Suddenly a Spy (25 page)

“Thanks for the ride,” she wished Ellen well
before getting out of the car. Veronica was certain she’d like
Ellen better if she wasn’t in such a sour mood. The kid had passion
and meant well. With time, she’d learn that the world came in more
colors than black and white. Regardless, Veronica was really glad
to be back at the hotel.

Her feet had a mind of their own as they
carried her up the stairs to their room. Tired or not, she took the
steps in record time. She could see a light peeking out from under
their door and her heart quickened.
He was okay.

Ronnie was in such a state to see him she
didn’t pause to heed the warning bells that sounded in the back of
her brain. And that turned out to be one of those moments she’d
relive in her memory, wishing she could rewind time to undo.

Chapter Twenty-Six

She hated Adrianna. That thought came
crashing back to her the moment she’d realized who was in her room.
It was also the thought that kept her going through the next
several days as she traveled across the country, bound and
gagged.

Sometimes tears would cloud her eyes;
sometimes memories of Rick would cloud her mind. She swept them
away with a burning hatred for Adrianna. Petrov might be the one
who’d grabbed her from behind that night in the hotel, but it was
Adrianna’s smug expression that was seared in Veronica’s mind.

“You ruined my brother,” Petrov’s lip curled
into a sneer. “He was the perfect face man and you went and screwed
with his head.”

She started it
, Veronica thought, her
eyes flitting from Petrov to Adrianna.

“I know, I know. This all started when
Adrianna showed up at your wedding,” he correctly read her
expression. “But I think this little feud has gone on long enough.
Don’t you?”

I’m going to kill you with my own two
hands. Slowly.
Veronica seethed inwardly, her body trembling
with the urge to break her bonds.

“I’m almost tempted to take the gag out,”
Petrov chuckled. “I’m curious to know what words go along with that
look you’re giving me. I guess I can almost see why my brother is
so gone over you. He always did like them feisty.”

Veronica merely arched an eyebrow at that
statement, but Adrianna’s eyes narrowed.

“I told you you’d be in over your head little
girl,” she leaned in to taunt Ronnie, who responded by head-butting
her.

As Veronica’s world went black, the last
sound to reach her ears was Adrianna spitting out the word,
“Bitch.”

When Veronica came to again, she found
herself in a room that felt familiar. She tried to focus through
bleary eyes, reaching back into the recesses of her memory to try
to place why it felt like she’d been here before.

The stark whiteness of the room, the marble
floors… in the distance she could hear Petrov and Adrianna
bickering and it finally fell into place. She was in the New York
auction house, Everdale Antiques.

Veronica tried to assess her situation and
gather her thoughts. She was still bound and gagged, but otherwise
she was largely unharmed. With the exception of a pounding headache
from being knocked unconscious, that is. She briefly wondered why
she hadn’t been beaten and trussed up like Vance had.

Shoving speculations aside, she took in her
surroundings. There was a window on the far side of the room, and
she was pretty confident she could shimmy out it if she tried.
Truth be told—she could also picture herself getting stuck.

Even with that image in mind, the window
seemed a better route than the stairs. Neither would be viable in
her current state, so she began working on the ropes around her
wrists.

She was already sweaty and uncomfortable; it
didn’t take long for the friction from the rope to start cutting
into her skin. Chances were good she was being used as bait and
she’d never forgive herself if someone she loved died trying to
save her. The best way to keep that from happening was to free
herself first. So she persevered.

There was a commotion somewhere below. Petrov
and Adrianna broke off their conversation and went to investigate.
Sensing this was her chance, Veronica worked harder on the ropes,
closing her eyes to the pain.

“Ah now, skin as perfect as yours shouldn’t
be cut up with ropes. Don’t do that,” Marko’s voice cut through the
silence of the room and Veronica instantly stilled. Her heart
hammered in her chest and she thought of their last meeting. She
supposed it was only fitting that she die at his hands.

Something very animalistic in her wanted to
writhe and scream and make one last fight for survival. Instead,
she slowly opened her eyes to meet his, bracing herself for the
hatred that would be afire within them.

She wasn’t prepared for the sadness and
longing she found in its place.

“Hold still,” he instructed, kneeling behind
her to untie her hands.

“I don’t understand. Aren’t you here to kill
me?” she pulled the gag out of her mouth the instant her hands were
free before leaning down to fumble with the knots on her
ankles.

“No, I’m not here to kill you,” he brushed
her hands out of his way so he could cut the ropes that bound her
feet. His demeanor was every bit the Marko she remembered from
Bulgaria; she had to fight the urge to hug him in relief.

“But the last time I saw you, I stepped on
your neck.”

“Yes, I remember that. You also blew up my
building and left me for dead. What can I say? I’m the bigger
person here.”

“Ouch.”

“We really are hopelessly on different sides
of the line. No matter how much I wish we weren’t,” he cupped her
face in his hands. The look of tenderness on his face made her
heart want to break. “I have absolutely no sense when it comes to
you.”

“For what it’s worth… in another time and
place… if things were different or I was….”

“I think I know what you’re trying to spit
out and it’s okay. You don’t have to love me. Let’s just say I’ve
done a lot of things in my life that I’ll have to reckon with. I
don’t want to add your death as one of them.”

“Too bad you didn’t feel the same compassion
for Vance.”

