Lumberjacked (A Holiday Lumberjack Mountain Man Romance) - K.C. Crowne Page 0,76

a conversation in Russian that I didn’t understand. My neck was killing me, and it wasn’t necessary to pretend to be asleep anymore. I made a moaning sound, lifted my head, and turned it from side to side, stretching my stiff muscles. Both men turned to look at me.

“Sleeping beauty awakes,” Aleks commented.

I rolled my eyes at him and looked away just as the door opened and the guy with the crutch hobbled in.

“What the fuck do you want?” Maksim asked, irritated.

“The others are here.”

“About fucking time.” He picked up his phone and dialed a number.

“Where should I put them?” the guy with the crutch asked. He glanced at me.

“I want them close when I need them. I don’t give a shit what they do until then. They can sleep wherever they find a spot.”

The Crutch nodded and turned, taking his time to leave.

“He annoys the living shit out of me,” Maksim said to Aleks. “I should have shot the fucker when he came back looking like that.”

“You should be happy Viktor didn’t kill him,” he commented. “At least it gave you a leg up.”

“Don’t make it sound like he was of any use to me,” Maksim growled. “Getting your hands on the woman only bought you a bit of grace. You’re not special.”

“I was just saying.”

“When I want your opinion, I’ll fucking give it to you,” Maksim snapped. He turned back to his computer system.

Aleks crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against a wall a short distance away from Maksim, sulking. Maksim clearly wasn’t a good boss, nor was he the good man he claimed to be.

I understood Viktor more than I had before.

Viktor

I was not letting Maksim get away with this. The son of a bitch had forced me into hiding for long enough. I’d stayed away because it had been easier than facing him, better for me to be removed from society altogether.

But everything changed. Angela needed me. And I refused to let my past ruin her future. I wouldn’t let her be Maksim’s victim.

She was mine. I was going to get her back. And I was going to fuck Maksim up for just looking at her, let alone whatever else he had in mind. This was Maksim’s last day on this earth.

I stood in my gun shed. The gaping hole Angela had kicked into it had let in all kinds of forest creatures looking for a place to hide from the night, and they’d scattered when I’d pulled open the door. I grabbed guns and knives and ammunition from the boxes and drawers I’d crudely set up when I’d come here. I hadn’t needed to use any of it. Now, I strapped myself up so that I looked like fucking John McClane, ready to take back what was rightfully mine. Yippee ki yay, Maksim.

When I was ready, I headed through the trees. I was on the hunt. I’d slipped back into my old skin. The cold, hard killer had returned for one last mission. When I moved through the trees, I was nothing more than a shadow, melting from one dark patch to the next. I’d checked the radars before suiting up. Maksim and his men weren’t far off. Their trackers had lit up my screen like a Christmas tree.

And I was going to be the gift that just kept on giving. Bang, bang, motherfucker.

When I’d walked away from Maksim, I’d laid down my guns and told myself that I would never do anything to hurt another human again. I would never presume to judge people, decide that they had to die.

Now, it was different. I was ready to dish out what was coming to them. I still knew exactly what I was capable of, and Maksim was going to learn just who he had fucked with. He had no fucking idea what was coming for him.

My ugly side was showing again. The monster had woken up. This time, though, it had nothing to do with my past. It had nothing to do with who I thought I should be, and what I thought others deserved.

This was about Angela. About the woman who had in a very short time become everything to me.

And about Maksim, who did not deserve any kind of mercy.

For the first time, I was going to use my skills to save someone. I was going to use my skills to do something good.

The rush of triumph at that thought was overshadowed by the fact that Angela was in danger. What