Page 89 of Dark Soul

“Do you really speak Russian?” Dark asked. There was so much they still didn’t know about each other.

“I was stationed in Poland, on the Russian border, for a couple of years,” Ash said. He didn’t provide any further detail, and Dark didn’t ask.

Kvyat seemed to be listening to something somebody was saying. He took his phone out of his pocket and dropped it back inside the SUV, then took a step away from the vehicle.

There was movement in the front of the van, and then the front door opened and Lemercier stepped out. He looked elegant and suave and put together, and Dark wanted to run to him, grab him and stomp that high forehead into the metallic emblem on the hood of the van, until the two became one.

“Hold,” Ash said, as if reading his mind.

Dark gripped the door handle, watching for any other movement inside the van.

Nothing.

If Alexia and Nikolai are there, they’re in the back.

Please let them be in the back.

Dark had done bad things in his life. And the thought suddenly struck him, that if destiny wanted to punish him for all his wrongdoings, taking Alexia from him—watching her rich life snuffed out—would be one way to do it. He wouldn’t want to go on living after that.

His nails clenched against his palms.

Please, God.

Don’t let her be hurt.

Lemercier said something to Kvyat, then headed to the back of the van. Dark held his breath, praying. Because there was so much that could still go wrong, and he didn’t think he could bear it if—

They’re alive.

Dark wanted to cry out in relief, but now wasn’t the time for crying. And there was something strange about the way Alexia stepped off the van, as if—

“Alexia and the boy look dazed, but they’re both conscious and on their feet,” Ash said.

“We see them,” Rogue said. “Dark, let us know where you want us.”

“Hold.” They needed to wait until Kvyat and Lemercier were distracted.

Kvyat reached for his son, but Lemercier grabbed the boy by the neck and pulled him back. Alexia cried out, but a warning from Lemercier had her stepping meekly back as well, her hands raised in the air.

Suddenly, their voices were much clearer, and Dark realized Ash had cracked open both their front windows.

“I just want my son,” Kvyat growled, but there was a note of desperation there that Dark had never heard before.

“Just your son?” Lemercier said.

Kvyat shrugged. “Do what you want with the woman, but don’t hurt my son.”

Dark saw red.

“Maybe I will keep her,” Lemercier said. He seemed to be testing Kvyat, as if he wasn’t sure whether the other man was serious or not. “I don’t deal much in merchandise this old, but I admit I like her. She has beautiful eyes.”

Kvyat shrugged, as if uninterested in the details. His large hand, the one that wasn’t holding the briefcase, waved vaguely in the air, giving Lemercier his benediction to do as he pleased.

In his earpiece, somebody gasped.

Whatever else happened, Dark promised himself the man wouldn’t see another day.

“Kvyat is mine,” he growled.