When he pulled away, Victor smiled at the expression on her face. He ran a hand up the inner thigh of her jeans.
“You have no right,” she whispered, shaking.
“This is my country. I have half the police in my pocket. Here, you are my slave.” He reached to fondle a breast, and without thinking she brought up her bound wrists to block him. His smile stretched to a grin. “Yes,” he breathed. “Fight me. That’s what I want. Stavrakis isn’t here to save you. You’ll never see him or your precious son again. You’re mine. You’re totally in my power—”
“Let her go.”
Victor looked up with a gasp. Anna saw Nikos standing in the kitchen doorway and almost sobbed aloud.
Nikos’s face had an expression she’d never seen before—as cold and deadly as the gun he was pointing at Sinistyn.
Victor looked up with an intake of breath which he quickly masked with a sneer. “You’re as good as dead, Stavrakis. My men will—”
“Your men will do nothing. They barely tried. When they saw they were outnumbered, most of them gave up without a fight.” He cocked the gun, assessing his aim at Victor’s head. “Some loyalty you inspire, Sinistyn.”
With a single smooth movement Victor twisted behind Anna, using her body to block his own. “Come closer and I’ll kill her.”
He put his beefy hands around her neck. Anna flinched, then struggled, unable to breathe. As he slowly tightened his grip, the room around her seemed to shimmer and fade.
Nikos uncocked the gun, pointing it at the ceiling. “You really are a coward.”
“It’s easy to throw insults when you have a gun.”
“Let her go, damn you!” Nikos threw the gun on the floor, then straightened with a scornful expression. “Even now I’m unarmed, I know you won’t fight me. I’m stronger, faster, smarter than you—”
“Shut up!” Victor screamed, releasing Anna’s throat. She took a long, shuddering gasp of air and felt the world right itself around her.
Victor stormed toward Nikos, lunging for the gun.
Nikos kicked it into the roaring fireplace and threw himself at the other man’s midsection. The two men fought while Anna watched in terror, desperately struggling with the cords that bound her to the chair. Victor lashed out wildly, hitting Nikos’s jaw with his knee. Nikos’s head snapped back, but he fought grimly, as if he were in the battle he’d trained for all his life. With a crunching uppercut to the chin, Nikos knocked Victor to the floor.#p#分页标题#e#
Gasping for air, Victor slid back, scuttling like a crab. Reaching into the fireplace, he picked up the gun with his sleeve and pushed himself up against the wall, panting.
“Now you’re going to die.” Victor shot a crazed look from Nikos to Anna. “And you’re going to watch. After this, only his ghost will haunt us.” He cocked the gun, pointing it at Nikos with triumph.
“No!” Anna screamed, desperately struggling with the cord. By some miracle it snapped open against her wrist. She threw herself from the chair, flinging her body in front of Nikos as Victor squeezed the trigger.
She closed her eyes, waiting to feel the bullet tear through her body.
Instead, she just heard a soft click.
The gun was empty!
Victor shook the gun with impotent fury.
Nikos turned to one side, tucking her protectively behind him as he faced Victor. “Guess I forgot the bullets. Sorry.”
With a scream of frustration Victor threw the gun at him, but Nikos dodged it easily. It clattered to the floor.
Nikos glanced at it with a derisive snort. He raised an eyebrow, giving Victor the darkly arrogant look that Anna had once despised. But she appreciated it now. She knew he used all his arrogance, all his strength and power, to protect the people he loved.
“Fight me, Sinistyn,” Nikos demanded coldly. “Just you and me.”
Victor swore in Russian, shaking his head. He looked straight at Anna, muttering all the sadistic things he’d do to her if Nikos wasn’t there to protect her.
Anna felt her cheeks grow hot with horror. Nikos didn’t speak Russian, but when he saw the effect the man’s words were having on her he strode forward grimly.
With a yelp, Victor turned and ran in the other direction. But Nikos caught up with him, grabbing his shoulder and whirling him around.
“Like scaring women, do you?” He punched Victor in the face—once, twice. “Too much of a coward to fight someone your own size? Fight me, damn you! Or are you going to just let me kill you?” Nikos’s eyes narrowed and he looked dangerous indeed. “Don’t think I won’t.”