Page 29 of Her Wicked Promise (The Devil’s Plaything #2)
Eva
T he phone’s shrill ring cuts through my sleep.
“Yes.” My voice is steady, alert. In our world, middle-of-the-night calls usually mean one of two things: opportunity or catastrophe.
“We have a problem.” Leon’s voice carries the same tone it did when my father was shot. I’ve never forgotten it. And I’ve only heard it that one time.
I’m already throwing back the covers, feet hitting the cold stone floor. “Stefan?”
“No.” A pause that makes my blood turn to ice. “It’s Robin Rivers.”
The world stops.
Every muscle in my body starts trembling, every instinct screaming that whatever comes next will shatter something inside me that can never be repaired. But I force my voice to remain level, professional.
“Tell me.”
“Ivan’s dead. Body was found dragged into the bushes three houses down from the Rivers’ place. Garroted. Nice and clean and quiet.” Leon’s words are clear, but I can hear the tension underneath. “And the Rivers woman…she’s missing.”
The phone gives an ominous creak as my grip tightens. Ivan was one of the best—fifteen years with the Consortium, never missed a check-in, never failed an assignment. If someone got close enough to kill him, they planned this carefully.
“When?”
“Best estimate, she got jumped around eight PM local time when she was taking the trash out. Neighbors saw and heard nothing.”
My mind races through possibilities. The Gattos top the list, of course, since Brie Colombo and the Syndicate began putting the pressure on. But I can’t be blind to other possibilities. It could be anyone who’s been watching, waiting for the perfect target.
“The Rivers children?”
“Safe. They’re at the house with a full security detail I deployed after finding Ivan’s body. Adrian’s asking questions, but we’re keeping him contained.”
Good. At least Robin’s siblings are protected.
Leon’s voice softens slightly. “I know you keep saying she meant nothing to you, but?—”
“Stop,” I snap. “Just stop, Leon. Don’t make fools of us both. You know why I keep saying that.”
Leon has been with me for years. He knows me better than anyone alive. He’s watched me maintain the fiction that Robin was just another transaction, just another warm body to pass the time.
He’s helped me maintain that fiction, because he understood it was the only protection I could offer her.
“What are your orders?” he asks.
I’m already moving, pulling on clothes. “Get the Gulfstream ready. File a flight plan to Vegas immediately—I want the Gattos to know we’re coming. To know that the bait worked, so they’ll keep her alive. And Leon?”
“Yes?”
“Tell the crew to pack for an extended stay. We’re not coming home until Robin is safe.”
After I hang up, I stand in the middle of my dressing room and allow myself exactly ten seconds to feel the fear that’s clawing at my throat.
Robin. Taken. Hurt. Possibly?—
No.
I won’t think that word. Won’t give it power by even acknowledging its possibility.
I take a deep breath and re-center. But my hands are shaking as I keep dressing, and I realize I’ve never felt fear like this before. Not when my father was shot. Not during the worst firefights of my career. Not even when I thought I might die in that ambush in Vegas.
This is what love feels like when it’s threatened.
I force the trembling to stop, locking down my emotions with the iron discipline that’s kept me alive this long.
Robin needs my strength now, not my panic.
She needs the coldhearted bitch, the Eva Novak who is feared across six continents, not the one who’s falling apart at the thought of losing her.
The Eva Novak who will turn the world to dust if that’s what it takes to bring Robin home.
Eva Novak is out for blood—and she’ll do whatever it takes to save Robin in
Her Ruthless Heart