Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 92957 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92957 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
“Here! Look!” Yana stands in front of one of the surveillance cameras.
Rafail swivels to the armed men, eyes blazing. “Popov, call them off,” he growls.
Popov gives the command, and the guards lower their weapons.
Yana stares, her eyes wide, until Rafail nods to her. “Go on.”
“I saw him with his cell phone a few minutes before we were cooking. There’s no footage of how he got out, but I was able to zoom in on his phone.”
Rafail walks to her, his eyes glued to the screen.
He reads quickly, cursing under his breath. “He’s betrayed us.”
Chapter 27
“ANISSA”
“No,” Irma says, shaking her head. “It can’t be. He did not!” She points an irate finger at Rafail, aimed like a dagger. Her voice shakes. “You were the one who made us come here. You were the one who got us in this trouble to begin with, you and your stupid bride. Don’t you dare blame my son!”
My blood boils. How dare she? I grit my teeth, my fists clenching. No one insults my husband, not while I’m standing.
We all know what it means for Gleb. He’s a dead man walking.
“Keep her under control,” Rodion snaps to Eduard. “Unless we know otherwise, we’re assuming Gleb betrayed us and escaped.”
“No!” Irma shouts, starting toward Rafail. I know the look of a crazed woman about to lose her mind. “You’re a fool!” she snarls.
I’m still hobbling on my cast, but that doesn’t stop me from stepping between the two of them. “Stand down, he said.”
Irma’s eyes flash to me, irritation boiling. She surges forward, trying to shove me aside, but the moment her hand reaches out, my body moves without thought.
Instinct.
Training.
My body reacts before my mind does. I grab her wrist, pivot on my good foot, and twist her arm with just enough force to tip her off balance. I don’t want to hurt her… unless I have to. No one, no one, touches my husband. The thought sends a surge of something primal through me. Love. Fear. Fury.
Stumbling, her eyes widen as I step forward, forcing her retreat.
“Don’t,” I warn, my voice low. “You heard my husband. We’re wasting time. He betrayed us, and the longer we chat, the more danger we’re in.”
Zoya stares at me with something like awe in her features, and Yana flat-out grins.
Irma hesitates, thrown off. I may not remember everything, but my muscles know exactly how to disarm a threat, even before I do.
Yana speaks up. “The evidence is right in front of you. Look at the text. Not only did he leave with one of the guards, but he also set us up. He set all of us up.”
“I won’t believe it!” Irma says, but she doesn’t come at Rafail again.
Rafail’s icy gaze snaps to his uncle’s. “Get her out of here.” Eduard has the good sense to listen as Yana reads the texts out loud.
He’s onto her being the Romanova woman
Soloto is in the city
We have to move
Ice pulses through my veins. Zoya stares at me. “The Romanova woman?” she asks, shaking her head. “Who?”
I look to Rafail. I don’t know how to tell them this. I don’t know what to say. I don’t know who to believe.
For once, I’m thankful Rafail is so decisive. “We’ll tell you more when we know more.” He turns to Semyon. “You were the one who led me to the city.”
Semyon runs a hand through his damp hair as he shakes his head. “I ran the files. I checked her location. I matched her pictures to the ones we were given and confirmed it was her.”
Rafail clenches his jaw. “How? Gleb’s texts reveal that he knew Anissa’s identity.”
Yana’s sitting on a sofa, her phone in hand. “I think I know how.”
“Brother, with all due respect—” Rodion interrupts.
Rafail yanks his gaze to his. Rodion swallows but continues.
“If Gleb and the Popov guard know our location and they’re working with Soloto, we need to move. We aren’t safe here.”
Rafail curses under his breath and grits his teeth.
Semyon interjects. “It might be too late,” he says, shaking his head. “If they’re in the city, we don’t have time to retreat. We’ll have to arm ourselves.”
“No.” Rafail shakes his head. “We aren’t safe here, but we aren’t safe if we leave. We need to arm ourselves and come up with a plan.”
Grandfather raises a hand, his worn, wrinkled face placid, but his eyes narrowed in concern. “Rafail?”
Rafail looks to him. Grandfather holds a tablet in his hand and flicks it on. “Popov left the specifications for all exits and points of retreat in the event of an attack. I studied them while I was in the kitchen before dinner.” He shrugs. “Keeps an old man busy.”
He turns the tablet around and points to a few marked places on a map of the network of rooms. “There are secondary exits. We have two choices, then. We could create a diversion if they attack and exit the main door, or we can use a secondary exit.” He frowns. “That said, the rooms are impenetrable. Once someone enters them, and they double lock the door from the inside, nothing can get in—not smoke or gunfire, even a flood.”