Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 91243 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91243 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
I loathe the sun. But she’s perfection all the same.
“Unless you have a report to give, you’re dismissed.” I don’t let Lucy’s mocking grin get under my skin. No, not even a little bit.
“Actually, there’s news.” She sits up and raises her phone again. I swear that thing is like another appendage at this point. “I’ve been hearing some talk about unrest and fighting in southeastern Turkey around some of our family enclaves. Gunfire broke out a few hours ago and there are casualties on both sides.”
“Who would dare strike us so openly?”
“You know who.”
I grind my teeth and look away. “He’s getting too brazen.”
“This is what happened last time.” Lucy’s tone takes on a harder edge. “He nearly won. He would have if it hadn’t been for you.”
“Medved is a problem, but he’s not our end.”
“You’re damn right he isn’t. But if the Turkish clans are bogged down, that means no heroin’s going to move into the ports around Iskenderun. If we don’t have ships moving, our operations will stall. That doesn’t reflect well on you. The whole point of a Dragon—”
“Don’t you tell me what my purpose is.” I clench my fists and resist the urge to break something. Throwing a tantrum won’t help. “Dragons keep the world turning. If I can’t do that, I’ll lose support from the smaller families. I’m aware of the stakes.”
“Good. Then do something.”
I consider my options. None of them are good. Increased arms and funding to the local clans will help to a point. Turkish law enforcement is notoriously porous and happy to take bribes, but even they can’t ignore an all-out gang fight in a major city. We could shift operations over the border into Syria, but the instability in that region is even worse. There’s Beirut and even Cyprus, but running would make me seem weak.
“I’ll travel to Turkey and sort it myself.”
Lucy snorts and shakes her head. “You’re being dramatic. There are other Dragons we can call on.”
“I don’t trust any of them. There’s only one I’d call on—”
“But he’s half dead in a hospital bed right now. Even still, Mass, the others don’t like Medved any more than you do.”
“No. I will handle this myself.” I snap my folder shut and rub my face. “But I can’t go without my wife.”
Lucy sighs and looks up at the ceiling. “You had to go and make everything harder.”
“I don’t trust anyone or anywhere with her right now.”
“What about the baby?”
I hesitate, frowning slightly. There was that moment earlier when I heard the little one crying. I don’t even know why I reacted so strongly, but it was like an instinct triggered deep inside.
I had to get up and soothe her.
The girl was soft in my arms. She cuddled into me, and somehow, my touch calmed her down. When I stared into her little eyes, she looked back at me and touched my face. I felt a stirring, a longing. It was strange. I hated every moment of it.
“The baby can stay here with Satya. She’ll be safe enough.”
Lucy gets to her feet. “Good luck with that.”
“Prepare a strike team. I’ll lead them personally. Reach out to the Turkish clans and make sure they’re ready for us.”
“You know I don’t mind when you get your hands dirty, Mass. I just want to make sure you aren’t going to be distracted by Allie while you’re out there. Even if you’re a Dragon, you’re still a man. Bullets kill you just as easily as anyone else.”
“Make the preparations.”
She shrugs and stalks off. I have no doubts the trip will be executed perfectly. Lucy has never failed me before.
But she’s right to worry about me.
I’m worried about myself.
I feel like my mind’s split in half. I try to sit here and take care of my business, but I constantly drift off to dreams of my wife. Her beautiful body in my bed, her whimpers and gasps of pleasure as I fill her to the brim, her laughter and smiles as I tease and explore her body.
Bringing Allie to my office today was foolish.
But leaving her behind during my trip to Turkey feels like cutting off a limb.
ALLIE
Turns out, the Fortress is freaking massive, and Rosie gets really heavy lugging her all over the place. “Don’t worry, sweetie, we’ll find it soon,” I murmur to her as I wander down another turn, totally clueless and lost.
It feels like the place was built to confuse the shit out of me.
I pass so many rooms it’s obscene. Some seem like they’re apartments for the staff. There are multiple gyms, mess halls, a couple of restaurants, and several indoor pools. I pass enormous rooms filled with computers. I pass rooms where people are bent over desks doing God knows what with scissors and strange bags of white powder. Rooms with servers, rooms with hanging plants, and rooms that look like bank vaults.