Kissing My Killer (39 page)

A man in a uniform said, “Three,” his hands up to try to calm me. All around me, people were backing away, wide-eyed and afraid.

I found a sign that pointed to platform three and ran, jumping the ticket barriers. I saw the train! It was sitting right there—there was still time!

A whistle blew.

I ran faster than I ever thought I could. Lungs burning, muscles on fire, I drew alongside the train...just as it began to move.

I hit the button to open the nearest door. Nothing happened. A guard on the platform up ahead shouted for me
stand clear.

I ignored him and ran on, passing carriage after carriage. The guard who’d shouted put his arms out, trying to block me. I shoved him aside.

Then I saw her. She was directly across from me, almost hidden by one of Nikolai’s men. He had a knife to her stomach and was trying to drive it in. I slammed my fist against the glass but they didn’t even hear me.

The train gained speed, pulling away from me. I felt her slipping away...and with her, every good thing in my entire life. Everything she’d made me, everything she’d changed about me. If I lost her, I might still be able to save Luka’s family...but I’d no longer care.

I snarled, drew my gun and fired through the window. My first shot shattered the glass and made the thug spin around. My second caught him right between the eyes.

I lunged at the door and put my hand through the window, searching for an emergency button to stop the train, but then I heard the brakes hiss on—the driver must have heard the shots. I found the door release and jumped aboard before the train had stopped moving. Gabriella was hunched in the far doorway, her hands to her face, shying away from the body. I grabbed her and pulled up her sweater, checking her stomach.

Smooth, creamy skin. No wound.

I pulled her into my arms and hugged her closer than ever before.

I could hear panicked shouts and the hiss and crackle of radios—armed guards would be coming and the cops, too. We had to move...but I couldn’t let her go, yet. My whole body was locked up tight with fear, my heart crushed as if by a fist.
I almost lost her!

I brought my lips down on hers and it was like coming home. That softness, that strawberry scent in her hair. My arms tightened around her waist, locking her in tight. Anyone who wanted her was going to have to tear her from my arms. Both of us let out a choked moan of relief.

I lifted her and carried her off the train in my arms. Station guards were running towards us, but they backed off when they saw the expression on my face. I marched straight to the nearest exit and then into the streets, plunging into the back alleys to lose anyone following us. Only when I was sure we were safe did I put her down.

Or try to. She wouldn’t let go. She clung to me and put her mouth to my ear. “
Tell me it’s over!”
she begged. “Tell me you won’t go to Russia, now. Tell me you’ll stay with me!”

I opened my mouth to tell her
yes—

But I couldn’t do it.

She’d known that would be the answer. Her body went tense against mine, her arms clutching me even harder. “
Please!”

I shook my head in despair. I didn’t want to ever let go of her again. But....

I explained it the only way I could. “Lizaveta is
eight years old.”

She sniffed and I felt that her cheeks were wet with tears. I felt my heart tearing in two....

But then she nodded and drew back so that she could look at me.

“Okay then,” she said, her voice husky. “Okay. Then we do it. We try to save them.
Together.”

I stared at her. This incredible woman had amazed me yet again.

“But you promise me,” she said. “You
fucking promise me
: if we save them, you leave. You’re out. Forever.”

I looked at her for a long time. The Bratva ran through my veins....

But she owned my soul.

I nodded. “I promise,” I said, my voice thick with emotion.

She clutched me close again. “Then let’s go to Russia.”

Gabriella

We knew the FSB was looking for us. No way could we get through Russian immigration with our real passports. It seemed impossible.

Then I remembered Lilywhite.

I dispensed with the normal chatroom and just called her and explained what we’d found out. “Is there any way that—”

“Two fake passports?” she asked. “Russian for him, American for you? New identities and all hooked up in the immigration databases in Russia
and
America?”

“Yes,” I squeaked, realizing what a ridiculous request it was.

“Piece of cake.” I heard her rub her hands together. “It’ll be just like old times.”

I realized there was a lot I didn’t know about Lilywhite.

“Give me a headshot of each of you,” she said.

I got my phone out and took the photos. Moments later, they were sliding out of her printer.

“Well, damn,” I heard her mutter. “Now I see why you fell for him.”

I blushed...but, despite everything, I smiled. “We have to get a flight to Moscow this evening,” I said, “Luka and his family start their vacation tomorrow.”

“It’ll be too late for a courier,” Lilywhite said.

My heart sank.

“So I’ll fly out and meet you at the airport.”

My jaw dropped. “You’d...do that?” None of the Sisters of Invidia had ever met. Until she’d seen my photo just now, none of us had even known what the other ones looked like. Anonymity was part of our security.

“For you? You’re damn right I would. You’re the closest thing I have to a friend.”

I got an unexpected lump in my throat. “Thank you, um…Lilywhite.”

“Lily,” she said quietly. “Just Lily. I’ll see you soon.” Just as she hung up the phone, I heard her yell, “
Bull! Pack a bag!”

Bull?
Must be a nickname.

