I fought to make myself invisible, doing anything I could to avoid drawing attention to myself. After another conversation that I couldn’t understand, Osip and the driver went outside, leaving me alone with the man who’d had his gun on Sid.
He was a huge hulk of a man with a blond buzz cut and angular features. When he locked his steel-blue eyes on me, my heart rate spiked. He prowled toward me, his predatory gaze shining in apparent delight.
“Nothing to do. So, we play.” He grinned.
“No. We donot,” I shot back, fighting the urge to panic. He outweighed me by at least a hundred pounds, but I wasn’t going down without a fight.
I bolted from the couch, moving to stand behind it, my eyes narrowed on him as he grinned. “Make it fun, hm?” he teased maliciously, his accent made thicker by his excitement.
I swallowed against the bile wanting to rise in my throat. He’d left his weapon sitting on the folding chair. I focused on a single goal: to get that gun. My heart calmed as I strategized.
Those self-defense classes I’d taken were about to come in handy—or at least I prayed they were.
He stalked closer, grabbing my arm and pulling me bodily over the couch. The move was so quick, my breath left me with a loud whoosh.
His huge body pressed me deeper into the couch cushions as I fought for leverage. I wrapped my legs around his waist and managed to flip his big body to the ground. I punched him as hard as I could in the throat and vaulted off him, headed for my prize.
His labored breathing was like an oncoming cyclone as he made a grab for my ankle, pulling me back down to the ground. He dragged me across the hard surface until he was over me once again. He slapped me hard across the face before pulling my arms over my head with one hand as his other wrestled with my jeans. I tilted my head to the side and clamped my teeth down on his forearm, biting into his flesh, tasting blood.
He howled, letting go long enough for me to slip from his grasp once again. I made it the two long strides I needed, grasping the gun in resolute fingers. I turned to him, and without hesitation, fired.
The bullet hit him directly between the eyes at close range.
His blood splattered onto my skin and clothes as his huge frame collapsed to the ground. For a moment it was quiet, the only sound my rapid breaths as my chest heaved.
Then the door burst open, Osip and the other man barreling in with their guns trained on me.
I spun to face them, pointing my gun at the two of them.
Osip’s eyes shot down to his fallen partner and then to my tattered clothes. He spat out a word that I could only guess was some sort of curse. When he looked at me again, I saw something in his gaze somewhat akin to respect.
“He’s a big man,” he commented, his gun still trained on me.
“He was,” I stated simply.
He smiled then. “He was,” he agreed. “You are brave. I respect that. Boris was a stupid lug. He was under orders not to touch you. His death is of no… how do you say? No consequence to me.” He nodded, looking pleased that he’d remembered the term. “But Yury and I”—his head indicated the driver—“we will have to kill you if you don’t drop your weapon. I’m surprised that I don’t want to do that,” he mused.
I looked at them both warily, knowing I was outnumbered. I had a chance to kill one of them but not both, not before I was killed myself. After a moment more of hesitation, I lowered my hand and let the gun drop with a clatter to the ground.
Yury bent down to pick it up as I sat in resignation back on the couch.
“What do you want with me?” I demanded, the adrenaline coursing through my veins making me brave.
Osip sat on the folding chair across from me, inspecting his manicured nails for a moment. “I want my diamond. It’s that simple. My contact assures me that if I deliver you, I’ll get it.”
I wrinkled my brow in confusion—that made no sense.
“Who is your contact?” I pressed.
He smiled coldly. “That’s enough talking for now, girl. We wait.”
I curled up into the corner of the sofa, and despite my dire situation, I felt my eyelids grow heavy.
*****
I slept fitfully, drifting between dreams and reality.
I saw Sid’s handsome face, his gorgeous blue eyes warm on mine. I dreamed of him wrapping me up in his arms where I felt safest in the world. I saw glimpses of a future with him holding a dark-haired little boy with huge blue eyes who looked just like his father.
