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As soon as I backed away, he was allowed to slide to the ground. I raked the blade against my jeans before putting it away. Turning, I was prepared to make the final order when I suddenly whipped out my camera, taking a picture of the man’s face.

“What the hell is that for?” Sergei asked.

“Identification.”

“You are not going to ask Isabel to positively ID the guy.”

“If necessary, I will.”

He chuckled and hung his head. “I hope you like sleeping on the couch.”

After offering a sneer, I surveyed the scene.

“What now?”

“Ensure the women are taken to safety. Then burn it all down.”

I took long strides back toward the clubhouse.

A single crack of a twig off to the left and I reacted on instinct, reaching for my Glock.

But not before a blur of movement.

“Pakhan. Look out!”

Pop! Pop!

CHAPTER 25

Isabel

Thump. Thump. Thump.

I smiled as I peered over the book at Shadow. The big galoot of a pup was happily lounging on the pillow beside Mina, a prince in his place beside his little girl and princess. I’d never known a dog so loyal or so loving.

“That’s right,” I said as I turned a page on ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. “Santa was on the roof. Can you hear his reindeer?” I pointed toward the ceiling while hugging her little body even closer.

It was Christmas Eve. Night had fallen several hours before and this little exhausted girl needed to be asleep. However, she’d grown increasingly sad over the day, anticipating her father’s return and instead there’d been silence.

Including when I’d tracked down one of the eight soldiers I’d counted remaining on guard. While I had a sense of what was going on since the warehouse fire had been in the news, that didn’t mean I could take comfort in knowing his absence was for a positive reason.

Maxsim was hunting down the people involved. He was going to eventually get himself killed.

“Is that them?” she asked, also pointing.

“That could be.” There was a brisk breeze and with the number of overhanging limbs, I suspected her hopes of seeing Santa Claus would only occur in her dreams. At least Svetlana had told me where he’d hidden Mina’s presents.

I would be so pissed at him if he missed Christmas morning. So damn furious that if he wasn’t injured, he would be soon enough.

“You know,” I told her as I tucked the sheet up a little further, “the faster you go to sleep, the sooner it will be Christmas morning.”

She peered up at me with such big doe eyes and such trust, my heart could easily break.

“Is Papa coming home?”

Oh, God. She’d asked where he was before but this time, it was as if she believed he might never walk through the door again.

“Of course he is. I’ve heard through some very powerful sources, including Rudolph, that your daddy is on a very special mission for Santa.”