Arctic Fire Read online

  “Do you have what I need?”

  “Not so fast, Viktor. Do you have the information I want?”

  He shuffled around, looking over his shoulder and Roz felt Daniel go still at her side. The hairs on her neck stood up as she lifted her head, to listen. Something was off, she could feel it. This was a trap.

  “You just signed your family’s death warrant, Viktor,” she said as she spun and ran for the vehicle just as a shot rang out.

  Chapter Twenty

  “Well, this is boring as fuck!” Mustique exclaimed as she threw her phone down beside her on the small chair, where she had been resting. Kanan smothered a laugh, his head was pounding, and his ears were ringing from the explosion. Mustique was sitting across from him in a wingback chair and he watched as she winced when she moved.

  Mustique was in pain, but like him, she hated being left behind. Oh, he knew what Daniel’s reasons were and he knew he would have made the same call, that didn’t mean he had to like it.

  “Yes, getting left in the sick bay sucks,” he replied.

  “So, entertain me,” Mustique said, with a tilt of her head. She was a beautiful woman, tall, lithe, beautiful caramel skin, high cheekbones, full lips, and dark sultry eyes. Kanan could see how she would be an amazing asset for Zenobi. Not many men could say no to her charms, and the fact that she was as deadly as she was beautiful made her one of the most dangerous women on the planet.

  But as he looked at her, he felt nothing. Not a twinge of attraction or desire. Nope, he liked his women to have more of a ball busting edge to them it seemed.

  “How the fuck am I supposed to entertain you? What am I, a performing monkey?”

  Mustique shrugged and winced. “Fuck that hurts.”

  “You need to be more careful,” he admonished.

  “Well, thank you captain obvious.”

  He smirked at that, she definitely had traits like his Kitten though. He wondered if snarky was a job requirement for Zenobi. “Do you need to speak snarky bitch as a job requirement for Zenobi or are you just naturally gifted?” he fired back.

  A grin tilted her mouth. “I can see why she likes you, you don’t put up with her shit,” she said thoughtfully.

  Kanan stretched his long legs in front of him, resting his hands on his abdomen. He hadn’t slept well last night and was getting too old for this shit. “Yeah, she likes me like she likes social gatherings—short, sweet and twice a year,” he snorted.

  Mustique was quiet for a bit, so he closed his eyes to rest. When Roz had looked at him earlier in the pool like he was candy and she wanted a taste, he’d almost tossed her over his shoulder and found the nearest flat surface for them, but the knowledge that she didn’t really want him, just his dick, had soon cleared his lust induced fog.

  She’d done it again in the lift after the bomb had gone off. She’d looked at him with so many emotions in her eyes that he’d been seconds away from grabbing her and kissing her until she gave in and admitted she wanted him. But for once in his life sex wasn’t enough, if he was honest it never was about sex with Roz.

  Not since the day she sashayed her way across his beach in a tiny white bikini with her tattooed arms and back on show. With her sparky attitude and sinful body, he’d been interested straight away but as they’d grabbed a drink and chatted about mundane shit, he’d found there was something about her that pulled him in. She was like a breath of fresh air. Nothing like the rich daddy’s girls that usually frequented his beach. No, Roz had challenged him on every level, not allowing him to kiss her until the third night.

  They’d spent the entire summer together and he’d fallen for her—hook, line, and sinker. Then one day he woke up and she was gone. No note, nothing, just gone like a ghost.

  “Was it you who left the Korovka candy for her?”

  “Yes,” he answered knowing it didn’t matter now anyway.

  “Why?”

  “Because she was struggling to give up smoking and I know it’s her favourite.”

  “See. That right there is why she loves you. You saw her struggling but instead of letting on you just put the fix in her own grasp.”

  “Roz does not love me. She may feel a minor irritation for me or even enjoy fucking me, but she does not love me. The sweets were nothing. I would do it for anyone,” he lied. K gritted his jaw to keep from showing how angry the conversation was making him. Why did these women have to pick over everything? He wanted to just drop it, finish this mission, kill that fucking paedophile, and then leave so he could lick his wounds in peace.

  “You're wrong. She does love you, she has always loved you. That’s why she left you on the island.”

  His eyes sprung open at her words.

  “Yes, she told me all about the man she’d met. How she’d fallen for him and was going to walk away from Zenobi for him.”

  His heart was beating ten to the dozen at her announcement. Had Roz really said that or was she fucking with him?

  “I can see you don’t believe me, but it’s true. One day she just turned up, said it was all over and that she didn’t want to talk about it. She clammed up every time I tried to ask her about it, so I stopped, and life carried on as before. She was never the same though. A hardness came over her, so much harder than before. I knew as soon as I met you it was you. She lights up when you're around and doesn’t even know it.” Mustique looked sad, almost melancholy as she spoke.

  “Roz saved me when I was just hours from death. I need you to know that the only reason I’m telling you this is that I think this time she’s the one that needs saving and only you can do that. I would never betray her confidence otherwise.”

