Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 85156 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85156 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
It’s her.
She recognizes me in the same instant, those eyes growing round as dinner plates, the full, expressive eyebrows above them nearly meeting her hairline.
Fuck.
Eva Volkova is the hacker.
On the heels of my disbelief comes white-hot anger. It’s too much of a coincidence. The fight last night, she and her brother at Dmitri’s club on a night I’m there.
“You’re trespassing. Get out of here before I call the police,” the woman spits, the huskiness from last night gone from her voice, replaced by venom and more than a tinge of fear.
But she hasn’t felt true fear yet.
The guy holding her in place must see the look on my face because he hurriedly clears the way, switching places with me. His hand moves away, and she uses the moment to try to bolt, kicking out as she dives to the side.
She has bravado, but Eva has nowhere to go in the cramped room. In the next heartbeat, my hand is around her throat, yanking her back and pushing her against the wall, my fist closing until she stops squirming.
Now I see real fear in her eyes. I see it as all color drains from her face. I feel it in the way she freezes in my grip. I also see it when her attention slips to the scars on the side of my face I hid last night. Her eyes widen another fraction, and my anger grows hotter at the reaction.
“And what do you think the police will be able to do?” The purr rumbles in my throat as I master the rage-induced desire to close my fist and crush her windpipe. Her throat moves against my hand in a convulsive swallow, her eyes glued to mine like frozen prey.
“If you’re going to kill me, just do it,” she hisses. A flash of admiration for her bravado in the face of danger tugs a corner of my mouth up, as do her next words.
“Just do it somewhere else so my family doesn’t see it.”
“You think you have any bargaining power at all? You fucked with the Kucherov Bratva and thought you could get away with it?”
My smile is beastly, and she shivers, trying to pull away as I flash her a coldly wolfish grin.
“I was going to kill you, get rid of all the files you found, destroy your computers. Instead, I have a proposition for you.”
I can almost feel Dmitri’s stare on the back of my neck, wondering what the hell I’m doing. The smart thing would be to kill her and be done with it. But another idea has started to form, one that can turn this situation into an advantage for me. And I know exactly how to get her to agree.
“You come with me, work for me. Use your skills as I see fit.”
Her eyes narrow. “And my other option?”
“There is no other option, Miss Volkova. You work in exchange for the safety of your family. I believe you have two brothers and a sister, don’t you? Your younger sister had orchestra practice today? Your oldest brother had a shift at Enzo’s Pizza after his Business Analysis class, did he not? Your father visited Kashta for lunch?”
Eva’s eyes widen again, and she begins to shake under my hand, sweat beading on her forehead.
My smile disappears, and I lean close enough to whisper in her ear. “Do you want to know what happens to those who cross me? I’ll tell you if you ask nicely. I hope you have a strong stomach, because it’s not pretty.”
The woman’s breathing quickens, her pulse racing beneath my hand, and I pull back to look into her face.
“Choose now. Work for me or call my bluff and see what happens.”
“Fine, I’ll do it!” Eva can’t agree fast enough.
My hand remains on her throat for a moment more, our gazes locked, my grip tightening until her breath starts to rasp. She stumbles as I let her go, straight into the arms of one of my men.
“Bring her and all her equipment. I want it to look like she was never here. Kill anyone who comes through the door.”
“No!”
Her scream follows me out, and so does Dmitri. Though he doesn’t question me now, I know he’ll have questions once we’re alone.
I’ve just spared the life of someone who challenged the Bratva when anyone else would have been dead. But this will all fit into my plan.
As soon as I have more than a glimmer of one.
4
EVGENY
“You can’t keep me here against my will.”
I might be amazed that the young woman, Eva, is still putting on a brave face if I weren’t so angry.
The drive back to my home in Palos Verdes on the 405 gave my anger ample time to grow. Alas, even the powerful vory v zakone cannot control Los Angeles traffic.
This tiny woman, whose bones I could break with my bare hands, has managed to put both my Bratva and my business in peril. Worse, she walked into a club owned by a member of the Kucherov Bratva, spun a plan to snare my attention, and nearly seduced me.