She was starting to debate the wisdom of being here when her gaze landed on the most beautiful writing desk she’d ever seen. With a soft sigh she walked over to the desk and examined the detailed inlay work and the beautiful flowing lines of the desk. The front was shut and she looked over her shoulder to the sales woman. “Does it open?”
“Oh yes. It is a mechanical desk, with many surprises. Watch.”
The woman proceeded to show Rya all the different secret drawers and hiding places, ingenious little spots where no one would think to look for a message. It was such an astonishing piece of furniture and she gently stroked the curve of the desk, admiring the mother of pearl and onyx inlay. “How much is it?”
Before the woman could respond Maks interrupted them in Russian. She glared at him, but he ignored her and pulled the saleswoman over to the side. A few moments later the woman left, beaming as Rya glared at Maks and Chen accompanied the saleswoman to the office at the back of the warehouse. “What did you just do?”
“Dimitri ordered me to buy what you like. You love that desk don’t you? I can see in your eyes when you look at it.”
“Yes,” she admitted in what even she knew was a sullen voice. Giving herself a mental shake, she said, “Do I even want to know the price?”
“No, you do not. Be happy that you are rescuing a beautiful piece of art from someone who would not appreciate it. You love it, there is no greater compliment to a craftsman than that.”
She crossed her arms and gave him a searching look. “You sound like you know what you’re talking about. Do you make furniture?”
He laughed and shook his head. “No, I make guns, sniper rifles to be exact. Is not art, but I still like to see them go to people who appreciate them.”
Ahead of them, Gia called out, “Rya, come here.”
She gave Maks an exasperated look. “I’m not done talking to you about Dimitri buying me random things. I want to decide what I want, Maks, not you or Dimitri.”
Maks ignored her, looking over his shoulder to see where Chen and the saleswoman had disappeared to. With an exasperated sigh, Rya walked over to where Gia stood next to a massive wood cabinet surrounded by rolled up carpets in the back corner of the room. As she approached she noticed something odd about Gia and it was only when she was close enough to see her clearly that she noticed Gia was trembling. Rya’s heart raced as she looked for Gia’s bodyguards and found they had disappeared.
Gia shook her head and whispered, “Rya, run.”
Someone swore from beside the cabinet and Rya moved forward enough to see two men with guns pointed at her and Gia. “Fuck.”
The men stepped out and the older one with a heavy face and scarred knuckles gave her a quick up and down look. “You are Rya DeLuca.”
She considered lying, but his friend had his gun trained on Gia. “I am. You don’t want her. I’m Rya.”
The men stepped carefully around Gia. “You will come with us. Ms. Lopez will not be hurt if you cooperate.”
Panic roared through her and before she could totally freak out Maks said, “Don’t touch her. She is under protection of many Bratvas.”
The man with the gun on Gia said something in rapid fire Russian and argued with Maks for a few moments before the older man next to Rya spoke up in English. “Ms. DeLuca, you will not be hurt if you come with us. I promise. Someone wishes to speak with you and then you will be returned, unharmed, to Dimitri. If you fight us, people will be hurt.”
“Who wants to see me?”
“Mr. Novikov. He said to remind you of the ring, even if you do not wear it.”
She took a step back and came up against Maks. He settled his hands lightly on her shoulders. Shit, Dimitri’s father wanted to meet her. She wasn’t sure if she was relieved or even more terrified. Maks held her shoulders tight, rubbing his thumbs on her arms, and that helped her get ahold of herself. Okay, they were going to take her, that was a given. She wouldn’t risk Gia and Maks’ lives, they were too precious. Still, she’d try to stall as long as she could.
Looking up at Maks, she whispered, “Tell Dimitri I’m sorry.”
“What?”
Before he could stop her she moved away from him and to the older man’s side. “Where are you going to take me?”
The man glared down at her, but his gun was no longer pointing at anyone. She looked up at him, letting him know that she wasn’t fucking around. Hopefully, if she could get them to stand around and talk, it would give Maks or Chen, wherever he was, time to figure out how to get them out of this mess. “I can either go with you willingly, or you can fight me. I’m guessing that you have orders not to harm me, or Gia, because right about now you should have smacked us around a bit to get us to do what you want. So let’s stop messing around. Tell me where I’m going and I might go with you. Don’t tell me and I’ll make you fight me.”