Wicked Mafia Prince (A Dangerous Royals Romance, #2)(20)

I give them the tall tale. I tell them Nikki hit me. I say I called out to the Santa guard, but Nikki took Santa guard’s gun and ran off. I tell them how the Santa guard seemed upset and angry and how he left me alone in the room. I called out and nobody came, so I went out in search of somebody. The outside door was open, so I went out, looking for the van, for a ride home. I play my part forcefully, with commitment. That’s the key. I’m the angry customer.

The guards start putting it together, telling each other in their own words. “He let Nikki go and he knew Charles would f*ck him up, so he left,” one of them explains to another.

Then they find the nun gone. The story changes—Santa guard f*cked up and let Nikki escape, and he had nothing more to lose, so he ran away and took the nun with him. They all talk about how pissed Charles will be.

I demand my money back, as though that’s my main concern.

The story of the bearded guard taking the nun continues, gains more detail.

It’s working. I’m relieved.

When I ask a third time for my money back, I get a Glock shoved into my neck. “How about we drive you back instead of killing you—would you settle for that?”

I put up my hands as they threaten my fictional family. If I reveal anything, they say, people that I love will die. I play the frightened john, promising never to speak of it. I show them total collapse. I show them the kind of man who would visit such a place. They no longer think of customer service with me.

They blame me a little bit, I think. After all, the chain of events began with me. I allowed a girl they tied and bound to hit me. I whined enough to distract the guard and allow her to steal his gun and escape.

They blindfold me and put me back in the rear of the van to take me back. I put my ear to the metal partition, straining to hear. They’re upset with the Santa guard. They’re hunting for him and Tanechka already.

Aleksio will put him somewhere. This guard will have good information.

Tanechka will stay with me.

The ride back to the bus station takes much less time. They don’t bother driving in circles to fool me now that they’ve threatened my family. They strip my blindfold off and nearly throw me to the curb. They have worse problems than me.

I walk through the crowded station. I don’t think they’re tailing me, but I’m always careful. I come out the other side and see Aleksio leaning against his Jaguar.

He grabs my suit jacket and slams me back against the door, eyes wild. “Were you always going to grab her? Just tell me that one thing. I need to know. Were you planning it?”

“No. I wasn’t.”

He twists my shirt, pushes me harder. “I need to trust you!”

“Where is she? Is she okay?”

Aleksio glares, nostrils flaring. “What the f*ck? You shouldn’t even get to see her now!”

“She’s awake?”

“Yeah,” he bites out. “She’s back at the house with Tito and that girl. Mischa’s on his way.”

I nod. She and Mischa were close friends. “She was in danger we didn’t understand.” I tell Aleksio about the amnesia. “I couldn’t leave her.”

“Was she in danger that minute?”

“That minute?” I look into his eyes. “No.”

“So what the f*ck?”

“She has no memory! She can’t defend herself!”

Aleksio lets me go with a huff of disgust and swings into the driver’s seat.

“You’d do the same for Mira,” I say.

Yuri’s in the front barely suppressing his smile. Tanechka’s back! I get in the back seat.

Aleksio peels out, barely giving me time to close my door. “We need to be able to trust each other,” he says.

“You can always trust Viktor,” Yuri says. “But he will always put Tanechka above everything. That’s the only thing.”

“The mission isn’t compromised,” I say. “They still think I’m Peter the German technologist. They won’t think I was there to set up surveillance. We’re good.”

Aleksio grumbles.

“I know how to set a man up,” I tell him.

“If Viktor says he set the man up, he set the man up,” Yuri says.

“They wouldn’t have driven me back if they suspected anything,” I say.

Yuri points out that we now have a guard to question in addition to the intrusive surveillance.

“Fine, a live guard and surveillance is better than just surveillance,” Aleksio says. “But Viktor…” He’s angry. Upset. I chose Tanechka above everything.

Shivers slide over me. “It’s her,” I say.

Yuri turns and meets my eyes. “But if she really thinks she’s a nun…”

“I don’t care. It’s Tanechka. In time she’ll remember. She has to.”

Yuri frowns. “She may not like what she remembers.”

“She’s alive,” I say. “Everything is possible.”





Chapter Seven




Tanechka


Nikki and I are taken to a very nice home, a row house it’s called, in the city of Chicago. There’s an American, Tito, in charge. He’s big and burly; his short dark hair is nearly white on the tips.