Broken Wings (The Broken Series Book 3) (50 page)

We
stood there silently while they unlocked the door. I winced when the man reached
for my left arm, but I didn’t say a word. My knees nearly buckled when we
walked by the interrogation room. I started breathing again once we passed it by.

Shae
looked anxious when she glanced at me, but she didn’t say a word.

My
eyes slammed shut the second they opened the door that led outside. It was too
bright to force my eyes open, so I stumbled blindly as the man led me by the
arm. I eased my eyes open when he finally stopped walking. We were standing in
front of a black sedan.

The
man didn’t say a word as he opened the back passenger door and shoved me inside.
He nudged me toward the center of the seat, then sat next to me. Shae was shoved
into the back seat from the other side.  

I
stared out the window at the abandoned industrial park and the warehouse that
we had just walked away from. I jumped as the man next to me reached for my
face. He slid a black pillowcase over my head. I began to shake, even as I
refused to cry. I wasn’t about to beg for information about where they were
taking us and what they were planning to do. I prayed Shae was thinking the
same thing, because I was certain those were questions we didn’t want answers
to.

Shae
leaned her head on my shoulder as the car began to move.

Tears
stung my eyes when she began to cry. I closed my eyes and began to pray.

We
drove for some time before the car finally stopped. I could hear a humming
sound and a number of car doors opening and closing. Muffled voices sounded
outside the car. One of our car doors opened. I fell over as Shae suddenly vanished.
I panicked. “Shae! Are you okay?”

I
was pulled from the car before I could speak another word. My knees collapsed
when I tried to catch my balance. I was yanked upright, then pressed against
the car while the handcuffs were removed. I was pulled back abruptly, then
shoved forward. I cried out in pain as I slammed against someone’s chest.

Maxim’s
voice rolled over me. “It’s okay, Kristine. You’re safe now. You’re with me.”
He caught me as my knees gave out again.

I
clutched his shirt like it was the only remaining life raft in a stormy sea. I began
sobbing as the pillowcase was tugged from my head.

Maxim’s
eyes raked over my face. All of his hard edges were back in place. Fury,
concern, regret, and sadness battled for his face. His eyes softened as he folded
me into his arms. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry for everything
that’s happened… for everything they did. I never should have left your side. I
never should have let you come to Sevastopol without me.”

I
became more aware of my surroundings as my tears subsided. My eyes widened at
the number of men who stood around us. Every one of them was holding a gun. It
looked like I had been dropped in the center of a warzone. My heart clenched
when I saw Michael’s plane just a few yards away. Shae was already walking
toward the plane. She stumbled as she turned back to look at me.

I
breathed a long, shuddering sigh of relief.

Maxim
took a step back. He steadied me as his eyes sought mine. “I’m releasing you
from that promise, Kristine. I don’t want you ever coming back to Ukraine.
You’re not meant to live in a place as cruel as this.” He choked on the last
few words. His eyes suddenly revealed a lifetime of torment and pain.

I
pressed my palm to his cheek. “You weren’t meant to live here either, Maxim.
You’re too good for this life.”

His
lips crashed against mine. I clung to his shirt as the kiss turned pleading. I
couldn’t shake the feeling he was begging me to stay even though he was sending
me away. Maxim’s face was streaked with tears when he finally released me. I
couldn’t tell whether they were mine or his.

His
voice grew firm as he nodded toward the plane. “We need to get you on that
plane.” He wrapped his arm around me as he and six other men walked me toward
the metal stairs that had been pushed up to the door of the plane.

My
heart stalled when I realized it was Rafael who was standing at the base of the
stairs. A huge semi-automatic weapon was hanging by his side. I stopped dead in
my tracks. I looked at Maxim and tried to memorize his face.

He
kissed me on the forehead. “Go,” he whispered.

I
pressed my hand to his heart as I kissed his cheek. “Thank you,” I breathed. I
glanced down at the ring, then looked into his eyes. “I’ll never forget you
Maxim Markov.”

