Prologue
"We've intercepted another trade."
"Americans?"
"No. But they're foreigners; a doctor and her boyfriend."
"Where were they sending them?"
"Iran."
"Did you get them out in time?" Bayar nodded. "Good work. We need to send them back as soon as possible. Is the plane on standby?"
"It is." I extended my palm and took the tablet from him.
"Where's Talon?"
"He's with Caf."
"Good." I nodded. "Have you already done a background check on them?"
"Not yet."
"Why haven't you? You know the window we have between interceptions is minimal. In and out, remember?"
"I wasn't sure what you'd want me to do." I sighed.
"It's fine." We walked to the room they had the foreigners and I glared at the men who had the good sense to look ashamed. They had bags over their heads. Bayar took a step away from me. He must have felt my anger.
"Is this how we treat human beings now?"
Bayar took another step back. He had witnessed my temper first hand during my pregnancy. So he knew what I was capable of. I handed him the tablet. "Get their fingerprints." Thanks to Caf I was more knowledgeable regarding certain things. And Talon was at that age where he kept on tinkering with things he found fascinating. Electronics is one of those things.
I crossed my arms and waited for them to do as instructed. The foreigners were very quiet. I would be too if I couldn't see anything. I frowned. I've told them time and time again that they don't need to go through these drastic measures.
They did the woman first. Everything seemed okay with her. One of my men nodded. I signalled for him to go ahead with the man. The first time he tried it didn't work, so he tried again. It happens sometimes. That's a kink I needed to work out. He shook his head telling me nothing was coming up. Interesting.
"Take off the bags."
"Rose."
"Yes?"
"I don't think that's a good idea."
"Whether it's a good idea or not, I don't care."
"You're possibly putting everyone here at risk." He did have a point.
"You can all wait outside. Untie their hands before you do."
"Rose."
"You can wait outside too if you're worried about your identity being exposed."
He told his men to wait outside. The good thing about the situation was that they obviously didn't understand what we were saying. They probably thought they were going to die. They would have died if we hadn't gotten them away from those murderous bastards.
Bayar chose to stay with me. I was glad for that.
"Take them off."
I stood with my arms crossed under my breasts and my feet apart. Bayar removed the bags from their heads. My eyes landed on the man first. I wish it hadn't. My heart started beating wildly in my chest. Blue eyes stared into brown. My mouth fell open as I took in his appearance. He looked wild and untamed and he had a beard. He looked rugged and hot; so damn hot.
I blinked about a dozen times trying to calm down my heart and get myself under control. His eyes never left me. He also blinked a few times trying to figure out if I was real or not I suppose. His eyes moved from my hair to my face, and then down my body before coming back to my eyes. I gave him a moment to process things. He didn't even budge when Bayar tried to scan his finger again.
"Nothing. Why can't we find any information on this guy?"
"Don't bother. You won't find anything." My eyes moved briefly from him to the woman.
"Victoria, it's so NOT nice to see you again. You don't look the worse for wear considering being kidnapped and all."
Her mouth fell opened. She really hadn't recognized me. I could tell she still wasn't sure. My eyes moved from her back to the man I hadn't seen in four years.
"Kaitlyn?"
"The one and the same. It's been a while hasn't it, Niko?"
I took the tablet from Bayar. "We won't need that anymore."
"You know them?" I nodded.
"I assume finding no information on you is grandfather's doing?"
"You're alive." He still seemed stunned.
"As you can clearly see."
"You've been alive all this time? How? Why? Why didn't you...?"
He trailed off. I signalled for Bayar to untie their feet as well. Niko didn't even notice. His eyes were still glued to me. It unnerved me and made me hot all over. Even after so many years he still has that effect on me.
"Mama!" Talon bolted into the room at top speed with Caf after him. He stopped running when he noticed we weren't alone and came to my side.
"Cafar, how many times have I told you to keep a better watch on him?"
Niko's eyes moved from me to Talon. I could tell that he was trying to fit the pieces together behind those blue eyes of his. Once he was sure he had come up with an answer they moved back to me.
"He's not yours," I blurted out in Italian before he could say anything. His expression never changed.
"Of course he isn't mine, Kaitlyn."
His tongue caressed my name. The name I hadn't used in four years. I loved when he spoke Italian and said my name in that way. I wanted to moan in pleasure at the sound of his voice.
"How could he possibly be mine? We never slept together remember? Or is it that you've already forgotten the lie you yourself created to make yourself feel better?"
