I need to get the hell away from him and make him understand that we are done. I’m not going to trust him, and I won’t allow him to hurt me a second time.
23
ALONZO
The more Ilisten to this insane plan, the angrier I get. What the fuck are they thinking? They’re sending Rori to the slaughter. I don’t fucking care that she’s an assassin or whatever she wants to call herself. She’s one person, and they act like she can take down the entire place herself.
I finally lose it when they mention the fucking panthers and Rori needing to get in and slip them something to make them woozy so they’re less likely to come in and cause any problems. What the actual fuck?
“No. No fucking way.” The words burst out of me like lightning, and they all turn to stare at me. Ivano and Titus share a look, neither of them on board with this asinine plan either. “We’re coming up with something else. No fucking way am I sending my woman in to?—”
“I’m not your fucking woman, and you don’t get a fucking say in what I do,” Rori snarls at me, her face flushing with her own ire.
“You damn well are. You are not fucking superwoman. You’re a bounty hunter from California. This shit, isn’t?—”
“It is fucking me, Alonzo,” she yells, turning to face me fully.
“Oh shit, where’s the dog?” I vaguely hear Zakhar burst out with a loud laugh.
“I told you not to come here,” she reminds me harshly, her voice lowering slightly, but the punch of anger hasn’t diminished. “I told you to stay the fuck back in New York or to go home. You didn’t fucking listen. You don’t have to like what you know about me now, but that’s who I am. I am not going to allow myself to be pushed to the background. Not like you did to me in New York. So, unless you’re going to actually be helpful, shut the hell up.”
“Do you even hear yourself? You’re talking about going up against a whole army of men. The minute you take out Timur or your father, they’re going to be all over. And this other assassin they’re bringing. You’ll be dead after the first shot. Now you’re talking about taking down the fucking panthers and wolves they have around the estate?”
“He really doesn’t know your past, does he?” Ilya sighs. “Jesus Christ, this is going to be a fucking mess.”
“We should probably just tie him up in the dungeon and leave him there until it’s done,” Zakhar agrees, giving me a pitying look.
Ivano and Titus share a look but say nothing. I don’t care if they think I’m being an unreasonable asshole. This is insane.
I look at Rori, but still at the cold look on her face. The same one that I saw in her room earlier. The same one that sends a chill down my spine and makes my gut uneasy. The same one that Tatiana gave me the few times I’ve been in her presence.
We stare at each other, neither of us willing to look away. I won’t let her think she can intimidate me. That her past meansanything. That was then, this will be her future. I will be her future. We can deal with the past once I get her out of here.
I make a mental note to get a message out to Urso and Zeno to get the plane to us as quickly as possible. We’re only going to have one shot at this.
The tension between Rori and me grows until I finally grit out through clenched teeth, “Rori, you know this is crazy. My own family wouldn’t even attempt this without a hell of a lot more planning and men. We have neither.”
“Your mistake is thinking I need them, Alonzo,” she tells me coldly. She turns her head to Ilya. “I need to think on things, and I’ll talk to you in a couple of hours. Did you get what I asked for?”
“Yes, it should all be in your room.” He glances at me, and I skewer him with a warning glare. If he’s thinking of trying to keep me away from Rori, he’s about to have a hell of a fight on his hands.
Without another word, he pushes back from the table and heads for his desk. Everyone else is quick to leave, and I’m hot on Rori’s heels. She doesn’t try to stop me, but I don’t know if that’s a good thing or one that’s about to get my ass handed to me.
And my traitorous cock certainly likes the idea of fighting with Rori again. Damn it. I don’t need a hard-on right now.
Rori doesn’t stop until we reach her room, but when I move to follow her and Hades in, she turns, her knee driving up into my balls before I can block it. A wave of pain and nausea rushes over me, and my knees hit the floor, hand covering my aching balls.
Rori looks down at me with a cold glare. “I will not tell you again, Alonzo. We’re done. You had your chance, you fucked it up, and I’m not about to deal with your shit when I have more important things to worry about.” She slams the door behind her when she rounds on her heel, and I hear the lock snick loudly.
I groan, trying to breathe through the pain. Fuck, I really need to get better at blocking her. Or wearing a fucking cup, especially if Hades is going to snap at me again.
I should probably count my lucky stars she didn’t set him on me right now to really make her point. I’m going to spank her ass red at the first opportunity. Then I’m going to fuck her until she can’t walk because it’s probably the only way to keep her ass out of trouble.
I manage to get gingerly to my knees. If she thinks she’s going to keep me out with a lock, she has another thing coming. We’re having this out tonight. First, though, I’m going to let her cool off a little bit.
I head to my room, jumping in the shower. I need to search it again for more bugs, but I don’t give a shit if they have some hidden camera and are jerking off to me in the shower. I need to figure out what the hell I’m going to do about Rori.
This whole fucking situation sucks. I want to kill Tatiana for this situation, and I want to kill her again for making it nearly impossible for me to get Rori out of here safely. At least not without dealing with this entire mess first.
