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Valentyn looked up from his laptop and pushed the screen toward me. “Someone’s messing with us because it can’t be that fucking easy, not even with our skills. He look familiar to you?”
I squinted at the blurry picture of a man in a suit strolling down the streets of France. “Uh… Ernest?”
“And now?”
I looked through a few more pictures, frowning a little more with each one when it became apparent that the man in the picture was in fact,not, Ernest. “Who the fuck is that?”
“Umar Fraser, Ernest’s father. Guess the business stayed in the family.”
It really was too fucking easy. I hated that we had been running around for weeks and all it took was a little research to find one of the deadliest men on Earth right now. Valentyn whipped out his phone, my mouth falling open when I realized that we were just going to up and call the man who had ruined our lives.
There were several rings before it was picked up, only silence meeting our ears.
And then, “Who do I have the pleasure of speaking with? Is it the big, surly one? Or how about the tall Frenchman? The young, spry one or, oh, is it Rhys himself? I’ve been waiting for your call.”
Valentyn grunted. “Unlikely.”
“No, truly. It seems that there’s been a bout of miscommunication between us and I wanted to clear it upwithout everyone getting involved. Now, just give me the program and you won’t hear or see from me again.”
I couldn’t hold my tongue. “Fat chance!”
“Then give me Rhys.”
I opened my mouth again but Valentyn wrapped his thick fingers around my wrist and shook his head. Sometimes, I wished I had his control. “Absolutely not. That option is not on the table. Anything else.”
There were several moments of silence, the sound of rustling paper coming through the earphones before Umar spoke again. “Deliver me Ada and we’re even.” The call went dead, leaving us sitting there in shock.
“Ada?” I whispered.
We all knew that Ada was dead meat, that she wasn’t going to survive this ordeal but we had never planned on handing her over. I wondered if it had something to do with her fuck ups and not being able to obtain the program in the first place, not to mention the weird ass relationship she had with Ernest.
Butstill.
I looked at Valentyn, trying to ascertain his thought process but there was a mixture of emotions settled on his face, none of which explained what he was thinking.
***
RHYS
I shot up in bed, not sure where I was until I found Dmitri cuddled at my side. I jostled him, his pained groan making me sigh with relief. He sat up as well, pulling me back into his chest as he leaned against the wall.He’s alive.I knew he was. I had seen him earlier and again when I woke from a nap but for some reason, I couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that he was okay. That he wasstillok.
Dmitri pressed a kiss to my forehead, just as Valentyn stepped up, looking down at me with a mixed expression of love and concern. I tried to mirror his smile but it wasn’t working. “Hey, Rhys, it’s good to see you awake. The nurse handed us the discharge papers and as much as I’d love to see you hang all over Dmitri, we need to move.”
Dirty thoughts raced through my head but I was entirely too sore and in too much pain to do any of those activities. “Wait-”
Gianni cut me off, “Weare going, alright? But staying out like this in the open is a recipe for disaster. Once we get to a place a little safer, we’ll explain everything.”I gave in, mostly because they were going to have to do everything. I couldn’t even get out of bed without crumpling to the ground.
And I fell in love with them just a little more when not so much as a chuckle fell from their lips as they helped me into my clothes and out to the car. Valentyn had both Tia and Paval, one kid in each arm before depositing them next to me. They both immediately curled into my side, Tia’s eyes glazed with unshed tears as she looked up at me and I mumbled ‘I’m okay.
I could see she didn’t believe me but didn’t press it as she carefully crawled into my lap, Paval wide-eyed as Dmitri scooted in next to him to hold him.
“Ready?” Valentyn asked as he slipped into the driver’s seat. He met my eyes in the rearview mirror, my immediate reaction to reach for Dmitri. He was here. Alive.With me.Only when Dmitri wrapped his hand around mine did I nod.
Chapter thirty-one
RHYS
Dmitri was constantly moving. I didn’t even know what he was doing but I kept tracking him through the hallway of the newest place we had stumbled into. This place was tucked along the outskirts of the city, hidden from the main streets. Tia and Paval were once again huddled around me, trying to fight sleep and protect me from the ‘bad people’ who hurt us. I didn’t have the energy to explain what had happened, pain consuming my entire body every time I tried to move.
