Betrayed (Undercover #3) by Helena Newbury

and a wave of heat rolled through me.
    Vasiliy watched the two of us walk down the stairs, his face carefully neutral. When we reached the bottom, I went over to him. I was squeezing Luka’s hand for strength. “I owe you an apology,” I said in Russian. “I tried to kill you.”
    “But you saved me. You didn’t let me drink. Then you saved me again at the restaurant.” He sighed and shook his head. “I know who the real evil is, Arianna.’ He exchanged a look with Luka. “I hope you do, too.”
    I nodded. “My boss’s name is Adam Kinlen.” I was breaking every oath I’d taken when I joined the CIA. But he’d betrayed me and the agency. “He’s right here in Moscow. I think he’s been helping Ralavich for years.”
    I saw Luka’s massive body tense. “Bastard.” There was murder in his eyes. “We always thought Ralavich had US help.”
    “What will they do, with you still alive?” I asked.
    There was a shout from outside and then a gunshot.
    “They’ll try again,” said Vasiliy grimly. “Get away from the windows! Get upstairs!”
    More shouting from outside and more gunshots. Running footsteps as Vasiliy’s guards raced outside to defend the house.
    “ Here?!” Luka’s voice was disbelieving. “They’d attack us here?! This place is built like a fortress. The police will come.”
    “Not if they’ve been ordered to stay out of it by the government,” said Vasiliy. He looked at me. “I bet they received a special request from a Mr. Kinlen at the CIA.”
    I died inside. This was all my fault. By telling Adam all about Luka’s gun deal, I’d motivated him to destroy the family once and for all.
    Yuri ran to join us, gun drawn. We backed up the stairs...but before we were halfway up, there was a massive crash as the front door was kicked down. Gunfire filled the air, horrifyingly loud. Ralavich’s men swarmed into the house, guns pointed right at us.
    And behind them, swaggering into view, was Olaf, a flashy, chrome-covered handgun dangling from his meaty paw.
    “Nice house,” he yelled in the silence that followed. “I’ll take it.”

 
     
     
     
     
     

     
     
    There were far too many of them. Luka signaled to Yuri to drop his gun. He did so reluctantly.
    Olaf walked slowly up the stairs, the wood creaking under his weight. “I see you didn’t kill her, Luka,” he said in Russian, “even though she betrayed you. All friends again?”
    Luka stared at him, his eyes full of fury. I could see that he was seconds away from launching himself at the man...and that would mean death for all of us. Olaf had a gun and three of his men were walking up the stairs with him, their own guns drawn. I wrapped my arm around Luka’s waist, partially to hold him back and partially for comfort.
    “Have you welcomed Arianna into your family?” Olaf asked Vasiliy, reached down and cupping my chin. My skin crawled. “Quite pretty, even if she is an American. I bet you were tempted to fuck her, too.”
    Vasiliy gave a snarl and charged forward.
    Olaf raised his gun quite nonchalantly and fired. Vasiliy staggered back and fell, a red stain spreading across his shirt.
    I screamed and Luka yelled in rage. Olaf ignored both of us. “Take them through there,” he said, motioning with his gun towards the nearest bedroom. One of the armed thugs dragged a groaning Vasiliy while the other two herded us towards the bedroom door.
    It was the same bedroom Luka and I had used earlier. They dumped Vasiliy against the foot of the bed. His face was already deathly pale, the blood spreading steadily across his snow-white shirt. Luka’s fists were bunching and unbunching—he was going to go for Olaf and, when he did, I knew he’d be killed. I was beginning to see that this was Olaf’s way, to taunt his victims into a rage and then finish them.
    Olaf’s eyes lit up as he noticed the rumpled bed...and then something else. “Oh! I see what sort of games you’ve been playing, Luka!”
    I looked behind us and