Series: The Circle of Monsters Series by Sam Crescent
Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 41985 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 210(@200wpm)___ 168(@250wpm)___ 140(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41985 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 210(@200wpm)___ 168(@250wpm)___ 140(@300wpm)
Galen took a breath and walked through the front doors. If they put so much effort into getting him there, he hoped they’d keep him and release Skye. She was innocent and had no part in any of this drama. He was a lot more valuable.
“Took you long enough,” Viko said.
He threw up his arms, a gun still in one hand. “Wasn’t expecting to be betrayed by my own boss.”
Viko chuckled. Every time he took a step one of his crew matched him, ensuring he was covered from every angle. Viko raised a hand to stop them.
“She’s valuable,” Viko said. “I’m going to use her as a bargaining chip.”
“No!” he said. “You’re not selling her to Petrov.”
“Who said anything about selling her?”
Galen made eye contact with Skye. She didn’t appear as scared as he expected, more like sorry. She had nothing to be sorry about. He’d fucked up, not her.
He approached Viko. Some weapons were pointed at him.
“Fuck off,” he said. These were men in the Circle of Monsters. They were one and the same, but a single order by Viko and they’d all turn on Galen. He didn’t matter to anyone, never had—until Skye came into his life.
“Lower your weapons,” Viko said.
Once close enough to whisper, Galen spoke. “Look, she’s not a chess piece. She means something. Things happened when you forced us together all that time. I want to keep her. I’ll do anything you want. Just don’t hurt her. If you trade her to Petrov, he’ll kill her and you know it.”
Viko clasped his hands behind his back, walking back and forth. The man could be in the lion’s den and not show fear. He couldn’t imagine anyone attempting to take him out. He was untouchable.
“I’m taking the power from her,” Viko said.
“What the fuck does that mean?”
“Petrov wants what’s in her pretty little head so it can’t be used against him. Now I have the upper hand. Her complete recount of the events is sealed in eternity.” He held up a thumb drive hooked on a silver bracelet. “I’m not always a monster.”
****
Viko explained that once she told him everything, her appeal to Petrov would falter. He’d be more worried about Viko knowing everything. He could make a lot more trouble for Petrov’s empire than she ever could. The boss of the Circle of Monsters wanted his rival to be indebted to him, to watch his step or face the consequences. With her out of the equation, Viko wouldn’t have to use his men to protect her for the rest of her life. He didn’t like to depend on others, especially when the target needed to stay alive. Apparently, protection from men like Slash and Kensington didn’t come cheap.
Galen still looked confused. Confused and deliciously sexy. He was intense, ready to shoot up the entire factory … for her. He wore all black, his big strong body looked like a one-man army.
One of the men near the doors whistled and another drew a circle in the air above his head.
“Seems our company has arrived,” Viko said.
“What’s going on?” Galen asked.
“It’s time to let Petrov know who’s in charge of this city.”
Galen ran a hand through his hair. “You invited him here?”
Viko shrugged. “It was an offer he couldn’t refuse.”
Just then, Petrov, dressed in expensive Armani, came walking into the factory, a small army of men in his wake. He exuded confidence.
She could hear guns cocking in every direction. This couldn’t be good. Skye was sitting right in the middle of the action, the last place she wanted to be, right in the cross fire. It was unnerving seeing Petrov in the flesh again. All the memories of that horrific night came rushing back. Fear and despair made her heart race.
Something else caught the corner of her eye. It was Slash and Kensington at two different windows. They were unseen, pointing weapons inside the factory. She turned her gaze away from them so no one would notice. She was glad they were still alive and well.
“Surely we could have met at a more civilized location,” Petrov said, stepping over debris left in the abandoned factory long ago. He looked insulted just being there.
“I think it’s perfect,” Viko said. “And I’ll keep things short and sweet. I know you hate to go slumming.”
Petrov made eye contact with her, and she couldn’t look away, frozen in time. How could a man who once hired her to care for his kids want her to die so badly?
“Look all you want,” Viko said. “She’s not on the table. Not anymore.”
Some of Petrov’s men began pointing their weapons, the mood in the room shifting. Viko’s assassins followed suit.
“Then why am I here?”
“We’ve interrogated the girl, got everything on video. Amazing all the details she remembers. If a thumb drive like that got into the wrong hands, well, fuck me, it wouldn’t be good for you.”