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Ivan glared at her.Glared long and hard and then he…laughed.Heaving, wild bursts of laughter rang from him.
Naomi did not laugh back.Her hands fisted at her sides.
Ivan’s fingers rose and curled under her chin.“Pretty little killer…”
Oh, yeah.He knows exactly who—what—she is.They were on the same page.Nice to know.
“I will give you thirty seconds to get out of here,” Ivan offered.“If you don’t flee, I guarantee you will be meeting your husband again by dawn.”
The bastard had just threatened to kill her.“I don’t think so.”Eb let go of his gun, for the moment.But only so he could curl his hands around Naomi’s waist.“I’ll take care of her.”
“Who the hell are you?”Ivan demanded.
The faintest hint of Russia slid beneath his words.Making them rougher.Deeper.
Like I didn’t already know you were Russian mafia.Eb was staring straight at Ivan Sokolov.The guy had been in the US since he was sixteen—that was why only a trace of his accent remained.Ivan had a rap sheet a mile long.He’d been linked to all sorts of crimes, both in the US and abroad, and he’d sure as hell been on the CIA’s radar.He’d have to be on their radar, considering that he was a confidential source for them.Eb had never worked directly with the guy.Ivan had a reputation for being a volatile prick.But Eb’s partner Hudson had been Ivan’s main contact on plenty of cases.
“I’m a friend of Hudson’s,” Eb replied.
Ivan’s gaze flickered.“Don’t know that name.”
“Hudson Wyatt,” Eb enunciated slowly.He got that Ivan was pretending not to know the guy in front of his crew.Not like the big Russian could admit to being an informant.Not admit it, and stay alive, anyway.“He’s her dead husband.”
Ivan’s jaw hardened.“You mean he’s the husband she killed?I do watch the news.I know her pretty, murderous face.”
Naomi tried to lunge for Ivan, but Eb tightened his hold on her.When she kicked back, aiming perfectly for his shin, Eb swore at the impact.Then he just lifted her up and held her in the air as those booted feet of hers kicked aimlessly.
Ivan laughed.
“I’ll take care of her,” Eb promised.“Was on my way to see you when I caught her playing with the bikes.”No, he hadn’t been going to see Ivan.But he could lie very, very well.
Right now, I need to get Naomi out of here before this crew rips her apart.
“I gave her thirty seconds.”Ivan crossed his flabby arms over his chest.“I figure that time is up.”
“She’s gone.”Shewould begone.“I’ve got her.”
Naomi twisted and tried to surge for Ivan once more.“I’m not leaving without Henry, you sonofa?—”
Eb tossed her over his shoulder.
Naomi let out a guttural scream.A truly powerful one that blasted in Eb’s ears.He kept one arm around the back of her thighs as he began walking very determinedly toward her truck.One arm was around her, and his other hand had pulled his weapon.Just in case any of the gang members decided to attack.
Naomi slammed her hands into his back.“Let me go,now!”
“Do you want the Russian gang to rip you apart?”he asked her, voice pleasant.They were almost at the truck.
Almost.And there had been no attack…yet.
“They aren’t even all Russian!”she snapped back.“Ivan is.Maybe three others.His cousins.The rest are just posers who flock around him.Dammit, put me down before I have to hurt you!”Naomi heaved hard against him.
Hurt?The woman truly thought she could hurt him?Almost amusing.
And they were finally at her truck.So he put her down and immediately caged her between his body and the metal frame of the vehicle.“Listen to me.Carefully.”His voice was very, very low.
The gun was in his right hand.
A hand that was lodged between their bodies.