“I don’t know about hero. He snores in his sleep. Do heroes do that?”
Even after all the shit we’d been through, she was still able to make me laugh. The little girl was something else. “I think heroes do lots of things. They are regular people too.”
She shrugged. “I guess. We missed Daddy’s birthday.”
“Well, when we get back, we’re going to have a big ole celebration.”
Her smile faded and she concentrated on her food, taking her time eating every little bite. “What if we don’t.”
I moved toward her again, easing down and lifting her chin. The tears in her eyes not only broke my heart, the sight of them also infuriated me. Who the hell did this to a little girl? Who? Who kidnapped her from her bed in the middle of the night? I did what I could to keep her from seeing my vast array ofemotions, but I was about to lose my cool. “My sweet girl. Your daddy is a superhero and he will find us. Have a little faith in him.”
“I do. I just worry he misses us.”
“I’m sure he does. Maybe we need to think good thoughts and send them his way.” I tossed my head back and forth on purpose. “I have an idea. We’ll think of the story together and you can draw pictures for it. Maybe we’ll do a book together. Would you like that?”
She sucked in her breath. “Ah. That’s wonderful. I’d love to do that. But we don’t have any paper.”
I tapped my index finger against my forehead. “This noggin has a photographic memory. What do you say? Would you like to give it a try?”
The light almost returned to her eyes. She gobbled the remainder of her sandwich and as soon as she did, my head snapped toward the door hearing a sound.
It wasn’t dinnertime so what the fuck was about to happen?
“Go hide in the bathroom,” I told her.
While her eyes opened wide, she scrambled off the bed and into the tiny space. Maybe what I was thinking was ridiculous, but I had to do something. I moved behind the door, holding my breath as the person unlocked and walked inside.
His exclamation wasn’t in English. Russian. I didn’t wait for him to react, lunging forward and smashing my foot against his back. I was shocked I’d had enough strength left, the force able to pummel him across the room to the bed.
While he was quick to react, jumping off and rushing toward me, I was as well, issuing two hard punches against his jaw.
He tossed out expletives in Russian and the look on his face turned from surprise to a lurid gaze. His grin was almost as terrifying as the weapon he had holstered at his side. When he darted to the left, I anticipated the move, able to kick him again,but he managed to snap his hand around my leg, spinning me around.
Now, with his arm wrapped around my neck and squeezing, he nuzzled his face into my ear.
“Tough girl. Eh?” His accent was rough and when he dragged his tongue down my face, I shivered.
“Fuck you.”
“Maybe I’ll have a taste.”
A sound jolted through me, a small warrior’s cry that he hadn’t anticipated. I heard the crash before feeling the shatter of glass cascading down in front of me.
“Get away from her!” Nina’s cry was strong, the hard smash of the lamp jarring him enough I was able to break free.
He lumbered toward her, his face twisting in rage. I jumped in front, throwing out my arms. “Don’t you fucking touch her or I will kill you.”
The bastard grabbed my arm.
“Let her go.” The booming voice had the same accent, the tone commanding.
When the asshole didn’t take direction, the other man snarled.
“I said. Let. Her. Go.”
The soldier instantly dropped my arm, hissing as he did.
Even as I turned to face the stranger, I pulled Nina against me, prepared to attack the son of a bitch if necessary. No one was going to hurt her.
