Retribution (8 page)

He changed into light grey
cotton pajama bottoms with a drawstring that hung loosely on his
hips. He negated the top leaving his chest bare and sat in a
comfortable chair to study the file. It was warm and he left the
doors open to the balcony liking the feel of the breeze off the
ocean. Every now and then his eyes went to the adjoining door. His
expression was unreadable, but his thoughts were very
active.

He’d gone over the files a
hundred times, but he still couldn’t get past image of first
meeting Katya, bruised, battered and beaten. She had a lot of
pride, but you could see the damage this had done to her, not just
physically. Yes, it was to his advantage because she needed to
trust someone, but something in him started to feel guilty. He
wasn’t sure before, but he was now. She was an innocent in all of
this. He didn’t like manipulating innocents. His brother wouldn’t
like it either, certainly not to avenge his death. He sighed
heavily, ran his fingers through his hair and leaned back in the
chair to stare at the ceiling. In fact he could almost hear
Georgy’s voice reprimanding him. Still, Peter was a criminal, a
murderer and he needed to be put down before more people, innocent
people were killed or had their lives destroyed. “It’s not just for
you Georgy,” he spoke out loud to himself, “but for your kids and
your widow.”

It was my choice. This is
not your burden to bear.

Yes, that’s exactly what he
would say. Ryan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was too
far now, too deep. He wasn’t leaving.

A blood curdling scream
sliced through the silence of the night. Ryan’s feet barely touched
the carpet as he burst into Katya’s room. She was sitting upright
in bed, her arms stretched out in front of her with her fingers
splayed, as if she was shoving someone away from her. Even her
injured arm was outstretched even though it had to have hurt. Her
eyes were wide open, terrified yet distant. He could see droplets
of perspiration across her brow. By the looks of her, she was
having a nightmare, or just waking from one, and it was horrible.
He rushed to the bed and shook her. It worked. She blinked twice
and her eyes focused on him. A heart wrenching sob tore from her
throat and she suddenly gripped so him tightly that her nails dug
into his skin. She buried her face in his chest. He eased on the
bed bedside her and reluctantly put his arms around her.
Jesus, she is a mess.
Whatever woke her must’ve been terrifying. There’s no way she
would have even touched him if it hadn’t scared the shit out of
her. Hell, she didn’t even like him.

Seconds later, the door to
her room burst open and Ivan along with her father rushed in. Ivan
was doing up his robe, and her father had on a set of burgundy silk
pajamas.

All Ivan could see was a
half-naked man holding the woman he loved and she was barely
covered. She was only wearing a thin nightgown with spaghetti strap
shoulders. “What the fuck—”

Ryan held up his hand
cutting him off. “She had a nightmare. I got this. Go back to
bed.”

“Like hell.” He was about
to tell him to take his hands off of Katya or he’d oblige him
himself, but was interrupted.

“Katya?” Peter
spoke.

She turned her face away
from him and tightened her grip on Ryan’s waist.

Ivan took a couple of steps
into the room. He was going to physically remove Ryan’s hands from
her body.

Peter lifted his hand to
stop him. “Do as he says Ivan,” Peter interjected. It may have
looked like Ryan was doing something to her, but the way she was
clinging to him made him know the man spoke the truth. He could
also hear her soft sobs. It took a lot to reach the man’s heart,
but seeing his daughter suffer was certainly effective.

“Boss?” Ivan didn’t like
this at all. He’d been protecting Katya forever, and never touched
her like that man did. No, he didn’t like it. It didn’t help that
he could see what shape the other man was in either. “He’s got his
hands on her and—”

“Do as I say,” Peter
repeated with irritation. He turned and left the room.

Ivan glared at Ryan and
shook a finger at him in warning before he left shutting the door
behind him.

