Page 67 of Redemption

Since he’s met Kim before, Carys worked makeup magic to play up her more exotic features, and she borrowed a dress from Carys’s suitcase—too small, too bright, and too tight, but just right for the mission. With any luck, he’ll be focused on assets other than Kim’s face.

When she pads over to the bank of elevators, she stumbles and giggles, pretending to be high or drunk. Semyon’s guards who are accompanying her steady her to keep her from toppling over. Before the doors to the elevator close, I tug Carys into the far corner. Let’s see how many ways I can make her moan. The highlight of my night.

“Get a room,” one of the security guards mutters to us and averts his gaze.

“Working on it,” I growl in response and slide my hand up Carys’s skirt.

Never a woman to worry about an audience, she gasps and cries, “Oh, yes. Right here. Oh, God. Yes. Yes.”

Her acting is fantastic since I’m nowhere close to pushing her button. I’m going to have to get a replay of this later—assuming we survive. The elevator dings, and Kim and the guards pile out. Carys and I slip out behind them, and I practically carry her down the hall, pretending to fumble for a keycard I don’t have.

At the door to Semyon’s room, there are two more men. We counted on more security outside the room. If he’s got guys in there with him, we might be in trouble. These four, we can handle.

Kim staggers, crying out when she almost falls. Two of the guards are trying to heave her up, and the other two are watching. Lorcan and Jay are on them before they have a chance to react. All four are felled by the same drug we used on Pierre-Jacques earlier.

We hustle along the hall to the group. Kim digs a keycard out of the pocket of the guard closest to her and passes it to me. She’s no fan of the Volkovs either.

To avoid being spotted, Kim and Lorcan disappear down the staircase to the waiting car, which leaves me, Jay, and Carys. I squeeze Carys’s hand before I swipe the keycard and release her to take out my gun.

“Ah, is she here?” Semyon calls from within the spacious, neutrally decorated room. “What a nice—” The words die on his lips when he sees me, Carys, and Jay with guns pointed at him.

No guards inside his room. That’s a win for us. I would’ve done the same, but it’s careless and overconfident. He strides toward his phone, but it’s closer to us. I lunge for it, getting it before he can signal for help. If he did bring ten guys, there’s six other men somewhere in the hotel.

“I could yell.” He reads my mind. “I’ve got other security on this floor.”

“So have I.” I bluff. “You don’t think I came alone, do you? Want a bloodbath or a conversation? Your blood will be the first spilled.” I smirk.

He eyes me, his reptilian gaze enough to send other people to their knees. There’s no mercy in him, which is a thing we used to have in common. Right now, I’m wishing we still did. It’s harder to negotiate when I actually give a shit about the outcome.

“When I heard you were out, I wondered if you’d come.” He eases into the desk chair. “Didn’t expect your visit quite this soon. I suppose I should have expected it somewhere other than America. Too risky for you there.” He picks up the pen on the desk and rotates it over his fingers.

“You thought I’d come for you?” My gaze narrows. For the shit Hagen tried to pull in jail? That’s between me and Hagen, and someday we’ll talk about how stupid he was for trying to get me, of all people, to follow his orders.

Why would I go after him for his son’s maneuver?

“What do you want?” Semyon raises his eyebrows.

I shake off my train of thought and zone in on what’s important. “I need protection for people.”

He taps his lip with his index finger and stares at Carys. “Your son?”

“And my family,” Jay adds.

He narrows his gaze. “I’ll negotiate with her—alone.”

“That won’t work.” While I don’t think he’s dumb enough to try and hurt her, I’m not letting her float in water filled with chum. Semyon is a shark.

“Then I suppose my answer isnoto your request for protection. You can leave.”

“It’s fine.” Her hand rests on my forearm.

“Jay stays.” I stare down the old man who reminds me too much of my father. “I’m not leaving her in here alone with you.”

An answering smirk touches his lips. “Something I always liked about you Finny, boy. When your back’s against the wall, you still come out swinging. Fine. He can stay.”

The keycard from the door is in my rear pocket. If she screams or even raises her voice, I’m storming in the door, and a bullet will be lodged in Semyon’s brain.

Carys and Jay are framed in the open door as it eases to a close behind me. What will Semyon ask in exchange, and will it be something we’ll both be able to live with?

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