Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 91243 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91243 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
He’d only left the Fortress a few months earlier. “Moscow! It’s cold as shit!”
“What are you doing there?”
“Don’t worry about it. Just promise you’ll have a meeting with me in New York when you’re visiting.”
“You just said you’re in Moscow.”
“Planes exist, remember? Stop being difficult. I need ten minutes of your time.”
“Okay, I’ll do it, but just tell me you’re doing okay.”
“I’m fine, Allie. I promise. See you in New York.”
Now, speeding to the hotel where he said he’d be waiting, I feel like I’m stumbling into a trap.
I don’t know why. I trust Gabe more than anyone. He regrets his involvement with Medved’s schemes, and I believe he more than made up for it in the fighting afterward. He nearly died trying to defend us when Medved stabbed him. It took him months to recover.
I wonder about that. Physically, he was fine far sooner than he let on. Gabe stuck around the Fortress for a reason, and I never could figure out what he was up to.
Mass has resources. He has connections and powerful friends. But what would Gabe need with any of that?
I’m worried about it as I climb out of the town car. Mass’s guards follow, some spreading out to secure the building, a pair sticking close. People probably wonder why I’m so damn important. But it doesn’t matter. I’ve gotten used to the heightened security.
My husband is paranoid and with good reason.
Medved is dead. With him, our main rival was snuffed out. I’m still dealing with the fallout from that battle. Loud noises make me flinch. I hate being alone. But we’re safer than we’ve ever been.
That doesn’t mean we’re safe, exactly.
Dragons have enemies. The way the system works practically guarantees it. But I’ve come to accept it, and maybe even appreciate it. All this worry, all this danger makes my husband stronger.
And it makes me love him even more.
I find Gabe sitting at the hotel bar, exactly as promised. I’m surprised at how good he looks. He’s in a dark suit, his hair perfectly cut and styled. He stands and hugs me, his body athletic and filled out with lean muscle.
“You’ve been hitting the gym,” I comment, punching his arm.
“Ah, just a bit.” He grins and sits back down. “Want a drink?”
“It’s eleven in the morning.”
“All the more reason.” A glass of something clear is sitting at his elbow. His eyes drift past me toward the guards lingering nearby. “Mass sent his fellows along?”
“You know how things are.”
“I do.” His expression darkens. “They won’t like this. Tell them not to overreact.”
“Overreact about that? Why are we here right now, Gabe?”
He leans over the bar. I sit close beside him. My brothers have always been strong and ambitious, but their scope has always been narrow. They wanted to keep our family alive and going. That’s pretty much all they ever cared about.
But I think the trials of struggling on the streets of New York to earn for a dying crime syndicate hardened them more than I realized.
“I had a lot of time to think when I was in that hospital bed.” He swirls his drink and takes a sip. I realize it’s vodka. “The world’s changing, Allie. There’s a big hole in the Dragon hierarchy, and someone’s got to step in to fill it.”
“We all know. There are a few people fighting right now to take that position. Mass thinks it’ll fall soon.”
Gabe nods, his face deadly serious. “I think he’s right too, and I want to make sure it falls the right way.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I used my time wisely. Did you know that house AI is crazy good at hacking? All it took was a bit of clever jailbreaking and I had Lady zipping around the internet scooping up more information than you’d believe.”
My eyes go wide. “You were using Lady?”
“She enjoyed it, and I was a perfect gentleman, I assure you. Lady got me dozens and dozens of leads, but it took forever before I could talk to the right people. In the end, I found him, and we struck up a friendship. I had to learn a little Russian to make it happen though.”
I sit very still, my heart rate quickening. “You were in Moscow.”
“That’s right. Moscow’s a nice city, actually. Ever been? But no, I know you haven’t. My friend was there, and we had a long, fruitful discussion, and in the end, we came to an agreement.”
“Gabe, what did you do?”
He finishes his glass of vodka and looks over his shoulder. He waves slightly, and I follow his gaze.
A man stands. He was sitting alone at a table behind a newspaper when we came in. I noticed the paper but quickly forgot him. Now I can’t look anywhere else.
He’s bald and older. I’d guess in his fifties. He’s got the hard look of a man used to deep winters and brutality. Instantly, when he walks toward us, the guards are at my side.