“Oh, I hope there was no one inside,” she said anxiously, looking inside the car out of her periphery.
Dasha wasn’t moving.
“We won’t know until the fire department puts out the fire.”
“Of course,” Leeza nodded. “I’ll move right away.”
“Thanks,” he said with a relieved smile. “You have yourself a good night, ma’am.”
She slid into the vehicle and slammed the door shut, then she collapsed against the steering wheel sucking in several deep breaths. Everything had gone like clockwork.
She hadn’t planned on going back for Dasha, but then she received an anonymous text warning her that there were hits out for her, Adam and Dasha. She’d been hurt but not surprised. She’d gone to the club a few weeks earlier to see Jozef, to pledge her loyalty to him if the family went to war, but he hadn’t been there and some idiot had set off a firework on the club floor, driving everyone from the building. Now her loyalty wouldn’t matter. Too little, too late. She’d become a target, just as she feared.
Once Leeza realized Krystoff wouldn’t be at the hospital to protect Dasha, she’d turned her car around and formulated a quick plan to get her mother out of the hospital. Thank god Leeza had been prepared, with everything in her trunk from a first aid kit to a small bomb. Once she got Dasha away from Prague, they would head for the border. Personally, Leeza intended the move to be permanent. Dasha could do what she wanted when she recovered. If she was smart, she would take the money Leeza planned to give her and retire to St. Barts.
Leeza pulled out of the hospital parking lot in time to see an SUV filled with Jozef’s men. She held her breath as they passed. No one looked her way. As she turned onto the freeway, she saw the shadow of a man leap into a vehicle as it pulled over. She couldn’t be sure, but she thought it was Krystoff.
So she hadn’t killed him with the bomb.
Part of her was relieved. Though he wasn’t her father, and he had sold her in marriage to a monster, he had always done what he thought was best for her. For that, she couldn’t actively wish him dead.
It didn’t matter. Jozef would do the deed for her.
Chapter Forty-Two
Meet me downstairs.
Nikolay had been expecting the message. He’d been deployed with the rest of the team to secure the building ahead of a possible attack. This was the moment he’d been both anticipating and dreading. The moment when he would choose which Koba faction would be the winning side.
Of course, he’d already thrown his lot in with Krystoff. Had from the moment he agreed to take a burner phone to the daughter, starting the chain of events that would lead him to betray Jozef.
It hadn’t been a difficult decision to make. He’d harboured resentment toward Jozef since they were children. They were both related to the Koba clan, though Nikolay was a more distant relation. They were both orphans and they’d both been raised at the Koba estate. The biggest difference was Jozef had been raised in the house, like a favoured son, while Nikolay had grown up in the barracks with the rest of the grunts.
Jozef had chosen Nikolay to be part of his elite hit squad because Nikolay was unparalleled when it came to target practice. He was good with weapons of all types, but sharpshooting was his specialty.
He fit in with Jozef’s men, never allowing his resentment to show. He laughed with them, worked with them, sweated and bled with them. But he wasn’t one of them. He was more important. He was the lost child of the Koba family, and he was about to ensure his future placement with them.
He nodded at the bouncers who had finished clearing the club floor and were going through every nook and cranny to make sure there were no more guests lingering. They were efficient at their jobs which meant Krystoff hadn’t been able to get any of his men inside the club before the closure. It didn’t matter, he already had a man on the inside.
Nikolay made his way through the kitchen, which was now shut down and abandoned by the cooking staff. They would have been told to leave with the guests so they wouldn’t get caught in the crossfire.
As Nikolay passed, he hovered a hand over the grill. Still hot.
He turned and headed down the corridor to the back of the building where the ramp was located for food delivery. He passed Cooper who was walking back to the club, a semi-automatic rifle held to his chest.
“Where’re you going?” Cooper turned on his heel to walk backwards as he passed Nikolay. “Already checked the back door. It’s locked and rigged to blow if anyone tries to force entry.”
Nikolay was glad Cooper had warned him of the explosives, though he would now have to get rid of the American mercenary. The other man would know exactly who’d messed with the back door if it came to light that someone on the inside had let Krystoff and his men inside the building.
“I was ordered to check on the weapons stash in the ceiling of the supply room. We might need the extra fire power.”
Cooper nodded and jogged back toward the club. Nikolay didn’t have enough time to take him out before he disappeared around the corner. He’d have to finish the job later, make it look like Cooper was killed by Krystoff’s men.
He reached the back door and knelt next to the latch, examining the explosive. There was a C4 pack with a wire extending across the crack of the door. If someone tried to open it, the door would blow, injuring or killing anyone on the other side. It was a basic setup, but effective.
Nikolay took a switchblade from his pocket and carefully slid the sharp knife
