I shake my head, brows furrowing with seriousness when I say to Mikhail, “Don’t post him.”
Mikhail’s brow twitches, but he makes no sound, and neither of the men question my order. With Artem leading, the men disappear down the narrow hallway, carrying her deeper into theMona. I watch their backs slowly disappear, then pour myself a drink from the crystal decanter sitting nearby.
Vodka burns down my throat, but its effect is useless against the sudden tension that’s settled beneath my skin tonight.
Artem is the first to return.
As soon as he reaches me, he tugs down his mask, exposing pale skin. He runs slender fingers through his long brown hair and releases an exaggerated sigh before collapsing on the seat closest to me.
Pregnant silence stretches between us, with neither of us making a move to acknowledge it.
Bored, I point the tip of the glass toward him. “You’ve been itching to say something. Just go ahead and fucking spit it out.”
“The girl,” he mutters.
My irritation spikes, but I throw my head back, swallowing a mouthful of vodka to push down the feeling. I hiss sharply, looking away from him, and stare out at the dark sea.
“What about the girl?”
There’s that silence again, before he fills it with a dry cough. “We’re keeping her.”
“You haven’t stated the problem, Art.”
“Thatisthe problem,” he pushes, his voice tinged with incredulity. “She’s alive. And if she’s alive, it means we’re keeping her.”
Approaching footsteps grow louder, and then Mikhail enters the room.
In my peripheral vision, I watch him take a stand in the corner, with his hands clasped above his belt and his legs slightly spread apart. He looks between Artem and me, but the tight press of his lips indicates his reluctance to join the conversation.
Artem continues. “Leo.”
“What do you suggest we do?” I snap, more agitated with myself than him. “Waste your fucking bullets on her without reason?”
“I didn’t say—”
“And youshouldn’tsay,” I state firmly, putting an end to it. “I need an update on the drop.”
He raises his hands in mock surrender and dusts off invisible particles from his black pants as he rises from the seat. “The cargo’s almost loaded. Within twenty minutes or less, we’ll be ready to hit the road.”
I glance toward the stairs to the lower deck, where the sounds of muffled movement still echo from below. “I want thisoperation finished in ten minutes,” I bite out. “The second it’s done, we leave for home.”
I wait for Artem’s curt response, but instead there’s that unsettling look in his eyes that had faded out only a moment ago.
His brows crease and he exchanges a look with Mikhail.
Mikhail approaches, his eyes guarded with caution. “And the girl? Is there a chance we’ll leave her here?”
I ignore the edge in his voice and stare out at the dark waves that crash against the shore while the girl sleeps like a problem dragged in by the tide.
“No,” I say. “We’re taking her with us, and we’ll decide what to do with her when we get there.”
Chapter Three
Elena
A surge of pain in my head wakes me up.
And the first thought that forms is that I should be crying.
