Page 21 of Her Russian Master
Yuri flexed his fingers.He didn’t know what the nod meant.Were they letting Jake and Lucy free?If so, he’d just fucked his career, forfeited his life as far as Don Diego was concerned, and further damned his soul for nothing.No—saving his girl from rape wasn’t nothing.But Leo might not agree with his decision making.
“You might think about leaving town,” Junior said to Jake.“And take your pretty sister with you.The don wouldn’t like it if you were hanging around his new club.”
Jake looked like he was about to pass out.His head wobbled on his neck.
Junior jerked his head at the door.“Get lost.”
“I need to go up to the office to pack my things,” Jake began.
“Get out,” Junior barked, looking meaningfully at Yuri.
Yuri grabbed Jake by the collar and hauled him toward the door, while his mind whirled around what to do.He had nothing on the don, and would get made by Freddo the minute they returned to the hotel.
His life and career over for a girl.
And he’d do it again in a heartbeat.
They left the now destitute Jake standing in the parking lot with the promise that they’d go free his sister.As Yuri walked around to the passenger side of Freddo’s car, he pulled out his phone and sent an SOS message to Leo, their prearranged signal that he needed to be extracted immediately.
If all went as planned, a local cop would be given his coordinates and pull them over, arresting Yuri on felony extradition charges from Atlanta.He hoped Freddo would then go to the hotel room, realize Yuri had double-crossed them, and call the don.The don would give him the order to whack Yuri, which would be recorded.That meant a lot of things would have to go right.
But if anything went wrong, the fall back plan was one he knew all too well—kill or be killed.
Chapter 6
Lucy glared over the table at the cop interrogating her.“I told you, I’m not answering any questions.I have a right to a lawyer.”
“And ma’am, I told you, you’re not being charged with anything, we just need some answers about what happened to you back there.”
“Then why am I in these?”She rattled the handcuffs they’d put her in when they’d brought her into this room.For a rescue, it had been seriously lacking.
The cops and FBI had arrived at the hotel room not long after Yuri left her strung up and alone with a corpse.They’d cut her free, but once they’d determined she didn’t require emergency care and wasn’t a cooperative witness, she’d ended up at the local precinct in handcuffs.
After she’d been left alone in the interrogation room for what felt like hours, this asshole had come in and tried to pretend he wasgood cop.She’d already decided the moment the police and feds swarmed in that she wasn’t going to say a word.Her brother’s life still hung on the line, and since Yuri had just killed a man for her, he might be in mortal danger, too.Until she knew what was going on with the two of them, she needed to keep her mouth shut.She wasn’t going to throw them under the bus.
The door suddenly slammed open and to her shock, a furious Yuri stormed in like he owned the place.
She surged to her feet, but the chain that attaches the cuffs to the desk tugged on her wrists.
“What in the fuck is she doing in here?”He flashed…a badge—yes, a fucking badge—at the guy.Was it anFBIbadge?
Yuri is a cop?Or agent?The blood drained from her face, leaving her ice cold.Her mind swirled, swiftly rearranging the facts in her mind.Yuri wasn’t Yuri at all.He was some undercover agent.
She couldn’t breathe.
Of course he’d had to protect her.It had been hisjob, not some impassioned need on his part.He wasn’t her crazy Russian, he’d been playing a part.But…what the fuck?He’d hadsexwith her!Was that in theprotect the innocentjob description?
An older FBI agent trailed in behind Yuri, shouting at him to calm down.
“I asked you to get her to a fucking safe house,” Yuri snapped at the other agent.To the local cop, he said, “Get those cuffs off her—now!”Funny, his Russian accent was still just as thick.She’d half expected him to suddenly speak in a perfect Midwestern cadence.Who was this man?
The local cop looked pissed, but apparently Yuri’s intimidation worked here, too, because he produced a key and unlocked her wrists.
“Thank you, you can leave us,” the older agent said to the local cop.To Yuri, he said, “You are out of line.I need a full report immediately.If I’m understanding right, this entire operation has been jeopardized by your feelings for this woman—”
Yuri held his hand up.“Please, Leo.I know.I will make full report and I have hope the mission may still be salvageable.”He spoke to his boss, but he hadn’t taken his eyes off her.“But first, I need to know Lucy is safe.”
The man Yuri called Leo blew out his breath.“The safe house is being arranged.”
