Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 82878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
“I arrived at the gate. The guards were both unconscious. I believe they had been sedated with some sort of pill or powder in their coffees, although I won’t know for sure until I get their bloodwork back. They’re both fine, just deeply unconscious, but Frederick reckons they should wake up within twelve to fourteen hours, so hopefully, I can get some answers on what happened then.”
“Fuck,” Viktor says. “We’ve all massively underestimated Igor and how far he’s willing to go to settle whatever issues he has with me.”
“Why didn’t he shoot you?” I ask.
Both men seem startled as they turn to me, almost as though they forgot I was here. Viktor recovers first.
“He did shoot me,” he says slowly, a frown on his forehead.
“No,” I say, dismissing his statement with a wave of my hand. “After he clocked you with the gun barrel, he ran off. Why didn’t he shoot you then? He could have…”
I trail off, not wanting to end the sentence. He could have killed you is what I wanted to say. Viktor and Lenny both understand my meaning.
“Because this, whatever this is, is personal to Igor. He doesn’t want it to be over so quickly. He wants it to be slow, to make me suffer,” Viktor says.
A shudder runs through me.
“What did you do to him?” I ask.
“I killed his father,” he says coldly.
I gasp, shocked. “What? Why?”
“Because he tried to kill me, but instead murdered my fiancée and the baby that was growing in her belly.”
My jaw drops. His whole world is so dangerous and alien to me and yet I feel no desire to run away.
He turns his focus back to Lenny. “Carry on.”
“I heard a gunshot while I was still trying to make sense of what was going on. I didn’t immediately come to the house because I had told you to stay away. I had no idea you would ignore that instruction.”
“So, you thought the maids were ok to leave to die?” Viktor asked.
“Of course not,” Lenny says quickly. “I didn’t know they were still here. Up until I heard the gunshot, all of the signs pointed to a simple robbery. The drugged guards, uninjured. The timing of the incident. When I heard the gunshot, I ran towards the house. I saw someone, obviously Igor, running away, and you giving chase. I figured he was going to loop back as I ducked down, ready to cut him off, but obviously I misjudged the situation. I didn’t know about the hole in the fence. I immediately called a team and organized the search of the perimeter.”
The door to the living room opens and a large man steps in. I recognize him from being with Viktor that night in the bar when we first met.
“Take a seat and have a drink, Jerome,” Viktor says. He turns back to Lenny as Jerome sits down and picks up his glass. “Where are we now?”
“I’m waiting for the blood test results to come back and for the guards to wake up. In the meantime, a new team is in place and the fence is fixed. I have a guy on his way to sort the CCTV and tomorrow, we’ll be having an urgent meeting to discuss increased security measures until Igor is found,” Lenny says. “I will call some of my most trusted men and have them form a personal bodyguard team for you and Miss Madison.”
“Call me Amelia,” I say automatically.
Lenny gives me an unsmiling nod then his attention turns straight back to Viktor.
“A personal bodyguard won’t be necessary at this point,” Viktor says. “I will let you know if anything changes.”
Lenny accepts this, but he doesn’t look happy about it. “I’ll set about replacing the glass tonight and get someone to come in and clean the mess up. Don’t worry, I’ll stay with them the whole time. No more nasty surprises tonight.”
“What the fuck has happened?” Jerome asks.
Viktor fills him in on the events of the evening. Jerome listens in silence, drinking his drink and filling his glass several times.
“Jerome, you need to get a team together and find Igor as a top priority. This is no longer a covert mission that we can bide our time on. I don’t care what you have to do to find that son of a bitch. I want him found, and I want him found now. Is that clear?”
Jerome nods, already getting to his feet, and moving towards the door as he pulls his phone out of his pocket.
“Lenny, it sounds like you have everything under control here. Keep on this and don’t let anything slip through the cracks. If you need more men, hire them. And keep me in the loop with the blood results and what the guards tell you about the incident.”
Lenny nods and he too gets to his feet.