Page 155 of Dagger in the Sea

“Stressed but good, lots of adrenaline. I’m glad we did this.”

I slid the gun in the back of my jeans and grabbed her, twisting her arm behind her, hooking an arm around her neck.

“Turo!”

“Now what do you do?” I said in her ear.

She twisted in my hold, she pushed.

“Before your attacker gains full control of you, you need to do everything you can to inflict as much injury as you can to get away. You hurt or be hurt. Get loud, push. Aim for the parts of the body where you can do the most damage easily—eyes, nose, ears, neck, groin, knee, legs. And conserve your energy while you’re doing it. Your attacker’s position and how close he is will determine what part of your body you’ll use.”

I showed her how to use her hands, fingers, her knees, elbows, her head. How to leverage her weight strategically, get out of common holds and attacks.

Gesturing at Ciro with a lift of my chin, I released her. “Are we taking a break?” she asked, eyes wide, face flushed.

“Nope.”

Ciro grabbed her from behind, and she twisted, her arm shooting out, the heel of her palm striking up under his nose.

“Go, baby,” I murmured.

An hour and a half later we were floating side by side at our bungalow’s swimming pool.

“Can we practice some more tonight?” she asked.

“Can you get the hotel to bring us gym mats for the floor?”

“After, can you show me maneuvers with your velvet tongue on the mats on the floor?”

Laughing, I gripped her ass under the water and pulled her body flush to mine. “Deal.”

* * *

We stackedthe money into a black duffel bag at Petros’s villa.

They’d called with the location for the drop off, a rural area sixty miles north of Athens. After they picked up the money and the cash checked out, they’d call Adriana and tell her where her brother had been released.

Adri’s hair was pulled back in a high, tight ponytail, the strain in her stiff shoulders evident. Her oversized black sunglasses masked her eyes, most of her face, leaving only the sharpness of her jaw, her pale lips. Lips I’d kissed just an hour ago in the privacy of our room, our bed, the car ride over.

Adri and I stared at one another across the courtyard through the group of private security agents, Alessio, Luca and his men. The servants of the house. Her mother hugged her, Petros. They’d been outraged at the demand that Adri delivery the money. But Adri had insisted she go. That she could handle it. She wanted to do this for her brother. For the sins of her father.

In the car over she’d confessed, “If something happens to Marko today, I’ll never forgive myself. My parents cannot lose another child. I can’t lose him.”

I squeezed her hand. “We’re getting him back, Adri. Believe that. There’s no other option.”

Now, across the courtyard littered with people and vehicles, she turned and caught my hard gaze. I raised my chin at her.

With her car keys in hand she strode over to me. My Aphrodite had transformed into the militant, determined Athena. “I need more from you.”

“Anything, baby.”

She wrapped her arms around my middle and kissed me, fingertips digging into my back. I fisted my hands in her hair, not giving a shit about what everyone thought. Nobody else mattered. “Never forget,” I said against her lips, “you are Stefanos’s great-great granddaughter. You can do this.”

“I can do this,” she replied.

“You call me after it’s done, the second you get back in your car.”

“I will.”

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