Fuck!
I race to the bathroom and slam the door shut. I’m out of options until my security gets here. I have no more weapons since my gun was stripped off me and I already used my watch. I can’t take on six armed men while weaponless.
The men shout at one another in Russian and bang around the room, but thirty seconds later, everything falls silent. I wait another minute to be certain, but when nothing but silence stretches through the room, I crack the door open and peek out. I let out a sigh of relief at the empty room. It seems Yegor’s men prioritized getting him medical attention over apprehending me.
Thank god for that.
Just as I exit the bathroom, the door to the suite opens with a bang. I rush over to the bedroom door and cautiously look out. Relief floods me again when this time it’s my men rushing into the suite. Seconds later, Robert bursts out of his bedroom, opposite mine, stumbling and bleeding from his wrists and temple.
“Fuck!” he yells when he sees me. He slams into me with a hug and claps me on the back.
“What happened to you?” I ask, my voice laced with concern.
“I woke up tied to a chair in my room. I only just got myself loose.”
“Dammit,” I growl, taking in his hands and wrists, which are littered with rope burns and slashing cuts. “You about took off your hands to get free.”
He shrugs. “I had to do what was necessary.”
“Yegor just left with his men,” I tell my security team.
“They’re gone,” Sorenson says, pressing the com at his ear. “The front desk just confirmed it.”
“What the fuck happened?” Robert growls at his team. “Why didn’t you guys get here as soon as I called?”
“Sorry, boss. We tried,” Sorenson rasps, out of breath. “All the elevators were shut down and the stairwells were barricaded.”
“They clearly planned this well,” I say to Robert with a sigh. “They hit us when they knew the rest of the team wouldn’t be in the room.”
“How long were we out?” Robert asks.
“It’s only been fifteen minutes since you were gassed,” Sorenson answers. “We got your message and tried to get up here, but as I said, Yegor’s team shut down the elevators and stairwells. We had to get hotel security and maintenance to break down the stairwell doors. And the elevators just became operational as Yegor’s men fled with him.”
“Call a doctor,” I order Sorenson through a pained sigh. “Both Robert and I need medical attention, and I’m not about to head out to a hospital.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And someone call Jenkins. I don’t know where my phone has ended up, but Ella needs to be put on another lockdown.”
“Yes, sir,” the other security officers say, almost in unison.
The suite door beeps, and everyone tenses as it opens again. But we all relax when we see it’s just Matthew.
“Holy Mother of God,” he says, his eyes wide as he takes in the scene. Like Robert, he makes his way toward me and gives me stiff hug. “What the fuck happened? The hotel security is freaking out downstairs, and people are yelling, saying a bomb went off.”
I sigh. “I had to use my watch.”
His eyes nearly burst out of his head, and I settle onto the couch and recount the last fifteen minutes, suddenly grateful that I sent Matthew out on a small errand after dinner so that he wasn’t here when all the shit went down. I don’t know whatI’d do if I lost Matthew. Or Robert for that matter. After my family and Ella, they’re the two people in the world I’m closest to.
“Call the pilot,” I order Matthew. “I want to leave as soon as possible. I’m done with this fucking city and this fucking trip.”And I need to get home to Ella.“Then call and cancel my meeting for tomorrow. But don’t divulge to anyone what happened. No one can know.” I sigh as I look at the half-destroyed bedroom of the suite. “Let’s pack up and leave before the police get here. I’m not in the mood to deal with them. And let the front desk know you’ll be in touch for the damages.”
My hands shake as I scramble to pack, and I soon become useless at it as the enormity of the situation hits me. I sit on the half-destroyed bed, reeling in my thoughts.
That was too close.
Too motherfucking close.
Yegor and Sergei have gone too far, and this situation has now shifted to life or death.