Ryan saw the warning but
didn’t say anything. Ivan’s undoing would be his arrogance. Peter
would sacrifice him in a minute to save his own hide. He could
easily see the man had some affection for Katya. However, who could
blame him? She actually felt amazing. Her skin was so damn soft and
she wasn’t wearing much in the way of stopping his body from
feeling how well she was put together. She was also trembling. Her
vulnerability was almost too much. “Did you want to talk about it?”
He needed a distraction, fast.

She shook her
head.

He felt her arms tighten
around him. He knew it was for reassurance, but he was a man, and
having a beautiful vulnerable woman pressed against him, didn’t
have him thinking the same way. “Didn’t the doctor give you
medication?” She took a deep shuddering breath, and freed one of
her arms to wipe her eyes. He felt her breasts press against his
bare flesh when she did that. He stifled a groan. Okay, this wasn’t
working for him at all.

“Yes.”

“Then, you don’t like
taking it.”

“No. It makes me tired all
the time.”

“I can leave the bedside
light on.”

“It won’t help. Nothing
helps. Just give me another minute. It’ll pass. It always does.
Just hold me. Please.”

“All right.” Christ, a
minute to her was an hour to him. At least she was true to her
word. Her breathing was steadier now. She pressed her cheek against
his chest. He turned his nose into her hair, and inhaled. She
smelled like roses and her hair was as soft as silk. Her skin like
warm velvet. A minute later, she sat erect and stared at him. The
only light in the room was from the doorway to his. He only had a
lamp on, but he could still see the puffiness of her eyes. She was
vulnerable—and magnificent looking in all of that. No one could
accuse this woman of being anything less than beautiful, no matter
the marks on her face. Somehow, at that moment, he couldn’t see any
of them.

Again she rubbed away the
dampness. “Thanks. I’ll be okay now. You can leave.”

The last sentence was
abrupt. She was trying to gain some control over the weakness she
just displayed. “Is this behavior frequent since you’ve been
released from your captors?”

Behavior? She knew he was
being polite, something he couldn’t brag about, but he was trying
because of the state she was in. She literally freaked out. She was
a mess and she couldn’t tell anyone about it. “Sometimes.” She
didn’t meet his eyes as she lied. He caught it anyway.

“All the time.”

She shrugged and met his
eyes again. “Please don’t ask me to take those pills. They’re
awful.”

“I know they are.” He’d
never taken them but he’d worked with people who did take sedatives
and antipsychotics just to help them sleep. The side effects just
weren’t worth it.

“Don’t tell my father,
he’ll find a way to force feed them to me, hide them in my food, or
whatever.”

“I won’t if you continue to
see the Psychiatrist.” He wouldn’t have said anything anyway. Her
father could go to hell. What he did need was her to work a way
through this and not have these horrible night terrors. They were
hellish for her, but he didn’t think he could concentrate on what
he was there for if he kept holding that soft feminine body every
night.

He was resorting to
blackmail. She clenched her jaw. No, she didn’t like it, but it was
a better alternative and in Ryan’s defense, he was trying to help.
“Fine.”

“Are you all right now?” He
seriously had to get away from her. She was beautiful, half naked
and vulnerable as hell.

“I am, thank you for just
being here.” Her voice was terse. No, she didn’t like the ultimatum
he gave her, but it was better than the alternative. Further, he
spoke to her like she was an unruly child. This was something she
was going to put a stop to, but not tonight. She was emotional,
tired and needed sleep.

Good, she was back to
disliking him again. He abruptly stood up. “I’m right next door.
I’ll leave it open a crack like before.”

Katya watched him leave.
Her eyes went down the length of him. If she wasn’t so distraught
she might have noticed the mass of well-formed muscle she was
clinging to moments ago. Every inch of his torso was solid and
warm. Surprisingly, she found comfort in that even after what she’d
gone through with male captors. He had the intelligence and the
training, but he also had the physique. Though, she already knew
there was way more to him than he let on.

