The God (Bratva Blood #3)- S.R. Jones Page 0,60
and it’s fond. She knows him.
“Don’t touch that,” he says again. “It’s a brown tail caterpillar, and it’s toxic.”
“What does that mean?” she asks.
He smiles at her, and it’s gentle. Nice. Oh my God, who is this man? I don’t for a moment believe the pleasant mask he’s wearing for my daughter, but the fact he can do it so convincingly makes him even more dangerous than I first feared.
“It’s dangerous. See those hairs?”
She peers close at the caterpillar and nods.
“They can stick in you and hurt you.” Then he looks right at the camera. “Sometimes the most beautiful things can be unexpectedly deadly.”
He reaches out and pats her hair.
I’m covered in a cold sweat.
“We tell you when you’re done,” Number Two says. “And you will be. Very soon. We have one last job for you, and then you’re finished.”
“You’ve said that before.” I don’t believe him.
Number One takes the iPad and brings up a new screen. It’s a picture of my aunt. The only other family I have left apart from Esme. She’s a kind woman, from what little I remember of her, and she lives on a farm. My uncle was a funny, laid back man, and I used to like visiting them with Mum when I was little.
Why are they showing her to me?
“When you’ve done this last job, a million pounds will be wired to your aunt, and Esme will be sent to stay with her. You’ll be declared officially dead.”
What?
No, no, no. Doing this was always about Esme and I being able to lead a life together.
He smiles at me, and it holds what looks like real pity. “There’ll be no coming back for you after what we need you to do, and you’ll need to go into hiding. Your daughter will be safe with her great aunt. She can have a good life.”
These men aren’t amateurs. They are powerful enough that they knew everything about me when they first recruited me, and they are powerful enough to run whole schools it seems where they keep the children of their forced workers. Because I am forced. I don’t do any of this willingly. In the past, they threatened to sell my daughter to human traffickers if I didn’t do what they instructed. Number Two would; I have no doubt of that at all.
Shit.
“What will you want me to do?”
Number Three shakes his head. “All in due course. For now, you go on home and wait until you hear from us. Fuck Vasily if you get the chance, and tell us all you can in the report, but he won’t be your mark going forward. Doesn’t mean we can’t use the information, though. Other than that, get yourself invited back to Corfu if you can, and await our instructions.”
I leave the room on shaky legs. This can’t be good. It has to be very bad indeed. I have no doubt it’s something to do with Konstantin and his men. What, I don’t know, but it means when I’m finished, I’ll be a dead woman walking.
Chapter Twenty-one
Bohdan
I call K and tell him I’m coming to Corfu with Dasha and her mother. I say I’ll book a hotel if needs be, if Andrius doesn’t want us on his land. He’s so paranoid he might not want us there if Jasper poses a possible threat. K calls me back thirty minutes later to tell me we can come and that one of the guard houses is free. We’re waiting at the airport to board the flight, and I find myself wishing that K hadn’t sold his airliner. The private jet would have been damn good right about now.
We’re in the First Class lounge, and Dasha is sipping at a glass of chilled orange juice.
“This is nice,” her mother says.
Her words surprise me. Surely with the money Jasper has, money he made off Dasha, they travel in style all the time?
“You don’t normally fly First?” I ask.
Dasha shakes her head. “No. Jasper says it’s a waste of money.”
I laugh. “That old furniture he loves is a waste of money, if you ask me. This? Comfort, leg room, priority check-in, is most assuredly not a waste of money.
When we board the plane, I relax into the comfy seat with the aforementioned leg room and close my eyes. There’s so much to say to Dasha, but none of it can be said in front of her vile mother.
Wheels are in motion. I’ve got the lawyer looking into things for her, and hopefully