His father had been a right douche though. No one misses him.
The question is, who helped Christian manipulate the footage of Matthias killing Elias? It has to be someone with access to the FBI. Or millions of dollars, because Christian sure as hell doesn’t have all that money lying around. Not since theraid on the port. Mark confirmed that all the Ward assets are frozen.
Someone is funding the little bitch.
“What do we do about Ava?” Maksim approaches the elephant in the room. He knows I went to talk with Matthias about his wife to try to put together a rescue plan.
“Nothing.”
The three of them stare at me, mouths open, eyes blinking. It’s as if they’re having a hard time processing what I just said.
“Beg your pardon?” The shocked look on Leon’s face sends a pang of guilt rippling through me. “I might’ve just gone stupid, because I’m pretty sure you just said we weren’t doing anything.”
Swallowing past the lump in my throat, I nod. “Matthias has branded Ava a traitor. We aren’t to utilize any of our men to rescue her. Our focus is to get him out of jail and make these false charges disappear.”
The men don’t have time to protest what I’ve told them before a low, unhurried voice speaks up from behind me.
“I can help with that.”
four
There’s a rush of commotion as the five of us jump from our seats, spinning to face the intruder, guns drawn. The heavy steel door to the bunker hangs wide open, the coded alarm blinking in a wash of colors I’ve never seen it cycle through before.
“I can’t believe this shit,” Mark, the unwanted intruder, says in awe as he takes in the vastness of the room, his eyes wide with wonder. “This is like some Justice League shit right here, man. I’m talking some real Bruce Wayne’s Bat?—”
“Finish that sentence,” Maksim growls, cocking the hammer of his gun for effect, “and you’re a dead man.”
Niko and Leon snicker. It takes every ounce of training I have not to bark out a laugh myself. I keep telling him this is the Batcave.
Now’s not the time to rub it in the burly Russian’s face, though. I’ll save that for later. Mark being here is a serious breach of security.
“Okay, man, calm down.” Mark grins at my enforcer before turning his gaze to me. Maksim growls again, but at least he shoves his gun back into its holster. The others follow suit.
“How the hell did you?—”
“I swear to all that is holy, Mark?—”
Jesus. What the hell is happening here? Roman barrels into the room, red-faced and out of breath like he just ran a marathon.
“Chill, man.” Mark smirks at Matthias’s cousin. “Cardio’s good for your heart.”
“If they don’t kill you, you little shit,” Roman pants, leaning against one of the chairs by the table, “I sure as hell will for making me run like that.”
Mark opens his mouth to snap back, but I get there first.
“What the hell are you doing here, Mark?” I shake my head. “Scratch that. How the hell did you even find this place? Let alone gain access?”
The little hacker fuck grins at me, teeth and everything, mischief sparking in his eyes. “It wasn’t all that hard,” he admits with a shrug, like finding a secret bunker in the woods is the easiest thing in the world. “This is the worst well-kept secret on campus. Everyone knows there’s something out here. Some think it’s your hideout. Others think you’re coming out here to have wild Roman orgies together.”
Well, that’s a piece of information I could’ve lived without.
“Orgies?” Nikolai pins him with a glare, his voice a thunderous boom. “They think we’re out here fucking each other?”
Leon chuckles. Of course he finds this amusing. We all know how he views sexuality.
“Well, some of the girls do.” Mark winks at him. “To be fair, they’ve been reading a lot of romance books lately. I’m sure the men don’t think that. Probably…Maybe.”
“Fuck me,” Niko growls as he drops into his chair, guzzling the rest of his beer like it’s water.