One thing was certain. He
soothed her quicker than the nurses and doctors could when she was
at the hospital. Yes, these nightmares were frequent, and their
answer was to drug her. It didn’t work and just made her irritable
and groggy the following day. The drugs also gave her a splitting
headache. Every now and then a very kind nurse would sit with her
and keep her calm, but it wasn’t as effective as Ryan Casey’s warm
body.

CHAPTER TWO

Ryan was up, and showered
by seven in the morning. He’d had four hours sleep but he was well
rested. It was all he ever needed. He’d never been much of a
sleeper, and a light one, and he functioned well on it. He put on
grey slacks and a white shirt while he walked through the adjoining
door and checked on Katya and she was sleeping sound. She was on
her side with her back to him. A thin sheet covered her body and he
could easily see the curves of her form beneath it. She had a nice
shape. Her hips were round and her waist small. She had very nice
breasts, not to big, or small. Probably the right size for his
hands. He gave his head a shake.

A knock on his own door
brought him about. He walked over and opened it. It was Ivan. He
knew the man didn’t like him. He didn’t even bother hiding the
dislike in his expression. Well, it would just make killing him
easier if he got in his way.

The two men never said
anything but just stared at one another for a moment.

Ivan’s eyes went down the
front of Ryan where his shirt hung open. The distinct contours of
his thick upper chest and hard abdominal muscles just pissed him
off more. He saw the physique last night from the dim light of the
hall when Katya clung to him. It was worse in broad daylight. The
man was in incredible shape and Ivan’s body was nothing like it. He
was also disgustingly good looking, whereas Ivan’s face wasn’t much
to look at. He had cauliflower ears, and his nose was flattened to
his face from the numerous fistfights he’d been in. He had a large
forehead and sunken eyes. It looked like he had the face of a
boxer, but he wasn’t one. “The boss wants to see you. Now. Right
now.” His eyes went past him for a moment to see if Katya was in
there.

Ryan saw his suspicions and
just shook his head while stepping by him and shutting the door.
Then he buttoned his shirt. Ideas like that were ridiculous, and
insulting. He was here for a job not the seduction of a vulnerable
woman. Obviously Ivan wouldn’t hesitate if he was in the position.
Peter chose wisely.

Ivan never said another
word to him as he led him to the familiar door of Peter Nickolov’s
office. There were two men standing outside, and the door was open.
Ivan swept his arm for Ryan to enter first.

He wasn’t sure what this
was about, but he was thinking that he wanted regular reports on
Katya. Something Ryan wasn’t about to give. He was very discreet.
If Peter wanted someone to feed him information, he’d have to look
elsewhere.

He didn’t even consider
that the older man discovered that he wasn’t who he said he was,
because there was no way that information was available. His
brother of course, didn’t have that courtesy. Someone in Peter’s
organization found out who he really was.

When Ryan entered the
darkened room, he expected the same stern psychopath waiting for
him. Instead, Peter looked a little shaken.

“Oh good.” Peter came out
behind his desk holding a piece of paper. There was an open parcel
sitting on top of the polished surface. It was wrapped in
traditional brown package paper, now torn open. He could see the
muscle in Peter’s jaw pulsing. He was raging and seemed a little
off balance.

Ryan stopped as Peter
approached and handed him the paper. Ryan unfolded it, scanned the
writing then his eyes went to the opened package, then to Peter.
“When did you get this?”

“This morning. It was left
at the front gate. They were gone before my men could do anything.
The cameras picked up two masked men in a white van, but there was
no plate.” He nodded toward the note. “You are a man of many
talents. I recalled that you served in the Middle East. Please tell
me you can read that.”

His eyes went back to the
crumpled note. Well, now he knew the urgency of Peter’s request. He
scanned the paper. The note was written in Arabic. His eyes went to
Peter. He already knew to lie to him would have him thrown out of
the place, or killed right there, and with it, his hopes of finding
the one who killed his brother. “It says, ‘We’re not
done.’”