Page 76

“No. Love has always been our strength.” Anika shouted the words loud enough for half the building to hear. “Love is the reason you lost, because it is stronger than the wedge you tried to drive between us. Love united people you’ve spent years trying to break apart.”

Love. Fuck yeah. She loved us, and we loved her. Nothing else was going to stand in the way.

“Ready.” The single word came from Roman, then Kirill.

“Go.” I burst through the door, weapon already raised.

Sokolov stood halfway between his desk and the private exit with one arm locked across Anika’s chest. Her dark wig hung crooked from where he’d grabbed it, exposing curls near her temple. Blood coated her mouth, and a pistol pressed beneath her jaw hard enough to force her chin up. The gun shifted to her temple at the sight of all three of us. His finger tightened, and Anika drove her heel down on his instep before dropping her weight. We fired together, three shots, three bullets that struck Sokolov and sent him flying backward.

I caught Anika around the waist and pulled her against my chest while Sokolov crumpled behind her, his hand opening around the pistol. Kirill kicked it beneath the desk while Roman pressed two fingers to the bastard’s throat.

“Dead.” Roman wiped his bloody thumb against Sokolov’s collar and came straight to Anika.

“He punched me.” Anika touched her split lip, then caught my face between both hands. Her gaze moved over the bruises, pausing on my swollen eye and the marks around my throat. “Jesus Christ, Maksim.”

“I’m alive.” I kissed her before she could ask anything else. Blood and vodka lingered on her mouth, and she trembled against me while gripping my hair as though she needed to prove I was real.

Kirill crowded against her back, wrapping one arm around both of us. “I hate to interrupt, but some of us also crawled through a filthy conduit to be here.” He kissed her temple. “Well done, darling.”

Anika dragged Kirill closer. Roman joined us, removing the transmitter beneath her bra before resting his forehead against hers.

“It all went out?” Anika kept one hand twisted in my shirt.

“Every file.” Roman brushed his thumb beneath the blood on her lip. “Sokolov’s money is gone, and ours is back where it belongs.”

Her smile made Sokolov’s corpse almost irrelevant. “I understand why Alina enjoys stealing things.” Her eyes twinkled when she met and held my gaze. “I’m still not convinced I shouldn’t run him over.”

Kirill looked toward the body, his lips peeling back. “I’m feeling remarkably petty.” With that, he shot directly into Sokolov’s forehead and closed his eyes with a sigh. “Never underestimate the healing power of a doubletap.”

“He’s not coming back, Kirill.” I kept Anika against me and headed for the main doors. “You’re going to upset Nora if you ruin your nails.”

He tilted his hand toward the light, brows furrowing. “Still intact, but we should get out of here before something else happens.”

“Agreed.” Roman led the way through Sokolov’s building and directly into the SUV waiting for us. We spent the drive coming down from the adrenaline high, with me trying to pretend my whole body didn’t feel like I’d been run over with Anika’s steamroller.

The safe house smelled like nail polish when we returned, and Nora flew out of the secure hall before the doctor reached us, ignoring Miss Helen’s command to slow down. “Daddy Maksim!” She threw her entire body weight behind her flying leap, and I caught her in a scoop, bringing her up to my hip. Her arms locked around my neck. “You came back.”

“I told you I would.” I pressed my face into her curls and breathed in strawberries instead of blood. My eyes burned, and I held her closer until she squeaked. My heart drummed in my chest, the feelings deep inside almost more than I could bear.

Nora held my face between her hands and turned it side to side. “You have a lot of boo-boos.” Her attention dropped to my wrists. “Did the bad man hurt you?”

“He tried.” I kissed the center of her palm. “He won’t hurt anyone again.”

Nora wiggled until I set her down. “Micky helped save the purple.” She raced to the table and returned with the bottle. “You need all ten so you know we missed you a whole lot.”

The doctor pointed toward a chair. “Sit before you fall and let Miss Nora take care of your nails.”

“I’m sitting because Nora requires access to my hands. That’s the only reason.” My ribs objected as I lowered myself, and from the way everyone looked at me, none of them believed my excuse. I’d been tortured before. Bruised and broken was nothing new, but the careful way Nora held my hand fucking unraveled me. She painted purple into my cuticle while the doctor examined me and Kirill watched with an ice pack against his chest.

“Beautiful.” He held up his own glittered nail for comparison. “Mine is slightly better, but I had the benefit of the artist’s full attention.”

Nora frowned at my hand. “I need more practice.”

I held still when the doctor found the rib Sokolov’s men had cracked, barely managing to breathe when he prodded. “You have nine opportunities. Take your time.”

Mikhail edged closer while the doctor cleaned Anika’s lip, twisting the hem of his borrowed pajama shirt around one finger. “Sokolov?”

Anika held out an arm, inviting Mikhail closer. “He’s dead, Mikhail.”