  “I appreciate you telling me that, and no disrespect intended, but I think you have read this wrong. Roz doesn’t want saving and she sure as shit doesn’t want me. The best thing I can do for her is to leave her alone after this. Roz has had too many men push their will on her and I won’t do the same.” He was saved from any further awkward discussion by Will.

  “We got a lead on Usov,” he said as he ran into the room.

  At the same time the door flung open and Kanan’s heart almost stopped at the sight before him. Roz stood in the doorway, and she was covered from head to toe in blood.

  “What the fuck happened?” he demanded as he stepped towards her.

  Daniel came in behind her and slammed the door. He was also covered in blood, but not as much. “It was a fucking ambush.”

  “Who?” he asked as Roz walked to the small kitchen and took out a towel wiping the blood from her face.

  “My contact was followed. Started acting all twitchy. Some of Usov’s men shot him, it’s his blood.”

  “Usov’s men?” Mustique asked.

  “Dead,” Daniel said as he walked past Will and into the mini war-room. Kanan followed him, his headache forgotten as adrenaline filled his bloodstream. Seeing Roz covered in blood again nearly brought him to his knees.

  “Do we have a leak?” Kanan demanded.

  “No,” Will said causing both men to look at him. “My contact came through. A hacker I know has been helping me and we found out where Usov is going.”

  “That doesn’t explain my contact being followed,” Roz replied from directly behind K.

  He could feel the heat from her body and the scent of her skin, but it was mixed with the strong metallic smell of blood. The urge to touch her and kiss and wipe the stench from her body and replace it with his was so strong he had to clench his fists and lock his knees to stop himself from turning around and acting on it.

  “Yes, it does, because Dogberry found the leak was from your contact. Turns out he was fucking his secretary and his wife found out. So, she sent an anonymous email to Usov from her husband’s computer. She isn’t exactly a computer genius and sent it from her own IP address. A woman scorned and all that,” Will finished with a raised eyebrow.

  “So why were you looking into my contact?” Roz asked with suspicion.

  “It’s my job to check
everything to see if it leads to a break. This time it did.” He shrugged unapologetically that he had been checking on Roz, indeed, on all of them.

  “You said you found Usov!” Mustique said as she regarded Will with a hard glare, probably in solidarity with Roz which made K almost smile.

  “Yes, he has a private flight booked leaving Russia to go to Mexico at Midnight. I have all the details from the fight plan.”

  “What the fuck are we waiting for?” Mustique asked.

  “We have six hours to plan this and get it right,” Daniel said as he looked at them all one by one. “So, let’s get started so I can go home to my baby girl.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “Am I the only one thinking clearly?” Will asked incredulity in his voice. “Going after Usov with just the five of us, two of whom are injured, is suicide.”

  Roz could feel the fire burning through her veins at the thought of letting Usov get away again. He was within her grasp now, she needed to get rid of him. “I understand what you are saying Will, but if he gets away now he will go underground, and we will lose him. It will be dangerous, that’s why I propose I go alone.” She held up a hand to ward off the barrage that she knew was coming. “Hear me out before you start. I can get close to him, he won’t see me as a threat. Despite my reputation he still sees me as the weak little mouse he tried to break.”

  “It’s too dangerous.” Daniel shook his head, K was looking at her, his face a mask. No emotion showed at all. Something about that made her uneasy. “If something happens you will be out-gunned. I’m sorry Roz, think of a new plan because that one won’t fly.”

  Roz started to pace, hands on her hips. She could smell the blood that coated her jacket, the luxury of a long hot shower was not something she could afford right now though.

  “I agree with Roz that she is the only one who can get close enough to Usov.” Kanan spoke and his words shocked her to her core. Her head swung around to look at him, but he was not looking at her he was watching Daniel. She could tell his words cost him by the way he was clenching his fists at his sides.

  Why would he do that? Why agree with her plan? If anyone was going to be against it, she would have thought it would be him.

  “Has everyone lost their fucking minds?” Will said as he threw his hands in the air.

  Roz could feel Mustique’s eyes on her but ignored the impulse to turn.

  “There might be a way to make this work,” Daniel said as he walked towards Will’s laptop. “Pull up the map of the airfield.”

  Will quickly typed in a series of commands as they all crowded around him. Roz could feel K’s heat as he stood behind her, she wanted him to touch her, not in a sexual way although that was never far from her thoughts when she was near him. Right now, at this moment, she wanted his touch to reassure her, of what she didn’t know. Part of her hated that she needed that from him and part of her was coming to terms with the fact that no matter what she did she would always want or need him in some way.

  The fear that she would lose him like she had everyone else in her life that she loved was like a burn in her chest though, it made her feel physically sick with fear.

  “Here, look,” Daniel said as he pointed to the screen. “The runway is here. If we position here and here and Roz approaches the plane just after he boards, we can eliminate any threats while she has him occupied.”

  “No, I will get on before him, that way I can eliminate any threat on board before I have to deal with Usov,” Roz countered.

  “We will be outnumbered three to one,” Kanan said and his breath tickled her neck.

  “Yes, we will, but if Usov is keeping this on the down-low then he won’t be travelling with as many men.”

