Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 36597 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 183(@200wpm)___ 146(@250wpm)___ 122(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36597 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 183(@200wpm)___ 146(@250wpm)___ 122(@300wpm)
“Yes. But if we can get close to it, then run the perimeter next to it, we can slip under cameras and lights. You can meet us here.” She pointed to a section of the wall a little more than half the distance from where she planned on entering. “You can drop rope and haul us up.”
Shadow nodded. “Not a bad idea. The land slopes there so you’ll be a couple of feet closer to the top of the wall.”
“Exactly.”
“How are you going to get inside?”
“Very carefully.” She was going to kill the shit out of anyone in her path. But she wouldn’t tell him that. He’d just try to talk her out of it.
“Uh-huh. You know we have no backup if this goes sideways. Right?” Man read her pretty well.
“I do. You’re just going to have to trust me.”
“Babe.” Shadow straightened from where they crouched over the map he’d pulled up on his phone. “You’ve got to know I only trust people I’ve worked with before that much. I know you will probably kill anyone you come across, but I need to know that’s what you plan. We kill anyone here it changes the whole game.”
She shrugged. “I won’t kill anyone not in my way. How about that?”
Surprisingly, Shadow chuckled. “Little bloodthirsty thing. Fine. I can live with that.” He looked back down at his phone. “Giovanni says the guard patterns are surprisingly routine and lax. They patrol at the top of the hour and are finished fifteen minutes later. We’ll have forty-five minutes to get in, get the girl, and get out. Can you work with that?”
“Assuming he’s not changed maze -- which would be very difficult -- then yes. I can get done in those guidelines. When is best time to go?”
“Give it another couple hours. Around two or three local time would be the best. It will be late, and they’ll be more apt to make their rounds in a hurry so they can have a nap. Giovanni says they sometimes meet in a room to play cards or catch a little shut-eye.”
“Does he have real-time feed?”
“Yes. He’s sending me running messages about movement. They check your girl’s immediate area -- the doors on either side -- at exactly twenty-one minutes past the hour. It’s the last place they check before knocking off until the next patrol.”
“OK, then.” Millie sighed and stretched. “It’s eleven now. If we plan on going in at two, will that work for you?”
“I think so.” Millie watched as Shadow stood and stretched, too. She could see thick abs tenting his shirt as well as a defined chest. What would it feel like to run her hands over his body? To feel all that strength beneath her palms? God! Maybe Venus was right. Maybe she was a whore. Because she could totally see losing herself to this guy. Not her heart. Never that. But she’d love to find out how well his body could play with hers.
“Like what you see, sugar?” The man missed nothing. Millie’s face heated at the knowing smirk on his face.
“Well, you’re strong. Always a plus.” She tried to play it off, but his knowing she’d been ogling him only made her mouth water to look at him more. In her life, she’d never had a lover. Not really. She’d never trusted anyone enough to explore that side of her nature. It hadn’t kept her from looking at men -- or women. She appreciated the beauty of the human body in all its forms. But to trust someone enough to be that vulnerable to them -- mentally or physically -- wasn’t something she was capable of. “But I don’t mix business with pleasure.”
“You afraid of proving Venus right?” His question was asked quietly, but she also heard a note of understanding in his tone.
“Venus has nothing to do with how I live my life,” she snapped. “I simply don’t trust you enough to do anything more than look.”
“Uh-huh,” he said, stepping closer to her. “That why you slept like a baby in my arms earlier? Don’t seem like something a warrior would do. And, make no mistake, you’re a fuckin’ warrior, Lyudmila.” He looked at her for long moments. Just staring at her. Looking for vulnerability in her eyes? “Yeah. You trust me,” he finally said, straightening to his full height. “You just don’t want to admit it to yourself.”
With that, Shadow turned his back on her. Back to the truck, retrieving supplies and weapons for the operation in a few hours.
Chapter Four
Shadow’s phone vibrated as someone called. He glanced at the screen and scowled. Giovanni. That couldn’t be good.
“Yeah.”
“Have you started operations yet?” Giovanni’s tone was clipped.
Shadow sighed heavily. Running his hand over his face once, he glanced at the house several hundred yards in front of them. Nothing seemed amiss, but then Giovanni would be in a better position to know if there was a change in plan.