The door slammed and Chase went around to the passenger side. When they were situated, the man at the wheel flipped on the headlights and smashed the gas. Sophie was thrown back against the seat as the SUV accelerated.
“Who is she?” the driver asked.
Chase rolled his neck from side to side before answering. “Hawk, meet Sophie Nash. Sophie, meet Jack ‘Hawk’ Hunter, the best sniper to ever take aim at a target.”
The man’s gaze met hers in the rearview.
Sophie smiled. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Hunter.”
He laughed. “Just Hawk. Or Jack. Polite,” he said to Chase. “Gina would love that. Any chance you and Sophie are, uh, a couple…”
Chase snorted. “No way in fucking hell, dude.”
Sophie’s heart pinched, but then Chase turned and speared her with a look. “Technically, Sophie’s my stepsister.”
“We weren’t raised together,” Sophie interjected. She didn’t know why she felt the need to say it, but she did. Maybe because of the way her body had reacted to him earlier.
“Nope, we definitely weren’t.” Chase’s eyes glittered as he stared at her, and then he turned to face front again.
Hawk shrugged. “Sorry. It was just a thought. You know how Gina is these days. The mere hint of romance and she’s planning a wedding.”
Chase laughed. “Jesus, dude, she just held a wedding at your place a couple of weeks ago.”
“Yeah, but now she’s waiting for the next teammate to fall and gleefully plotting where to put the swans.”
“Swans? Shouldn’t she be writing songs or something?”
Sophie had no idea what they were talking about, but she was damn glad to be in a closed vehicle for a change. She melted against the seat, her body tired and achy and ready for the promised shower and some sleep. She had no idea what time it was, but she felt as if she hadn’t actually slept most of the day.
She stifled a yawn as Hawk and Chase continued to talk about this Gina person and her desire to host weddings. Sophie gathered at some point that Gina was Hawk’s wife and that they had two children.
“You got somebody for this case?” Chase asked after a while, and Sophie’s ears perked up.
Hawk shook his head. “Sorry, dude, I don’t.”
Chase’s jaw flexed. “Her daddy”—he put a twist on the word daddy—“can pay a lot to protect her. Surely you have an operator willing to take this on.”
Sophie sat up straighter. She didn’t want someone else. She wanted Chase. But before she could protest, Hawk spoke again.
“Man, I wish I did. But Hunter Security Services is too new, and all my operators are on assignment. It’s you or no one, Fiddler. Sorry.”
9
Grigori Androv’s cell phone rang. He picked it up and answered with a clipped “You had better have news for me.”
The man on the other end was silent for a moment. “We have dogs, sir. They’ve found the trail—but no sign of the girl or her companion yet.”
Grigori gripped the arm of the sofa he was sitting on and squeezed it. Fury hammered through him. If he could reach through the phone and slice the guy’s neck, he’d do it just for the pleasurable rush it would bring him.
Incompetent fools. They could have had Sophie when she’d been in that apartment, but they’d gotten stupid and lazy. Grigori would have someone’s head over that one. He’d sent his right-hand man down there just a couple of hours ago to deal with them. Sergei would make sure the job got done right.
“You will keep looking. You will not stop until you find them. I want the girl alive—but kill the man. Don’t fuck up again.”
“Yes, sir.”
Grigori ended the call and then went over to the liquor cabinet and poured two fingers of scotch into a glass. He took a fortifying sip of the smoky liquid as he walked over to look at the view from his penthouse apartment. Central Park was a dark island surrounded by the blazing lights of New York City. Traffic moved far below, white and red lights inching through the narrow corridors between tall buildings.
He turned the glass from side to side in his hand, absently, and contemplated what he planned to do to Sophie Nash when he got her back in his possession. He snorted and took another sip of scotch.
In truth, he would do nothing. He couldn’t mar her skin, and he damn sure couldn’t violate her body. No, she was worth too much the way she was. He had buyers for a girl like her, and he wasn’t going to ruin his profit by punishing her—though she deserved it.
He’d taken too much time with her. When she’d caught his eye at the charity event last month, he’d known she would fetch a pretty price. She was a lush beauty with abundant curves, and there were men who would pay a premium for that. If she was a virgin, even better.