Hostile Ground (The Arsenal #7) - Cara Carnes Page 0,76
area not too far from here,” Maksim said. “It’s remote.”
“Does Kostya know about it?” Edge asked.
“No. I purchased the property under my name years ago,” Maksim said. “No one has been there but me and Kristof. And the men, of course.”
“Very well. Teams, meet with them this afternoon. Run them through basics first. If they pass, run them through the advanced combat drills. See how they do and let us know,” Jesse ordered. “Run Maksim through them as well. We can’t risk adding the third objective if he can’t handle it.”
Kristof chuckled. This was going to be fun.
17
Only one of Kristof’s men didn’t pass The Arsenal’s tests. The rest had proven themselves well-trained and took criticism and direction well. Addy was impressed. She wandered onto the back patio of the newest location—a mansion outside Moscow. How the heck did Zoey secure so many locations?
Footsteps behind her warned of someone’s approach. A deep breath offered who. Awareness crawled along her skin and quickened her pulse as Kristof drew to a stop behind her.
“You’ve been quiet,” he said.
She kept her gaze on the setting sun in the distance. “It’s been a long day. Your men did well. You did a good job training them.”
“I can’t take all the credit. Maksim worked with them more than I did.”
Maksim. Gage, Marshall, and Nolan had all challenged him. Though all three had held their own, Maksim had won in the end. Addy had been tempted to offer a challenge of her own, but her body ached from the captivity, and she needed recovery more than anything.
“Your team is playing poker. You should join.”
Addy chuckled as she crossed her arms and propped her left shoulder against the column. “They know better than let me play.”
“You’re a card shark?” Kristof raised his eyebrows. “Interesting. Perhaps I’ll sit in on the next game you play in. I’ve picked up a few things over the years.”
Curiosity roused Addy. “Not sure playing games with you would be good for either of us.”
“There’s only one way to find out.” He stroked her hair. “I think half my men fell in love with you today.”
She smirked. “Only half? I’m losing my touch.”
He cupped her chin. “You were amazing with them. All of you were. I thought…”
“You thought we’d be condescending to them because they aren’t Arsenal,” Addy finished.
“It was a possibility.” He reached into his pocket. “I have a couple of things for you.”
“Oh?”
He took her hand and settled something in her palm. His long fingers moved away as she glanced down. Shock kept her mute. The glass figurine glinted in the patio’s soft lighting when she held it up. Dents and blemishes fanned out along the turtle’s shell, whose head resembled more of a blob.
Emotion clogged her throat. So many vied for control she wasn’t sure what to say or how to react.
“I wouldn’t let myself think about the figurines I had to leave behind for a long time,” she admitted. Their existence was a bond she’d shared with Kristof, their creation born because of rebellion.
“The nights we snuck out so you could go to the old man and learn how to do them are some of my best memories,” he whispered. “As are the nights we spent in the woods, under the stars.”
“Or at the lake,” she said. She looked down at the small turtle figurine. “I was so terrible at this back then.”
“You’ve continued your craft.” It was a statement of fact rather than a question, as if he knew she wouldn’t let the small happiness from that time die.
“Remembering those nights kept…” She huffed out a breath. “It kept me closer to what I had back then. With you.”
“When I heard Father was tearing the camp down and building the compound, I snuck out there before the construction crews arrived,” Kristof said, his voice a barely audible whisper. “I remembered where you hid them. I wasn’t sure whether they’d still be there, but I had to look, just in case.”
She stroked the uneven shell and smiled up at him. “I didn’t have time to retrieve them. They hauled me out of bed one morning and informed me my brother had come. I was so…”
“You thought you were free,” Kristof said. “I felt much the same way.”
“Neither of us were free, though. Were we?”
“No.” Kristof leaned against the rail and looked out into the wooded area behind the house. “We were simply moved to a larger cage with different rules. At least there we…had each other.”