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“It’s a lot to process,” she finally says. “But… do I really have a choice?”
“No,” I reply simply.
She nods, pursing her lips as she comes to terms with her new life. “Then I’m with you, but only if you treat me right.”
“You’ll be treated like a goddess,” I assure her.
“I’ll believe it when I see it.”
Her attitude turns me on more than it should. I can have anything I want in the Bratva, but somehow, this woman thinks I have to get on my knees and beg to have her. If I wanted to, I could slap a pair of handcuffs on her pretty wrists and carry her back to my lair over my shoulder, but that wouldn’t be nearly as much fun as making her fall in love with me and go willingly.
Enthusiasm is sexy, especially when it’s earned.
As I open my mouth to tell Lola all the wonderful ways I’m going to prove myself to her, physically and emotionally, the door to our cozy little compartment slides open and two of my guards step in.
19
Lola
Idon’t think I’ll ever get used to the company Jasha keeps.
“Helicopter spotted on the west side, following the train,” one of them barks with a voice that suggests a pack a day habit. Maybe two.
Jasha jumps up so fast that he would flip the table were it not bolted to the floor. “What type of aircraft? Military? Law enforcement?”
“Appears to be civilian. Possibly a scout,” the man answers.
Jasha rubs his chin, his eyebrows drawn together in a scowl. The tension in the room is palpable, and neither man moves an inch. Jasha’s shoulders are drawn up an inch higher, and his stance is aggressive, as though he’s preparing to leap across the room and strangle his messenger.
I take on Jasha’s tension as my own. I’ve always been empathetic to the point where it’s painful. Maybe that’s why I always avoid people. I make their problems my own, and then the stress becomes too great to bear.
My teeth are clenched so hard that they groan, only finding relief when Jasha’s deep voice rolls through me. “Keep an eye on it, and watch for trouble. They’re most likely to strike when the train is stationary, and that will happen soon. Be prepared, and inform the rest of the men to do the same.”
“Yes, sir,” the man replies, his gravelly voice breaking me out of the trance Jasha’s put me in.
“You may leave,” Jasha says, motioning for him to go.
The man turns around and leaves our compartment, leaving us in a dreadful sort of silence, like the kind that settles on a house after a family member has died. Nobody knows what to say. It’s hard to know what words would help, if any could help at all.
A buzz from Jasha’s pocket cracks the silence open like a rotten egg.
“Must be Nikolai,” he mutters, pulling out his phone and frowning at the glowing screen. “The fuel has been dropped twenty miles from our location, right by the tracks. Nikolai has already left.” He looks up at me, his serious expression finally lifting a bit. “I guess you’ll have to wait until we get to the house in Texas to meet him.”
“That’s fine,” I reply, hoping to smooth over any of the tension remaining in the room. I just don’t want us to die. I don’t care about anything else.
“Another game of chess, maybe?” Jasha asks, as though our interruption was nothing of any importance.
“I don’t even want to look at a chess board right now,” I say, holding out my hands to block the black and white pieces from view as I stand up.
“I didn’t think so,” he says softly. “Well, we’d better go to the control room, then. We’ll need to make a stop soon.”
I follow him out into the hallway. The train sways abruptly to the left as we walk toward the control room. I’m used to the way the train moves, but Jasha clearly isn’t, and his shoulder hits the window with a loud thud.
“Fucking hell,” he mutters, raising his fist to the window like he’s about to punch out the glass.
I snicker, and he shoots me an irritated glare.
“You’re the one who insisted we go so fast,” I remind him. “This train does better at lower speeds, especially around the bends. It’s not a cargo train.”