His
eyes softened as he reached for my hand and kissed it one last time.

I
slowly backed away from Maxim. Then I spun around and ran straight for Rafael.
He let the gun fall to the ground as I plowed into his chest. I threw my arms
around his neck. Pain shot through my arm, chest, and back, but I couldn’t have
cared less. The only thing that mattered was being in his arms. I clung to him
as I sobbed into his neck. “I thought they were going to kill me. I thought I’d
never see you again.”

Rafael
ran his hand over my hair soothingly. “Shhh. I’ve got you. Everything is going
to be okay.” Rafael hiked my legs around his hips as he carried me up the
stairs. He stepped inside the plane and slowly released me. He slid his
sunglasses off, gathered my face in his hands, and gently kissed my lips.

I
wrapped my arms around his back as I collapsed into his chest.

He
glanced at me apologetically as he slowly pulled away. He slid his sunglasses
back on and turned toward the door.

I
grabbed his arm. “Rafael, no! Please stay in here. Please don’t go back out
there.” I glanced frantically around the plane. I saw Shae. I froze when I
spotted Ethan, Brady, and Kadyn. “Ethan and Brady are alive?”

Rafael
nodded. “Yes. They were knocked out with tranquilizers, and their legs were
broken, but they’re going to be okay.”

“Thank
God,” I breathed. I reached for Rafael as he edged toward the door. My voice grew
panicked. “No! We have to leave. Everyone’s here. Why aren’t we leaving?”

Rafael
held me by the shoulders as I began trembling. “Kristine, you need to sit down.
We’ll leave in just a minute. I promise.”

I
began sobbing as I wrapped my arms around his back. I tightened my hold on him.
“Please, Rafael. Don’t go back out there. I don’t want you to go back out
there. God, please… I just want to go home.”

Kadyn
gently untangled my arms from Rafael. “He has to make sure Michael is okay. We
can’t leave until Michael is done transferring the money.”

I
blinked back tears as I turned toward Kadyn. “Michael is here?” I turned back
around to face Rafael. “I thought you were just using his plane.”

Rafael
shook his head. “Michael insisted on coming.”

I
glanced at Kadyn, thoroughly confused. “You’re here with Michael? He insisted
on coming?”

Kadyn
nodded as he walked me down the aisle. He nudged me into the seat next to Shae.

She
dried her face with her hands and leaned over to hug me.

Kadyn
squeezed my hand. “Stay here. I need to talk to Rafael for a minute. Then I’ll come
back and explain everything.” Kadyn walked to the front of the plane and spoke
with Rafael, who was now hovering in the doorway.

Rafael’s
jaw clenched as he glanced at his phone. Tension was rolling off him in
powerful waves.

I
twisted in my seat as I looked around the plane. I was immediately overcome
with memories of Michael taking me to Saint-Tropez. My heart clenched when I
realized that the last time I had been on this plane was the day Michael had sent
me away. I slammed my eyes shut in an effort to avoid the images. I wondered
what he thought about the trouble I had gotten into. He had tried so hard to
keep me safe, only to have me end up here. My heart beat anxiously at the
thought of seeing him again.

I
looked up as Kadyn walked back down the aisle. He folded himself into the seat
across from me. I stared out over the tarmac as I leaned across the aisle and
peered over his shoulder. There were at least sixty men scattered around his
side of the plane and another forty or fifty on my side.

Shae
chewed nervously on her bottom lip.

I
reached for her hand. “Safe but not safe,” I breathed.

She
slowly nodded. “I can’t tell the difference between the good guys and the bad.
They all look alike.”

I
looked through Kadyn’s window again. Every single person on the tarmac was
wearing black. There were at least thirty heavily tinted black vehicles and
more guns than I could possibly count.

Kadyn
reached for my hand. “Michael is in one of those cars, transferring money with
his laptop. The SVR demanded ten million dollars for your release. We can’t
leave the country until they have that money.”

