“What the hell happened?” Maxim bellowed when they arrived back at the mansion. They were escorted to Maxim’s office after barely putting the car in park.
“Maxim—” Zoe tried to talk, but he spoke over her.
“Nyet, I didn’t ask you. I asked him,” Maxim spat, glaring daggers at Greg. Two guards came up to stand on either side of him as if waiting for the instructions to drag him away.
Greg stood with his head high and shoulders back. He would not cower to this man. After all, he hadn’t done anything wrong. Maxim was upset and lashing out. True, he could order his execution, but Greg felt pretty confident he would live through this.
Besides, it wasn’t himself he was worried about. It was Zoe. She had gone from defensive to quiet. He hated the silence. He preferred her snarly temper to the quiet. He had tried talking to her about what had happened, but she’d ignored him.
She had handled herself well earlier taking on two men by herself, but she wasn’t a trained fighter like he was. She didn’t know how to deal with her emotions once the adrenaline and fight or flight instincts wore off. Unthinking, he’d killed a man in front of her.
She was a strong woman, probably the toughest he knew, but PTSD was a real thing and could happen to anyone at any time. He needed to talk to her, but first, he had to deal with Maxim.
“Did I not tell you that I would tear you to pieces if anything happened to her?”
He had, but technically she was unharmed. Maybe a few bruises but still whole.
“But, Maxim—” Zoe spoke up again. It was sweet she kept trying to speak up for him, even at the risk of herself, but he wished she wouldn’t. She was only adding fuel to the flames.
Maxim whirled on her. For a second, Greg feared he would strike her. He didn’t know what he’d do if Maxim did. To strike out at Maxim would be a death sentence, but at the same time, no one should ever lay a hand on a woman. “Get her out of here,” Maxim said between clenched teeth.
Greg could see the fight in Zoe’s eyes. She wanted to stay but knew she was causing more harm than good by staying. She didn’t resist when one of the guards escorted her out of the room. He would check on her soon. If Aleksei was here, he’d have asked him, but the kid was nowhere to be found.
Boris was probably the cause of that. He knew the close relationship Aleksei and Zoe had. There was also the fact he was normally Zoe’s driver. Things could have ended much differently if Greg hadn’t taken that position. No offense to Aleksei, but that kid needed to learn to defend himself. Especially if he was going to survive in this profession.
“Now, talk,” Maxim ordered.
Greg noticed Leo come into the room and sit down on the couch. He watched with a gleam in his eyes as if he expected Greg to get punished for what had happened. “We made the pickup as planned, though there was a new person there Zoe hadn’t been expecting.” He decided to leave the clothing boutique out. He couldn’t say why, but instinct said he shouldn’t mention it.
“Who?”
“Viktor Popov.”
“Viktor’s here?” Leo asked eagerly.
Maxim didn’t look so pleased. Interesting. Viktor had made it sound like they were old friends. Maxim looked like he’d rather chew glass than see Viktor. “Did he say why he’s here?”
“Diego Fuentes.”
Maxim turned to his son. “You know anything about this?”
Leo’s eager expression dropped. “I spoke to Viktor a while back. He offered to set up a meeting with Diego.”
“You spoke to him before speaking to me about it?” Maxim questioned in an even tone, but Greg could feel the undercurrent of hostility.
“Papa—”
“We’ll discuss this later,” Maxim interrupted him and then turned back to Greg. “Go on, Logan.”
“He handed Zoe the case, and we left. It was as we were leaving the parking garage, I saw a car parked across the street waiting. I drove until I lost them then we were hit at a traffic intersection. Two men grabbed Zoe and drove off with a secondary car as I fought two others. I took down the two men and pursued Zoe after that. I killed one of the kidnappers.”
“And the others?” Maxim prompted.
Greg’s car hadn’t been big enough for all three of them up front, so the kidnapper had been stuffed in the truck. It had been a tight squeeze, but it had been fun contorting the man’s body to fit in the space. Payback for hurting Zoe.
“Your men took the one kidnapper around the side of the house. I don’t know where.”
“He’s being detained in the suite until you arrive,” Boris supplied.
