Chapter 3

With the fist pounding much harder on the front door, I eased to the peephole. Behind me, Krista gulped.

“W-Who is it?” she whispered in a shaky voice that said she understood it was nobody good.

And she was correct.

Under the bright porch lights gleamed an enormous bullet-shaped head. Maksim, Yuri’s driver, bodyguard, and lead enforcer. Neckless and sporting no hair but for a bushy stripe across an always narrowed brow, the towering, muscled giant gazed right back at me.

As his shadowed eyes glittered, his massive jaw shifted from side to side. Like his boss, he also had no sense of humor. Nor patience. He wouldn’t wait much longer.

Once more, the thundering fist hammered.

“Stay behind me, hon,” I whispered before reaching for the lock.

Not that it would help. No sooner had I opened the door than the colossus surged past me, followed by two other men. Without a word, he walked to her. When she screamed, he slapped one massive hand over her mouth.

No matter how toned she was, he was a mountain of muscle. At least he didn’t laugh at her futile blows. No, he simply ignored them. With little effort, he wrapped her squirming body in his arms and dragged her from the house. When I started to dash after them, the others snatched me at the elbows. All I could do was yell after Maksim, as they frogmarched me out into the night.

With a quick shove, the giant aimed her for the open rear door of a long black limo. As a yelp tore from her, she spun, trying to escape, but one flattened palm on her swaying chest sent her tumbling backwards into the car. Me, the goons tossed into the front passenger seat.

Just as I landed, she screamed. Wide-eyed, she was squirming in Yuri’s enormous arms. Even taller than Maksim, he was built the same way. Although hidden beneath a black tuxedo, he was all muscle. But his beady eyes glittered with raw streetwise intelligence while scanning me. The whole car seemed smaller in his presence. Hell, the entire world did. He was that kind of gangster boss. Presence, he had in buttloads.

When she started to scream again, he slapped a wide palm over her lower face. While squirming even more, her eyes bugged.

Once he’d thumped the rear door closed, Maksim clambered into the driver’s seat. After conversing in Russian with the others, they headed for a black SUV as he put the car in gear. Just as we pulled from the curb, I glanced into the rearview mirror.

Eyes wide and sparkling with tears, my wife was staring at me. There may have been daggers, but it was mostly fear in them. All I could do was gasp for air as we drove around the block to an expansive neighborhood park.

Despite it being past closing hours, the gate hung open. As soon as we passed through, the trailing SUV slowed. In the side-view mirror, I caught one man hopping out to pull the entry closed. While climbing back inside, he and the vehicle disappeared behind trees as we turned along a winding roadway.