Xtraordinary (19 page)

“He took my phone. He said to go home and wait for you to come. He said to tell you…to show you…” with a great heaving sob, Viktor pulled up the sleeve of his shirt.

Carved into the flesh, swollen and crusted with blood, was the word
mest
.

Avenged.

Sergey glowered. That insufferable Ricardo de Santos thought that bloated old Boris Solonik was worth waging a war over? Well, then a war was what he would get.

He walked to the tiny apartment's window and looked out onto the row of dumpsters and the parking lot. Viktor sagged with relief, letting his sleeve slide back down the ruined arm. Behind him, Nikolai stood rigidly straight by the door.

“It took courage for you to tell me the truth,” Sergey said thoughtfully. “After failing in your mission. After leaving your comrade behind.”

Viktor nodded vigorously, rubbing the snot and tears from his thick, rubbery face.

The poor idiot thought he had earned another chance. He had probably run all the way back home, injured arm and all, calculating that confessing his mistake to Sergey was less of a danger than risking de Santos's wrath.

Sergey took his gun from his shoulder holster as he turned back toward Viktor, and shot him in the face. The big man crumpled slowly to the floor, Nikolai moving to catch him before the body hit the carpet.

Now Sergey was down three men, almost a quarter of the brotherhood, and all because of Ricardo de Santos. Well, he'd been warning Ivan Vrubel for months that the man was a threat to the fragile balance of power with the Chechens. As long as de Santos worked for the Chechens, they would enjoy a direct partnership with the Peruvians, and Sergey's crew would be forced to give up more and more hard-won market share. The latest bloodshed might finally force Ivan to listen—and to send Sergey the manpower he needed. He wanted warriors—not these weak, stupid idiots who were barely separated from their mother's teats.

“Clean that up,” he said, gesturing to the body lying on the floor. “And then head over to the hotel.”

“Won't they be expecting us?” Nikolai asked in alarm. He clearly didn't want to meet the same fate as Pavel.

“No, no, it's too hot now. Just watch the exits. See where de Santos takes his girlfriend.”

The girl was the missing link, the only vulnerability that they had been able to find. And Sergey wasn't letting her get away again.

First he'd find her. Then he'd break her. Then he'd have de Santos exactly where he wanted him: outside the gates of hell, and Sergey would be the one to push him through.

The End

***

Did you enjoy XTRAORDINARY?

Check out more books by Ruby Laska:

The Xquisite Series:

Xquisite

Xtraordinary

Xtreme (August, 2015)

The Boomtown Boys Series:

Black Gold

Black Heat

Black Flame

Black Ember

The Cupid Island Series:

Larissa Learns to Breathe

Mandy Makes Her Mark

Plain Jane's Birthday Wish

Standalone Novels:

Mountain Song

Heartbreak, Tennessee

A Man for the Summer

Mine 'til Monday

Along for the Ride

Snow Creek Novella:

Miss Bonny's Buried Treasure

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Xtreme
, The third novel in the
XQUISITE
series will be coming in August, 2015!

Art dealer Chelsea Ryder has a choice to make: the man she loves is demanding that she submit to him completely—but the price for their passion may be too high.

As Chelsea follows the trail of theft and murder that seems to lead straight to her lover, Ricardo de los Santos eludes the FBI agent who is pursuing him. Ricardo appears one rainy evening with shocking news: he has located Chelsea's abusive stepfather—and promises that the man will never hurt Chelsea again. In exchange, he asks for her trust…and her complete erotic surrender.

Ricardo makes a sexual demand that could push Chelsea past her limits—and force her to choose between a man who could be a killer, and a life of safety and stability. As she yearns for Ricardo's touch, she asks herself: could passion like this exist in the shadow of evil?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ruby Laska has always been a bit contrary. Where others see stop signs, she sees green lights. What others consider obstacles, Ruby likes to think of as opportunities. And when it comes to men, Ruby has always loved the ones that her mother warned her about: demanding, conflicted, and more than a little dangerous.