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There was the sound of a terrible explosion, and the ship rocked with it.
“Zorro,” Joker screamed through the comms.
There was nothing but silent static as he, Buck, and Bear stopped moving, Blitz’s gut in a terrible twisted knot.
Then there was coughing. “We’re okay,” Shotgun said. “Zorro’s out, but D-Day and I are fine.” He coughed some more. “Olenska escaped after he detonated.”
* * *
Bree was almost free,her exertions causing sweat to roll off her. Her back was killing her, but the noose around her neck had loosened considerably. One more knot and she’d be—the nylon ropes slid through her fingers, slackening around her wrists and ankles. She stretched out, taking a moment to relieve the terrible cramping and spasms along her muscles with a soft groan of relief. It was a good thing she was so fit. If she hadn’t been, she would have choked herself to death by now. She sat up and stretched some more, then attempted to stand. She had no idea how long she’d been tied, but it seemed interminable. She snatched up the rope and crept to the door, stepping carefully so she didn’t make a sound. She tried the handle. It was locked.
She took up a position behind the door. The first guy through had to have a weapon. Once she choked him out, she would be free.
* * *
Aleksei was tryingwith all his might to keep from losing his train of thought, but the drug was working its magic. Anya was back but looking like she’d been in a terrible fight and lost. That gave him satisfaction. A lot of satisfaction.
He tried to focus on her battered face. It made his head hurt, and images flashed. Images he knew weren’t really there. She kept turning into a demon—red, malevolent eyes, distorted, grotesque features.
Suddenly, his mom was there held tightly by two beefy guards. Anya lifted her weapon and pressed it against her forehead. “Tell me what I want to know, or she’ll die.”
“No,” he whispered. “I told them. I told them everything. They know.” His voice broke. “Please, don’t kill my mother. Please,” he pleaded.
“You were all dead as soon as you stepped onto theImperiya.”
His mother wailed softly, and he met her eyes, pleading for her forgiveness. She stared back at him, her eyes full of tenderness.
“No,” he sobbed, cheeks flooded with tears he couldn’t control.
The door opened and Anya growled. “I told you I would—” Her words were cut off as three shots echoed in the room. Anya and the two men dropped like puppets whose strings had been cut.
His mom crawled over the bodies and rose to slip her arms around his head. “We are saved,” she whispered in Russian, her sobs and tears mingling with his.
His hands flopped free, his ankles next. He blinked several times as Gator helped his mom up and released her bonds. In the corner, more men were releasing Harley and his sister. Men he didn’t recognize, but it was clear they were with Gator.
Harley rushed across the floor and sent her arms around him. He wasn’t sure if he was dreaming, or Anya had actually killed him and he was in heaven.
“He stinks of garlic…oh, man, sodium pentothal,” one of the men said. He looked into his eyes, flashing a light, and then said, “Looks like he’s coming out of it.”
“Thank you…”
“Midnight. You’re going to be all right.”
He heard Gator say, “LT, we have the Volkovs and Harley. Volkov is drugged with sodium pentothal, but the ladies are all fine. No injuries. Anya Olenska is dead.”
Finally, his arms worked, and he pulled Harley onto his lap, his chest filling up with the kinds of emotions he couldn’t even define. And his vision blurred again. God, but he loved her.
His hand not quite steady, he cupped the back of her neck, the ache in his throat so intense it made his jaws ache. His eyes opened and he stared at her. She stroked his cheek.
“You scared the hell out of me, Aleksei,” she said, her voice soft.
She wrapped her arms around him with desperate strength. Closing his eyes, Aleksei roughly turned his face against her neck, locking his arms around her, an agony of relief rushing through him. She released a soft sob as he stroked her face. “I love you, Harley. And I want you in my life no matter what.”
Tears running down her cheeks, she tightened her hold, pressing her face against his. “Oh, Aleksei. Only you can say that right after we were almost all killed. Only you.”
He covered her mouth with a slow, searching kiss. Her breath caught and she tightened her hold, meshing with him. This was real, and they were alive. Everything else could be worked out later.
* * *
