“Incoming. Three seconds,” Ruby responded.
The outer door opened then closed, Levin locking it behind him if all was going as planned. But instead of Levin, it was a more compact man with blond hair who rushed inside first. He took one look at them, their guns, and the mess they’d made of Vladimir before drawing up short.
He aimed his own weapon at them and Levin froze. This was the part Tavish had hated the most about their plan. But when the man attempted to shoot him, his weapon didn’t fire. Thankfully, Levin had somehow emptied it as he’d promised he would.
“Levin!” he called. And the guy materialized from the shadows.
“Kon.” He wrapped his hand around his boyfriend’s gun and pushed it down, aimed at the floor instead of Tavish. “We only have a second.”
Though Levin switched to Russian, the Shields’ tech translated for them into their earpieces.
“You did this? You’re responsible?” Konstantin’s pretty eyes went wide. “They’re going to kill you.”
“No,” Tavish spoke up. “We’reresponsible for this.”
“He’s going to lead the organization in an attempt to find poor Vlad’s killer. And you’re coming with us.” Legend took a hood and a couple of oversized zip ties from his cargo pants. “A hostage always comes in handy when making our exit.”
Konstantin ignored Legend and whipped his stare to Levin.
“I love you.” Levin didn’t waste a single precious moment. He grabbed Konstantin’s face and kissed him as if it was the last time. Because it might have been. “And that’s why you have to go.”
“What?” Konstantin’s face reflected an emotion Tavish knew all too well. Betrayal. Anger followed quickly on its heels. “What the hell is going on?”
“This is going to get ugly. I’m willing to gamble myself, but not you.” Levin pointed him toward Legend and shoved his shoulders. “What they’ll do to me if they catch me is bad, but it would be a hundred times worse if they so much as put a bruise on you.”
“I have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into, but I’d rather die than leave you to deal with it on your own.” Konstantin stood his ground despite Legend strapping his hands behind his back.
“Time to go, boys.” Jordan’s tone allowed no room for argument.
“I couldn’t live with that.” Levin shot Tavish a look so powerful it nearly knocked him over. “Remember, not one hair on his head out of place or I’ll cut your balls clean off.”
Tavish nodded. He owed Levin this. After all, he’d done the same for Karolena. “Good luck.”
To his credit, Konstantin didn’t fight. He accepted that the one man who could have changed his fate had decided not to. He hung like deadweight over Legend’s shoulder as they climbed out the window.
The Heat would have been impressed by the fireman’s lift he used when they scurried down the ladder Levin had placed there while they were taking care of Vladimir. They dashed into the garage, stuffed Konstantin into the backseat of the car, jumped into the front themselves, and took off.
They didn’t even slow as they approached the gate, relying on Levin to keep his end of the bargain. And as they approached, it swung open, giving them barely enough clearance to rocket through before shutting and locking behind them.
Though it took a few minutes longer, they followed a circuitous route back to the jet. On the dark roads on the outskirts of the city, it would have been easy to spot the headlights of anyone giving chase.
When they were satisfied they were clear, they raced to the private airstrip, ditched the car by the side of the runway, and hauled their unconventional baggage onto the jet with them.
As Legend set Konstantin on one of the leather couches as gently as he could, given the man’s thrashing, Tavish’s stare locked with Karolena’s.
She’d seen for herself that they would kill for her.
And that her personal hell had been destroyed.
Karolena was free. She no longer needed to run, or to hide. But she’d also seen that they could be merciless too. And he hoped she’d choose to stay with them anyway.
19
Aven fanned herself as her mind replayed on loop the kiss Levin had given Konstantin before banishing him from his inherited evil empire. After being surrounded by blissful trios every damn day, she’d thought she was immune to smoking hot public displays of affection, but apparently not so much.
It could have been the angst of not knowing when, or if, Levin would see his lover ever again that took it to the next level. She suspected it had more to do with the people themselves, though.
Which made her the world’s biggest dumbass.