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I glare at my sister. “Aren’t you in enough trouble as it is? Do you really want to make this worse for yourself?”
Undaunted, she glares right back at me. “Are you trying to leave more bruises on her body? The ones on her neck just aren’t enough for you?”
“Polly,” Alyssa says softly, “it’s okay.”
Instinctively, I reach out and sweep the hair from around Alyssa’s neck. The bruises are bright and colorful—and horrifying. Because I knowI’mthe one that caused them.
Fuckme.Nothing is going to plan. No matter how hard I try, it all keeps spiraling right out of my hands.
I drop my arm. Alyssa backs away slowly, still keeping her body between mine and Polly’s. “Listen, I used my tablet to track my laptop. We figured that Lev would be in the same place. Polly tried to contact you and your brother but when you didn’t pick up, we decided to come ourselves.”
It’s a reasonable explanation—except for the part where she brought my fourteen-year-old sister along for the ride.
“I’ll take it from here.” I take a step towards Alyssa and bend down so that my nose is only an inch from hers. “Take my sister back home now. If you’re not there when I get back, I’ll assume you decided to go off-book. You will be outside my protection and your life will be yours to lose. Is that understood?”
She nods.
I pull up my gun and offer it to her. “Here. Take this. Use it if you have to.”
She doesn’t so much as blink, nor does she take the weapon in my grasp. But she does pull out another gun from the waistband of her jeans and dangles it in front of me. “Thanks, but I’ve got my own.” She turns and grabs Polly’s hand. “Come on, Polly, let’s go.”
What the fuck? Whoisthis woman?
There’s a newfound air of confidence rippling around Alyssa as she leads Polly away from the house. It’s almost enough to make me feel like she can handle this. That maybe, a part of her was made for this kind of life, with these kinds of stakes.
Nikolai comes around the corner just as Alyssa and Polly get to the slope. “What the fuck? Is that—”
“They decided to stage a rescue mission of their own. Now, they’re going back home.”
“My God, you really don’t have any control over her, do you?”
I have no idea which one he’s talking about. But at this point, I doubt it matters; he’s right either way. I have no control over either one of them.
“Text security back on the estate. Tell them to inform me the moment they get back home.”
“Ifthey get back home,” Nikolai mumbles under his breath before he looks up at me. “We’ll deal with that later. I know where they’re holding Lev.”
I tense up immediately. “You found him.”
“He’s in a room around that corner where I just came from. I couldn’t see anyone else apart from two men. Both armed.”
I duck low and follow the structure of the house until I arrive at the first window. I poke my head up from the far corner and catch sight of one of the two enemy soldiers that Nikolai spotted. I make sure to hide behind the patch of bramble creeping up the side of the window so that I’m properly camouflaged.
When I take a second peek, I spot Lev. He’s been tied to a chair by his legs and arms. His head is bent so low that his chin is practically touching his chest. He’s shaking slowly, a simmering, full-body roll that betrays his state of terror.
I want to fuckingmurderevery single person who did this to him.
Soon enough, that’s exactly what I’ll do.
I just need to figure out a way to get in and make sure he doesn’t get hurt in the process. This is my whole job. Making sure Lev is safe. Making sure Polly is safe. Making sure Alyssa is—
I shake my head, trying to force her name out of the equation.She’s not family. She’s not mine to protect.
It’s Lev and Polly I need to take care of. Theyaremine to protect. And if I can’t do that… if I can’t keep them safe…
Who even am I?
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