***

We had to go shopping, keeping a watchful eye out for Nikolai’s men. This time, we didn’t make the mistake of keeping the same car too long, boosting one from a long-stay parking lot where it wouldn’t be missed for a while.

I expected the shopping mall to trigger me. But I found that, as long as I pressed close to Alexei, I didn’t slide into the past. Something had changed, that morning. We’d been together...but now we were inseparable. If we came through this, we were together forever—I knew it like I knew my own name.

He never left my side, which was exactly what I needed. He even came into the changing room with me, despite the shocked protests of the sales clerks, and stood watching me undress and then dress again in the tiny space. I didn’t complain—after everything I’d been through, the closeness felt wonderful.

We bought travelling clothes for both of us. I wanted to go with another pair of jeans, but Alexei shook his head. “Skirt,” he told me. “Short skirt.”

“In November?”

“Skirt,” he said firmly, and refused to explain further. Well, fine. It was a small sacrifice—we were going to be on a plane anyway so it shouldn’t be crazy-cold. I found a loose, short black skirt and bought a pair of thick nylons—Alexei threw an extra pair in, as well, which confused me. I added a bottle-green ribbed sweater and new underwear, then a bag to put it all in.

Next, Alexei took me to an outdoors store to buy what he called “practical” clothes—boots and warm, waterproof layers. I looked down at myself, dressed all in black. The clothes were the closest to combat fatigues that Alexei could find. It brought home to me that we really were going into action.

The last thing Alexei did, just before we arrived at the airport, was to dump his guns. We had no way to get them past the metal detectors so it was the only way, but I could see the worry on his face as he did it. We’d be going in completely defenseless. We’d just have to hope that we could get close to Luka and warn him before Seventeen showed up.

Minutes before check-in for our flight closed, a gorgeous woman with long dark hair ran up to me. She looked vaguely Italian, and not at all how I’d pictured Lilywhite. “
Lily?”
I asked in astonishment.

She thrust two passports into my hands. “You’re all set.”

A man jogged up behind her. A
huge
man. Alexei-big, but with a very different look—All-American, with soft brown hair and the big brown eyes to match...and a cowboy hat on his head.

“Thank you,” I said. “I mean, I don’t know how—”

“What are friends for?” Lily squeezed my shoulder.

“Yeah, but—We’ve never even
met.
I didn’t think that—”

Lily glanced over her shoulder at Bull. “It’s been brought home to me that maybe life online ain’t all that,” she said. “You get home safe and we’ll have a proper meet up. You, me and Yolanda.”

I nodded. “I’d like that.”

She gripped my shoulder. “Listen...you see Luka, you tell him I said hi, okay?”

I blinked. “You
know
Luka?”

She nodded at the passports. “He was a client, back when...well, back when I used to do more of these. I wanted to call him, to plead your case, but I don’t have a way to contact him—everything was always one way, him to me, for security.”

I nodded. “You’ve done more than enough.” I looked over her shoulder to where Bull was standing. He and Alexei were eying each other as if unsure of what to say. They settled for a respectful nod. Then Alexei turned and looked at me and I drew in my breath—even now, that smoldering, ice-fire look was enough to make me weak.

Lily saw it. “You’re in as deep as I was,” she muttered. She gave me a squeeze and then slapped me on the ass, pushing me towards the check-in desk.

***

It was an overnight flight and most people slept. An hour into the flight, with most of the cabin gently dozing around us, Alexei nudged me and jerked his head towards the back of the plane.
He must want to discuss the plan,
I thought. I unbuckled my seatbelt and followed him all the way to the back.

To my surprise, he checked around for cabin crew and then opened the door to one of the toilets and nodded me inside. Did we have to be
that
careful? Couldn’t we just whisper? But I slipped inside and waited until he’d joined me and closed the door.

“What?” I asked. “Did something happen? Do you think Seventeen knows we’re coming? Could he—”

I was silenced by Alexei pushing me back against the wall and kissing me hard. His lips possessed mine, hard and hungry, his mouth forcing my head back and my mouth open, his tongue pressing my lips apart. My breasts crushed against his chest and the feel of him, the hardness of him, set up an immediate response in my body,  a low throbbing that went straight down to my groin.

“Oh,” I managed when we came up for air.

Lust made his accent even stronger. “We’ve had no time, since I got you back from that bastard.” His hand slid up under my sweater, his palm caressing my bare skin. “I need you.”

And then I realized why I was wearing a skirt.

He lifted me under the arms and perched me on the sink. He swept my new green sweater up my body, bunching it under my arms, and then flipped up the cups of my bra. I groaned as he pushed between my legs and took a breast in his mouth, tongue lapping at the nipple. I buried my fingers in his hair, twisting them into his dark locks, and tried not to think about what might be going on outside. I’d never done anything remotely like this.
Did someone see us go in here? Did one of the cabin crew see?

His hands worked their way down my naked back and over my ass. Then he jerked my legs apart.
Is someone about to knock on the door?

I wasn’t sure how he was going to manage the nylons. Then he simply pushed his thumb through the thin material at my groin, making a hole. I remembered him throwing in a second pair when we’d been shopping. My man was nothing if not practical.