Shae
gasped. “Ten million dollars?”

Kadyn
nodded. “That’s not the only thing they demanded. The prime minister and the
president of Ukraine were forced into signing some treaty that would extend
Russia’s lease on the naval base here in Sevastopol. That treaty was signed
just before you got here.”

My
eyes met Kadyn’s. “Was it the SVR who arrested us?”

Kadyn
studied my face. “The SVR took you into custody, but they didn’t officially
arrest you. I don’t think they could without the cooperation of the Ukrainian
government. The SBU refused to back them up on this one.”

I
glanced at Shae. “I bet that’s why they were pushing us to admit we were spies.”
I glanced back outside the plane as I turned toward Kadyn. “Who are all these
people?”

Kadyn
peered out his window. “The Russian mafia is guarding our plane. Maxim’s men
volunteered to help ensure our security during your transfer, although Maxim did
have to pay the mafia here in Sevastopol. They insisted on being involved since
this is their territory.”

I
shook my head. “And the others?”

“The
people who are pointing guns at the plane are from the SVR. The rest of them…
the ones with their backs to the plane are either from the mafia or the SBU,
which is acting as some sort of intermediary.”

I
fidgeted nervously in my seat. “What’s taking so long?”

Kadyn
frowned. “Unfortunately, the Internet connection isn’t very good here. Michael
has made multiple attempts to transfer the money, but he keeps getting dumped
off the Internet… and, as you can see, everyone is starting to get edgy.”

The
men around our plane spread out as the engines to our jet roared to life. My
heart leapt against my chest as tears pooled in my eyes. I grasped Kadyn’s arm.
“We’re still waiting for Michael, right?”

Kadyn
glanced at Rafael, who was standing just inside the entrance to the plane. The gun
was back in his hand, hanging loosely at his side.

Rafael
nodded, once.

I
leaned toward Kadyn. “I wish he would take those stupid sunglasses off. I can’t
read his face through the mirrored lenses.”

A
small smile tugged at Kadyn’s lips. “That’s why he’s wearing mirrored lenses.”

One
of the car doors opened as I peered back out Kadyn’s window. “Michael,” I
breathed. “Thank God.”

A
lump formed in my throat as I watched him tuck a laptop into his briefcase. He
stepped out of the car. He stopped to shake hands with a hulk of a man who had
exited from the opposite side of the sedan. A third man stepped out of the car
with his own laptop. He stood staring at the screen as he set the laptop on the
roof of the car.

Rafael
stood at the entrance to the plane with his gun trained on the men surrounding
Michael. The men standing closest to our plane also stood with their guns
raised as Michael approached the plane. The men to his back had their guns aimed
at us.

“Oh,
God,” I breathed. “Please get us all out of here in one piece.” I held my
breath as Michael approached the steps to the plane.

Rafael
ducked outside to meet him.

Michael’s
chest bowed sharply forward as a single gunshot split the air. His knees hit
the tarmac.

“
Michael!
”
I screamed. I ripped myself from the seat, then ran for the door of the plane.

“Kri!”
Kadyn shouted as he struggled to get out of his own seat. “Stop! Don’t you dare
leave this plane!”

A
blood curdling scream rent the air. I stumbled out the door only vaguely aware
that it had come from me. I ran down the stairs. “
Michael!
” I screamed.

Gunshots
sounded all around us as Rafael dragged Michael up the stairs. Blood stained
both of their shirts. Sparks flew as a bullet ricocheted of the metal railing,
just inches from my hand.

“
Get
back in the plane!
” Rafael screamed as he met me on the stairs.

Kadyn’s
arms wrapped around my stomach. He lifted me off my feet and yanked me back inside
the plane.

“Michael,”
I sobbed as I fought to remove Kadyn’s arms. “God, please, no.”

Rafael
dropped Michael on the floor. He pulled the door shut as the plane began to
move. No one returned to their seats.