Page 99 of Warlord’s Empire

“You haven’t told him yet?” Branislav asked sharply.

Fuck. She shouldn’t have told him that. Damn it, this is why she’d wanted a boring life as a translator. She was bad at intrigue, which was such a large part of the family business.

“I’m telling him right now.” And indeed, she was texting Jozef at that very moment.

I need to talk to you. I’m going to find Shola and come out to the mansion.

Branislav was still talking. “I’m sorry, I really didn’t want to do this while there was a baby in the picture. I’m not a monster. If you’d kept your nose out of it, I would’ve left you and the baby alone.” A cold shiver went down her spine. “I’m sorry, Saskia.”

Sorry for what?

She heard a loud whistling sound through her open kitchen window; a sound she’d heard before on the Koba weapons range. A rocket-propelled grenade was headed her way.

Dropping her phone, she threw herself at the couch as hard as she could, protecting her stomach as she hit. It tipped over and she huddled on the other side, arms wrapped around her head, knees pulled up in a fetal position, as her apartment exploded around her.

She’d covered her ears, but they were still ringing. Smoke and dust filled the air.

Coughing, she peeked around her couch. “Holy shit!” Her apartment was in shambles, her kitchen unrecognizable.

The shooter must have launched the RPG from the rooftop opposite hers. She had to move before they struck again.

She crawled out from behind the couch just as Shola rushed in the door holding an AR15, looking around frantically.

When she caught sight of Saskia, she shouted, “Come to me!” Saskia threw herself at Shola, who grabbed her arm and dragged her into the hall outside her apartment. “Stay behind me.”

“I need a gun,” Saskia said, still coughing.

Shola unholstered her sidearm and handed it to Saskia who checked the chamber and slid the safety off.

“We need to go to the estate,” Saskia said.

“Guard Dog is closer,” Shola argued.

Saskia shook her head. “Not Guard Dog, we can’t have a shootout on a busy street. Besides, I need to get to Jozef.”

Shola looked torn, then nodded. “Okay, we’ll go to Jozef.” Her eyes landed on Saskia’s stomach. “Are you okay?”

“Just shaken up, but I think we’re fine.”

“Someone launched a grenade through your kitchen window,” Shola said, looking stricken.

Saskia held in a sarcastic ‘yeah, I know, I was there’ and said the thing Shola needed to hear. “There’s nothing you could have done. If you’d been with me, you might’ve been killed.”

“It’s good you thought to use the couch for protection.” Shola covered Saskia as she checked the stairwell, her gun at the ready. “Let’s go. You stay behind me. We have four people in the building and two outside. Someone’s bringing the car around. We’ll meet them on the street.”

“Isn’t the parking garage more sheltered?” Saskia didn’t want to go to the street where there could be another rocket launcher aimed at her.

“Too easy to trap us in there,” Shola said, then added, “Jozef’s fleet are outfitted for this sort of thing. The car can take as many hits as it needs. We just need to get there.”

They took the stairs quickly, but carefully. As Shola came to each corner, she peeked around, gun at the ready before waving Saskia down another floor.

When they reached the ground floor, Shola told Saskia to stay inside the stairwell where she’d be protected by thick concrete. “I’ll go see if the car is here. Shoot anyone you don’t recognize.”

“Stay back!” Someone shouted, followed by the sound of shattering glass.

Shola rushed to rejoin Saskia. “They’ve engaged our security.”

“I’m so stupid,” Saskia moaned. “I shouldn’t have called Branislav. What if someone gets hurt?”