Page 71 of Broken

Liam

Valentin had sat the meeting time and location. Instructions had been given to come alone. We both knew we were walking into an ambush. Viktor had no intentions of letting us leave alive. He was asking us to walk to our deaths in order to save a child we barely knew.

We were basically fucked.

However, I had no intentions of dying today or any day soon for the matter.

The gun that I usually kept under my mattress was now in my hands. The coolness of the metal made me think back to the first time I had fired a gun. At eleven, right after my mother had died, both Val and I had been sent to Russia for a few months.

We learned how to do things no normal eleven-year-old should have learned how to do. While I'd been able to come home after a month, Val had been forced to stay longer. They had trained him on being an enforcer.

We didn't talk much about it.

He had a few scars that combed over his body that I was sure reminded him of it every day.

The tick and tock of the clock on my office wall caused me to swing my gaze in that direction. The sun was starting to paint the sky as it began to go down. Valentin would have been in the middle of giving a few of the guards instructions on keeping Astrid and the kids safe. Should anything go wrong, they would be immediately moved to a safe location. Valentin had handpicked the guards while the rest including my driver had time off. Tucking the gun in the waistband of my pants, I stood and stalked out of my office. It was time to face the music.

Nova was standing by the door, dressed in all black. The cat suit hugged every inch of her delicious body. She caught the way I was watching her and blushed.

"This brings back some memories," I said and came close.

"Yup, it's practically the reason I have for you being in my life," she said.

"Nova, if things go south tonight… " I pulled her in close to me.

She looked up and flashed those big chocolate orbs my way. "You still have lots of punishing to do?"

I chuckled and ran a finger across her lips. "You don’t know me, Little Thief."

"Promise me then," she said suddenly, her voice sounding off and unsure.

It was so very unlike Nova to sound unsure.

"Promise you what?"

"Promise that you and Val will make it out of this fine...you cook to well to die." Her voice seemed to waver just a bit.

But I said the words she needed to hear anyway.

"Promise, Little Thief."

From outside the front door, Val honked the horn. Dropping a kiss on Nova's lips that I wished could last forever, we made our way outside. The blacked-out SUV sat ready and waiting with Valentin behind the wheel. Dark shades covered his eyes, and he turned in my direction when I slid into the smooth and unblemished leather passenger seat.

"For the record, I think it's a terrible idea that we're bringing Nova along," he spoke.

"Noted," Nova grunted from the back seat.

We began to hash over our plan. We were meeting Viktor and probably all of the men he'd managed to hustle away from our organization with false promises that he couldn’t possibly deliver. The plan was simple.

Cut the head off the demon.

I knew that Valentin didn't want to kill his father, so I would have to do it. Even a ruthless enforcer trained from the age of eleven would have a problem putting a bullet in the man who had raised him.

"I'm going to find a way into the back of the building as soon as we get there," Nova said.

"It'll be locked," I reminded her.

"I already know the lock type, it’s a standard basic industrial lock," she spoke and I could tell her mind was already weaving itself through the mechanics of the lock.