big, hot and sexy baby, he implied I was a prostitute to get back at me. Who does that?” She pulled a face and scoffed-laughed-snorted. “But then he apologized and put me against the wall. Eva…I was so scared Kevin was going to show up like he always does.”
That sucked the huge grin off her face, but she’d get back to that. “He implied you were a prostitute?”
Nika shrugged. “Asked if he could bring me up here and make me scream,” she practically squeaked.
“Holy shit,” Eva breathed. Vincente? she thought again. “Was he any good?” Vincente?
Nika’s emerald eyes sparkled with a mix of anxiety and heat. “Oh. My. God,” she mouthed silently as she glanced at Caleb again. He’d finally made a decision and was pouring something dark over ice.
“You girls want something? Don’t know what half the shit is, but it’s probably pretty smooth.”
They both declined and held each other’s stares. What did this mean? Nika was married. To an asshole, yes, but she was still married, and not the type of person to disregard that. Unless…
As Caleb replaced the stopper on the decanter, Eva steeled herself to break her promise not to comment on Nika’s marriage. “Can I ask you something?”
Nika nodded.
“Do you love Kevin?”
A look of utter loathing twisted her best friend’s lips. “I hate him more than the disease that stole my parents.”
Eva’s eyes must have been dinner-plate wide as Caleb dropped into the chair across from them, ice clinking in his glass.
The truth! Finally!
And she couldn’t do a damn thing with it because Nika was now staring with wild eyes, as if she was appalled by what she’d confessed. Her gaze flashed between her brother and Eva, her lips mashed together. As she shook her head almost imperceptibly, Eva’s phone rang.
“Mine was much cooler than that shit,” Caleb said. “Aren’t you gonna answer it?” He nudged her phone closer with the heel of his boot that was resting on the edge of the coffee table between them.
She picked it up, still reeling. Why would Nika stay with Kevin if she hated him? Did she have money issues or something? Was that bastard somehow keeping her there against her will? How, though?
Trying not to freak out, she swiped her thumb across the bottom of her phone screen. Once she spoke to Gabriel—it had to be him calling, because the only other two who would, were in the room—she’d get Nika alone and get some answers.
“Hello?”
“Get up and walk away if anyone is near you. Don’t show any fuckin’ reaction that you recognize my voice, or I hit the detonator in my hand and your boyfriend’s suite blows out the roof of this hotel.”
She went rigid, ducking her head to hide the terror locking up her lungs at hearing Furio’s voice in her ear once again.
“Say, ‘Okay, Dad,’” he ordered. “Say it!”
“O-okay, Dad.” She rose from the couch and tried to look casual as she walked a few steps away. It was difficult on legs that felt like rubber.
“An explosive device was wheeled into Gabe’s suite with dinner. If you don’t do as I tell you, Gabe and his boys are gonna die. Understand, Jacobs?”
As her body went numb, she tried to think rationally. But all she managed was doubt. How could Furio have gotten anything passed the guards lining the corridor?
“I don’t b-believe you.”
“Then you’re stupider than you look. You’re playing with the big boys now, bitch. You think taking out a few guys and some collateral damage means shit to us?” He laughed darkly. “Come on. It’s the home stretch. Kill or get killed. I choose to kill. Gabe, Mao, Tarasov…who else is gonna die because you wanna be naïve? Romani, Kirov…your daddy?”
As he listed off everyone Gabriel was currently with, her hope died. Her father had only just arrived. Furio couldn’t have known that unless he was watching them.
Oh God. She tried not to vomit.
“Nothin’? Man, you’re a cold bitch. How about this? If I hit this switch, you, the biker, and his hot sister are gonna burn, too. You ready to get your friends killed?”
The hair on her nape stood straight as she looked at the window. He could see them? How?
It didn’t matter. He wasn’t bluffing. He would kill them all, and anyone else in the hotel who couldn’t make it to safety.
She brought her gaze back to the decanters Caleb had been fooling with. “What d-do you want me to do?”
“That’s it. Now make sure they hear you. I want you