  “Daniel’s right. Usov has a few soldiers who are close to him. If he is feeling particularly paranoid, which after the recent attacks he will be, then he won’t be trusting even them. My best guess is he will have his second in command and two or three others,” Roz said with confidence now. “Usov has always been a suspicious bastard and has killed many of his best soldiers if he even got a whiff of disloyal behaviour.”

  “We can do this,” Mustique said.

  “I agree,” Kanan stated.

  “You're all fucking nuts, but whatever. I’m in.” Will said then sighed.

  “Good. Now we just need to figure out the details,” Daniel said.

  ~~~

  Roz had showered and changed, now she needed to get ready for this mission. They were leaving soon but she needed to speak to K. Ever since he backed her decision to go after Usov and go against Will and what she knew was his instinct, she wanted to know why.

  Knocking on the door next to hers that he used to shower and change, she waited with her heart beating faster at the thought of him.

  “Come in,” he called.

  Roz opened the door and went inside. He was shoving his kit in his bag, his guns laid out on the bed ready for him to check. His eyes came to hers and a flicker of surprise filled them before he closed his face into a blank mask.

  “Roz, what can I do for you?” he asked as he continued what he was doing, his eyes on his bag.

  “I wanted to ask you why you supported me earlier.”

  His hands stilled but he did not look up. “Does it matter?” he replied as he zipped the bag and picked up the P1 handgun to check the clip. Roz stepped towards him, reaching for his arm she touched him lightly causing him to look up and stop what he was doing.

  “It matters,” she said with sincerity.

  He looked at the hand still on his arm and she dropped it.

  He moved away slightly, she felt the loss of him even though he was only feet away. “Despite what you may think of me, Roz, I trust your judgement and ability. I know you take risks and I also know you hold no value in your own life, but you would never put those who depend on you at risk.” He walked away, and she could see that he felt caged somehow as he ran his hands through his hair in agitation.

  “That being said, Usov is your own personal demon and if you don’t do this you will never move on. You deserve to have peace in your life, however that may come. You won’t ever have that until he is dead. All I wish for you is peace and a happy life. That’s all I’ve ever wanted. I understand that I’m not what you need or want and as much as that pains me, I accept it.”

  She took a step towards him and she saw his shoulders stiffen, so she stopped. What could she say or do anyway? He was right. She needed to finish this one way or another.

  He was wrong about one thing though, she did value her life, she didn’t know when it happened, but at some point, over the last week, she’d come to realise that she wanted to live more than anything. She just had no idea what she would do with her life when the threat of her past was gone, and she was finally free.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “Is everyone in position?” Daniel asked over the comms unit. A series of confirmations came over the line as Roz watched the dark Land Rover with bulletproof glass drive into sight.

  “Target in sight,” K said calmly.

  “On my command,” Daniel said.

  Usov exited the vehicle, his two most trusted men at his side. He looked around cautiously as if he could feel he was being watched. There were four other guards close to the small luxury light aircraft, all holding semi-automatic weapons and looking every bit the killers they were.

  Usov walked to the steps of the aircraft and as his first foot touched the bottom rung, his two men turned and in quick succession fired on the four soldiers guarding the plane. The men dropped to the ground dead before they even knew what was happening.

  “What the fuck?” Mustique whispered.

  “He’s getting rid of anyone who can rat out his location,” Roz spoke.

  “Okay, Roz, nice and easy and remember the plan,” Daniel said.

  Taking a breath and feeling a calm come over that was almost peaceful, Roz stepped out of the open door of the aircraft, her hands up.

&nbs
p; Usov stopped, his beady eyes raking over her slowly as his men held their weapons on her. Usov held up his hand so they wouldn’t shoot her, no he would want to have fun with her first. Well fuck that, he wouldn’t be having fun ever again. He continued his walk up the steps towards her. His suit was immaculate, complete with polished oxford shoes that were completely ridiculous in these conditions but were the uniform of the successful Mob boss.

  “My little Mouse has come back to me,” he said as he came to a stop in front of her. Usov nodded and the largest man moved closer and grabbed her arm, spinning her around and shoving her through the open door of the aircraft. The other man was on the radio as Usov nodded at him. Her shoulder hit the fuselage as she pretended to stumble, giving the men the impression of someone who was frightened but not weak. She knew he would never believe that. Usov was arrogant but he wasn’t a fool.

  “Search her,” he said as he sat in the cream leather seat, turning to watch as his man searched her. Usov frowned when the man felt her up as he did, his jaw clenched and Roz almost smiled. She had wanted to break the man’s hand as he touched her breast, but the thought that it was upsetting Usov made her pause, he would expect a reaction out of her, want it even. To a man like him, the thought of breaking her would get him off, give him some sort of power trip. It had always been more about the power than the actual sex with Usov.

  “Get your disgusting hands off me, before I break every bone in your hand,” she spat as she shoved the man away from her. He moved to hit her, his hand lifting as if to backhand her.

  “Enough, Ivan. My wife has no weapons on her and her spirit is strong.” Usov waved the man away. “Check that we are ready to take off. It is time I showed my wife her new home.”

  “And kill the people she has with her. The second unit is only a mile away and will be able to deal with the mercenaries my disobedient wife has aligned herself with.”