I’m going home.
Chapter 33
Kazimir
My watch ticks past midnight while the engine beneath our feet idles in a slow, steady rhythm that vibrates through the metal table between us. The sound is constant and mechanical. It’s noise a man forgets about until everything else goes quiet.
Out here in the bay, the city lights are distant smears of gold along the shoreline. The boat rocks just enough to remind me that we are floating in dark water with nothing but open space on every side. It is not a glamorous vessel, just an old party fishing boat we confiscated years ago. The deck scrubbed but permanently stained. The benches are bolted down; the air scented with diesel and old bait. It looks forgettable, which is exactly why I chose it.
Anyone approaching will be visible from half a mile away.
Anyone stupid enough to try something will die before they reach us.
Across the metal table, Ryder leans back in the chair like this is a late-night outing instead of a kidnapping.
Her hands are tied behind her back, wrists bound tight with zip ties, yet she looks comfortable. Amused, even.
She is beautiful in a sharp, dangerous way, with Hinto’s bone structure stamped across her features like a signature. High cheekbones. Clever eyes. A mouth that looks built for smiling at men right before she ruins them.
She can’t be more than twenty-two. He must have had her young.
When we grabbed the heir referenced in the dossier, every one of my men expected a spoiled son. Some soft, arrogant boy who had never been hit in the face.
Instead, we got this.
A woman who hasn’t stopped smirking since we pulled her hood off. I’d recognized her once I got a good look at her. She’d been at the hangar that day. I saw her slip away while I murdered her father’s men.
Her gaze drags over me slowly, assessing, like she’s cataloging every scar and tattoo.
“Smart move,” she murmurs, voice low and smoky. “You found the one way to guarantee my father backs off.”
Her eyes narrow playfully.
“But what now?”
I rest my forearms on the table and study her the way I would study a weapon. Based on how quickly we got a response, it’s obvious Hinto is attached to her, and by the conversation she keeps, it’s also obvious that she’s sharp. An asset to him, not just an heir.
“We already got word,” I say, my voice even. “Alyona is being driven back to my home outside Savannah.”
Something tight in my chest loosens just enough to breathe.
“When she arrives safely and your father’s men leave the premises, you’ll be returned. Neutral territory. Unharmed.”
Ryder tilts her head, considering me like I’m an interesting puzzle.
“So this is just business,” she says.
“It always is.”
From the corner, Liev shifts.
He hasn’t sat down once. He stands with his arms crossed, shoulders tight, glaring at her like she personally insulted his bloodline. She’s had nothing to do with it, though. I recall her words, gasped out when Liev grabbed her hours ago:I told him this was a stupid fucking idea.
Liev looks like he’s two seconds away from snapping something with his bare hands.
Ryder notices immediately. She flashes him a slow, deliberate smile that is pure trouble.
“What?” she says lightly. “You planning to stare me to death, old man?”
