“Listen, I’m sor—”
Before I can spit my half-hearted apology, because honestly the only regret I’m feeling right now is not opening my mouth to figure out what’s going on between Deacon and me, the hotel room door crashes open.
I duck my head, crossing my arms over my face when splinters of wood from the door frame fly into the room. Dani spins around to face the threat, and my heart nearly pounds out of my chest when I see two men standing just inside of the room with guns drawn.
One of the men I recognize as Nikolay Petrovich and the other I presume is one of his henchmen.
“Daniella,” Petrovich hisses and the air around us crackles.
Before Dani can even gasp, the bathroom door bursts open, and Deacon emerges with his own gun drawn.
He must have mad skills because if I were armed, I think I would’ve already unloaded the entire clip in fear. I can’t reason at all right now, and I commend both sides for not covering the room and all of us in it in a wall of bullets.
Slowly and with precision, Deacon crosses the room, and I ignore the fact that he’s standing closer to me than his ex. I’m simply closer than she is.
“Petrovich,” Deacon spits, and my eyes volley back to the Russian to see his response.
Nikolay eyes Deacon from head to toe, clearly not impressed with what he’s seeing.
“Black,” he spits in an accent so heavy it’s almost as if he’s literally spitting the name at our feet. “You disrespected my home.”
He must be talking about the raid on the compound in West Africa that I know little about, but no one expands on the statement.
I’m waiting, pulse hammering in the hollow of my throat while waiting for something to happen. It’s like we’re stuck in some sort of limbo, each side waiting for the other to act first. Seconds seem like days as Nikolay turns his attention from Deacon back to Dani.
There’s a softness in his eyes I didn’t expect from a man tracking a woman for theft and nearly killing him. The second Russian keeps his eyes trained on Deacon.
“Where are they?” Petrovich finally asks, and even though I hate the sight of Dani trembling, I can’t honestly defend her right now.
She took something that didn’t belong to her, and the fallout has been trouble of epic proportions.
“I-I don’t have them.”
Both Deacon’s and Nikolay’s jaws tense with irritation, and I’m thinking it’s a very bad idea to piss off a couple of guys with guns, but Dani doesn’t look like she’s going to budge. Is death better than having money? I know what my answer would be, but my friend doesn’t seem too quick to come to the same conclusion.
“Dani,” Deacon hisses. “Give the man his fucking diamonds.”
“I don’t hav—”
Dani’s jaw snaps shut when Deacon’s commandos fill the doorway. The Russians don’t seem bothered. Nikolay doesn’t pull his penetrating gaze from Dani, and his comrade doesn’t lower the gun pointed at Deacon.Chapter 33Deacon
I should feel calmer with the arrival of my men, but I don’t. Anna is directly in the line of fire, and that makes my blood fucking boil. I promised that woman I’d keep her safe, yet here we fucking are once again.
The look both Flynn and Ignacio are giving me tells me they’re ready to act with the slightest indication, but I know there’s a good chance that if bullets start flying, there are going to be casualties. The Russians look like they’ve made their peace with God and don’t really give a shit about the outcome. They’ve been slighted and they want retribution for that.
A second look at Nikolay tells me something I didn’t initially see moments ago. He isn’t looking at Dani like she’s at the top of his shit list. There isn’t murder in the man’s eyes. He’s watching her the same way he was in that picture Wren showed me. This man is head over fucking heels in love with that woman, and he honestly looks more hurt that it’s come to this than anything else. He doesn’t want this to end badly. If anything, he looks like he wishes it never happened to begin with. I can work with that.
“Dani, give him the damn diamonds,” I insist as I position my feet to jump in between the second Russian and Anna.
“I don’t—”
“Right fucking now,” I snap. “Lie again and I’ll become a bigger problem than these two guys.”
I wiggle the tip of my gun for emphasis because they have three guys each with them in their sights.
Dani never pulls her eyes from Nikolay.
“Kitten,” Nikolay coos at Dani. “Where are they?”
His voice is heated, a burning ember evident of the way he feels for her. He’s not done with her by a long shot. He’s fucking on fire with need for her, but it doesn’t seem to be the need to punish her for wrongdoings like one would expect. I somehow feel sorry for the bastard. Loving Dani will be his downfall.