Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 125037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
“Only if you’re okay with telling me.” She wrapped her arms around herself, holding her breath, hoping he would share a part of his life with her he’d never entrusted to anyone else—not even his brother.
“After my father died, my two older brothers, Caleb and Abel, left in search of work in order to provide for the family. When they didn’t come back and things got tight, our mother insisted I go hunting for food. It was a particularly hard winter, and the snow just kept coming down. We were pretty damn young to go out in a blizzard, but I guess she was desperate. Rubin didn’t say a word, he just caught up a rifle and stalked out. I followed him. I’m not sure either of us believed we’d be back. You couldn’t see your hand in front of your face, and it was cold. Have you ever been so cold you honestly thought you’d freeze to death and someone would come months or years later and find your body perfectly intact because the cold preserved you?”
Leila could tell he was really asking. He wanted to know about her past as much as she wanted to know about his. “I was ordered to slip into Siberia during one of the worst cold spells they had. The information was that Akim Sokolov, a known arms dealer, was hiding out there. I was to eliminate him and get out of the country without being seen. Akim Sokolov was reputed to be best friends with Artem Kozlov, a known member of the Russian KGB. That explained why he was being protected, why he was allowed to hide from all the law enforcement hunting for him.”
“You went in alone? No backup?”
Was there a thread of anger in his usually calm voice? She had a strange reaction to that note, her body suddenly completely aware of him. She was grateful for the darkness.
“Yes, that is how I work best. I have never been so cold before or since. It felt like my blood had turned to ice. It took time to locate Akim and then plan out what my course of action would be. I would have preferred to do so in the warmth of a house, but I needed to do reconnaissance on Akim’s residence if I was going to be successful.”
“My little warrior woman. Unsurprisingly, you persevered no matter the circumstances.”
She laughed softly, sharing that moment with him. The darkness made it so much easier to be natural with him. “I wasn’t going back with a failed assignment hanging over my head. The men barely respected me, and falling down one time would have put me in a much more dangerous position.”
There was a small silence. “Dangerous?” he echoed.
She shouldn’t have used that word. It was the truth, but she should have known he would take exception to her being in any kind of danger from her fellow soldiers.
“I was able to get to my target and eliminate him,” she assured. “And I made it out of the country with no one the wiser. What happened with you and your brother in the blizzard?” She blatantly changed the subject, although she genuinely wanted to know.
“Rubin and I were able to get meat for the household, but during the hunt, we discussed why our older brothers hadn’t returned. The plan had been for them to get work in the nearest town and bring home supplies to the family. They’d been gone nearly two months. We both knew they would never have stayed away if they could help it. Rubin thought they were dead. I was sure our mother thought so as well.”
“But you didn’t?”
“I did, but I wanted to know for certain. I needed to know. At night I’d lay in bed and think about it. It seemed so wrong to me that we just assumed they were dead, and we left them as if they didn’t matter. As if because they hadn’t contributed the way she wanted, our mother thought it was no big deal to write them off.”
Her heart went out to that little boy who struggled with the knowledge that his mother thought they were expendable. That he was expendable. She wanted to put her arms around him and hold him close.
“The longer I lost sleep over it, the more important it became to me to find out where they were and what happened to them.”
He turned his head toward her. She imagined that little boy determined to find out what happened to his brothers in order to put things right. In the dark, his eyes appeared much like that of a large cat. Those eyes, glowing the way they were, sent chills skittering down her spine despite her heart going out to the child he had been.
Diego fell silent again, and she needed the sound of his voice to keep her grounded. “Tell me what happened.” She whispered the plea because the night seemed to be taking on a sinister feel.