Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 80660 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80660 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
A sound came across the speaker that was half sigh of relief and half snarl. Justin’s laugh rose in the background. Then there was a little scuffle, and Justin’s voice filled the air.
“Did you take care of that thief yet? You’ve got to get rid of him, Alexei. Thieves are more trouble than their worth. Like fucking stray cats.”
The burning that filled his cheeks was intense and he couldn’t look up at Soren, though he heard a muffled choking noise that might have been laughter.
“No! I’m not getting rid of Soren. I’ve told you this. I’m not taking that contract. I’m not going to hurt him.”
There was a long pause before Justin returned. “He’s there in the room, isn’t he? I gotcha. Not gonna hurt him. Wink. Wink.”
This time, Soren definitely snorted, because his insane uncle had actually said, “Wink. Wink.” out loud. Alexei groaned loudly.
“J, I’m not going to hurt Soren.” He lifted his eyes from the phone resting on the counter between them to Soren’s face. “I will never hurt Soren. He’s…he’s important to me.”
Justin fell silent again for a heartbeat, and then he could be heard shouting for Gabriel, a slight hint of panic in his tone. “Get back in here. No. Will you put Frankie down? You’re stressing him out.”
Frankie? Soren mouthed silently.
Alexei hit the mute button. “My uncle has these two enormous cats, Francis and Lucian. When he’s stressed, he carries one of them around and pets them like he’s some old-school evil villain. It’s a little creepy. You can tell he’s plotting something.”
“Probably how to kill me and make it look like an accident.”
Alexei nodded. “Probably,” he easily agreed. He turned off the mute as Gabriel returned to the phone. It sounded like his uncle had put the phone on speaker as both men could be heard clearly now.
“What the devil is going on there, Alexei?” Gabriel demanded.
“Have you started the hack yet?” Justin chimed in.
“We started it several hours ago and haven’t made a dent yet, but we’ve run into new problems.”
“Tell us everything.” Gabriel’s no-nonsense tone was calming. They were ready to get down to business. His uncles had always come up with good solutions in the past, and they’d come up with something this time too.
Since his uncles already knew about the encounter with the Russians, he quickly updated them on their brush with the CIA and the hidden shadow of MI6 within the city. Justin cackled like a lunatic when Alexei described pushing Sheila into the canal, but Gabriel didn’t make a sound until he was finished.
“I’m assuming he’s there listening,” Gabriel snarled.
“I’m here,” Soren replied in a matching dark tone. “I’m sorry that your nephew has been drawn into this mess. I don’t want to see him hurt any more than you do.”
“Alexei is his own man. He chose this contract, which unfortunately put him into your orbit. I don’t hold you responsible for the choice he made,” Gabriel said tersely.
“But we do wonder why he didn’t put two in the back of your skull,” Justin grumbled.
Oh, this shit has to stop right now.
“You have no idea how nice his ass is,” Alexei moaned into the phone. “I mean, he’s so fucking tight—”
“Alexei!” Gabriel shouted, sounding like a scandalized grandmother while Justin laughed wildly. There was the sound of a crash and Alexei could easily imagine him falling, he was laughing so hard. Alexei looked up to find Soren’s face beet red, his hand covering his eyes.
“Point taken, nephew. It’s none of our business. I apologize.” Gabriel’s tone sounded perfectly sincere, and Soren’s head popped up. He stared at the phone with a look of utter shock, but Alexei wasn’t surprised. His uncle could be overprotective, but he was very good about apologizing when he overstepped too much.
“Thank you. Soren has earned my trust, and I’d appreciate it if you tried to respect that.”
“I should probably tell you that I checked up on him,” Justin informed them now that he was over his fit of laughter.
“Fuck,” Soren grumbled.
“Oh, yeah. I’ve still got some contacts at the CIA who know about you,” Justin taunted. Alexei watched the bright red drain from Soren’s cheeks, leaving behind an almost sickly paleness. Those wide blue eyes snapped to Alexei, full of fear, but Soren didn’t need to worry. He trusted him. It didn’t matter what Justin had learned from his old CIA buddies.
“How do you know anyone there?”
“You’re not the only one who chose a new life after some time with the Company. I left on better terms than you.” Justin paused and cleared his throat. “You still sound like an ass to me, but you and your team did get fucking screwed. I am sorry about that.”
“Thanks. I’ll happily pay for my past fuckup, but my team didn’t deserve what they got,” Soren said softly. Alexei slid off of the stool he was sitting on and walked past the island to tightly wrap his arms around Soren. He didn’t like the man looking so miserable when he was usually so happy-go-lucky. Some of the shadows left Soren’s eyes and he pressed an appreciative kiss to Alexei’s temple.