I suppress a flare of annoyance. I’d been hoping to surprise Nora again—preferably with a better outcome this time. Oh, well. Nothing to be done now. Leaning back in my chair, I say, “We do have something planned for the evening, but not during the day.”

“Wonderful.” Nora’s mother beams at her. “Why don’t you come over for lunch then? I’ll make all of your favorite dishes.”

Nora glances at me, and I give her a small nod. “We’d be happy to, Mom,” she says.

Gabriela’s smile dims slightly at the “we,” so I lean forward and say to Nora, “I’m afraid I have some work to do, baby. Why don’t you spend some time with your parents by yourself?”

“Oh, sure.” Nora blinks. “Okay.”

Tony and Gabriela look ecstatic, and I resume eating, tuning out the rest of their conversation. As much as I dislike the idea of being away from Nora, I want her to have some tension-free time with her parents—something that can only be achieved without my presence.

I want my pet to be happy on her birthday, no matter what it takes.

After the Lestons leave, Nora heads into the shower, and I pull out my phone to check my messages. To my surprise, there is an email from Lucas. It’s just one line:

Yulia Tzakova escaped.

Sighing, I put the phone away. I know I should be furious, but for some reason, I’m only mildly annoyed. The Russian girl won’t get far; Lucas will hunt her down and bring her back as soon as we return. For now, though, I picture his rage—the rage I can sense in the terse words of the email—and chuckle.

If the plane crash hadn’t killed so many of my men, I’d almost feel sorry for the girl.

21

Nora

“An eye for an eye.” Majid’s eyes burn with hatred as he comes toward me, stepping over Beth’s mangled body. The blood is ankle-deep as he walks, the dark liquid sloshing around his feet in a malevolent swirl. “A life for a life.”

“No.” I’m standing there shaking, the fear pulsing inside me in a sickening beat. “Not this. Please, not this.”

It’s too late, though. He’s already there, pressing his knife against my stomach. Smiling cruelly, he looks behind me and says, “The head will make a nice little trophy—after I cut it up a bit, of course…”

“Julian!”

My scream echoes through the room as I jump off the bed, trembling with icy terror.

“Baby, are you okay?” Strong arms close around me in the darkness, pulling me into a hard, warm embrace. “Shh…” Julian soothes as I begin to sob, clinging to him with all my strength. “Did you have another dream?”

I manage a small nod.

“What kind of dream, my pet?” Sitting down on the bed, Julian pulls me into his lap and strokes my hair. “The old one about me and Beth?”

I bury my face against his neck. “Sort of,” I whisper when I can speak. “Except Majid was threatening me this time.” I swallow the bile rising in my throat. “Threatening the baby inside me.”