small taser I carried in my pocket.
Elaine Black-Price hit the ground and all hell broke loose.
60
DAMIAN
Something went wrong.
Elaine collapsed so suddenly I thought she was shot. It curdled my stomach, dredging up memories of my father ending his life much the same way.
Except there was no blood and Risa was the one who made it happen.
Then bullets rained down and I couldn’t hear anything except the cacophony of destruction.
Before I could fully register what was happening, I heard the men around me spring up. Sascha viciously pulled me behind him and then I was pushed behind Ivan.
Someone pressed an AR-15 against my chest. Expecting it to be one of the Volkovs, I was shocked to see it was Leon.
Apparently, my brain left the building because none of this remotely made sense.
Leon wasn’t supposed to be here. The Volkovs weren’t shooting at Elaine or Risa, but higher up. I caught just a flash, but it was enough to see Wolffington was on site along with his men. They fanned out, shooting up and into the towering metal structures surrounding us.
Answers would come later. All I could do was aim and shoot long enough to get to Risa.
61
RISA
I remember going to a gun range once with my Uncle Jessie when I was sixteen. I wasn’t into shooting, much less hunting because Bambi ruined it for me forever.
This was his compromise. He taught me proper gun safety, how to load the pistols and cock it without blowing my fingers off. We wore the mandatory goggles and ear protection.
I remembered feeling immense satisfaction every time I hit the paper target. But it was all make-believe. I didn’t connect the holes over the heart, throat, and head as having anything to do with real people.
Being in a firefight was nothing like that.
The initial wave was fought from the shadows because the lights were the first thing to go, courtesy of Marcus. Bullets then hit from in front of me and behind. Marcus warned me not to run, not until he told me to.
It was probably only a few seconds, but they were the longest in my life until I heard his voice come through my ear piece.
“Grab her and go!”
Slinging Elaine’s arm over my neck, I hauled her onto her feet. She looked at me with dazed awareness. The electric currents had the power to knock her down, but the recovery time was thankfully swift enough to let her legs work.
Marcus rained cover from above and the Volkovs from the ground. This bought us enough time to hobble our way to Thomas, who was doing his damnedest to also cover us both.
“Here! Take her!”
Thomas’s visible aversion to touch lasted only long enough to be overcome by his affection for Elaine. He took her beneath one arm, while continuing to fire away.
He threw me a fierce glare, shock, anger, and gratitude all visibly vying for domination. “What the hell is going on, Risa?” he boomed over the gunfire. “This wasn’t part of the plan!”
“I know! It’s a rescue!” I pulled out a gun from my waistband. “When I give you the all clear, I need you pull back with Elaine.”
“What? No!” she yelled.
“Yes! You were never meant to die, Elaine! Grigor didn’t want that!”
Her clouded gaze cleared enough to process my words. “He…he…didn’t…”