“Vance? Oh, Bo. No, he’s not as pretty as
you,” Marko winked. The small flirtation left her even more
unsettled. “I didn’t have anything to do with what happened to him.
I actually liked the guy.”

“That’s good to know,” Veronica meant it.
“So, when you get me out of here… where does that leave us? Are we
just going to part ways amicably?”

“What? You aren’t going to run away with me?
I’m kidding. Sort of. We can finish this conversation later. My
brother and his girlfriend won’t be distracted forever. They will
eventually figure out it was only fireworks in the sink.”

Veronica nodded, kind of wishing she could be
a fly on the wall downstairs. The shouts coming from below had her
at least a little curious. Another layer of intensity seemed to be
building; Marko and Veronica exchanged glances. A shot was fired
and then all hell broke loose below them.

“Yeah, that’s not me,” Marko confirmed. “I
guess I’m not the only knight in shining armor today. Come on;
let’s get you out of here.”

He stood and reached down for her hand. She
looked up and gave him a small smile, placing her hand in his. The
single shot that rang out was followed by an eerie silence. Her
world distorted as she tried to make sense of what was happening.
The confusion on Marko’s face mirrored her own. He started to fall
backwards and she instinctively pulled him forward into her
arms.

“Nice catch,” he choked on the words.

Their eyes met one last time. She could see
blood pooling in the corner of his mouth; she felt it warm and
sticky in her hands at his back. Just like that, Marko Kulenović
died in her arms.

She blinked. That seemed to be all she was
able to do at first. Blink.

“Come on, Ron. It’s okay. I’m here,” Jeff was
there, extracting Marko from her arms and gently lifting her to her
feet. “Are you hurt?”

“What?” she tried to shift her focus. “No.
I’m not hurt. I’m fine. The blood is his. He’s dead.”

“I should hope so,” Jeff grabbed the cloth
that had been her gag and started wiping her hands off.

Veronica opened her mouth to say it was a
horrible mistake; that Marko had been there to save her. Instead,
all she said was, “Thank you.”

“No worries,” he flashed her a smile that was
both charming and reassuring. “Now come on, let’s get out of here.
We have some bad guys to catch and some slaves to free.”

“We do,” she nodded, her demeanor changing.
With one last glance back at Marko’s body on the floor, she
followed her brother out the door and down the staircase. They
reached the main floor and ran into Adrianna as they rounded the
corner, on her way to check the prisoner.

Jeff instinctively knocked the gun out of her
hand. She retaliated with a right hook that he dodged.

“You go; I’ve got this,” Veronica promised
her brother. It sounded like their father could use some backup and
besides, she relished the thought of facing Adrianna in
hand-to-hand combat right now.

“You sure about that, princess?” Adrianna
practically purred.

“There are two people in this world who can
get away with calling me princess, and you’re not one of them.”

Veronica felt immense satisfaction the moment
her fist connected with Adrianna’s face. Her opponent spat out a
tooth and the two women began to circle each other. Adrianna lashed
out first, Veronica dodged and parried.

Adrianna was quick and fought dirty. Though
far from slow, Veronica overcame the speed deficit by using the
power of her legs, heightened by the fury that whipped around
inside her. She launched herself into a spinning wheel kick that
knocked Adrianna backwards.

The sleek brunette retaliated; pain clouded
Veronica’s vision, but she’d dreamt about this moment for too long
to let a little thing like a dislocated shoulder stop her now. She
growled and advanced with a series of punches and kicks, each
driving Adrianna further and further back.

Her opponent rallied, a fist connected with
Veronica’s jaw. Ronnie’s body shook with exhaustion; these past
days had pushed her squarely against her physical limit. Her chest
heaved. Every part of her body wanted to be done with this.
Memories of the past months slammed against the corners of her
mind, one over the other. The wedding, Adrianna’s sultry sashay
towards the unsuspecting couple, Marko’s haunted eyes, Vance broken
and bloody, Adrianna’s lips curling in a sneer as she spat the
word, “princess” at Veronica.

Rick. That bitch had once had her hands on
him. Rick, who was still missing.

“Where’s my husband?” Veronica circled her
prey; her words rumbled low in her throat.

“Why on earth would I tell you?” Adrianna
arched an eyebrow. Even broken and bloody, the woman’s beauty
couldn’t be diminished.

With a primal growl, Veronica advanced, using
the last vestiges of will and the power of her legs to deliver blow
after blow. Everything human in her disappeared. The darkness Marko
had sought so hard to touch broke free. The princess yearned to
permanently wipe that smug, sultry look off the black widow’s
face.

Adrianna broke from the fight, making a dive
for the gun that had been knocked from her hand. Veronica took a
running dive for the weapon, reaching it a fraction of a second
before Adrianna. The look of disbelief was the last one to cross
her face.

Veronica stood and rolled her good shoulder,
tucking her bad arm to her side. She was in pain and exhausted, but
in one basic piece and fueled by raw emotion flowing freely through
her veins. With one more deep breath, she jogged towards the melee
in the main auction room.

Her father and brother were both there, backs
pressed up against the remnants of ancient statues as they
exchanged shots with a handful of men on the opposite side of the
room. Veronica dove behind a statue that looked remarkably like the
one that’d stood in her living room for a brief time. Her eyes
swept the room but she could find no sign of Rick. Her heart
constricted.

A bullet whistled past her ear, and she
forced herself to focus on the current situation. She returned fire
and ducked again as another bullet shot by.

“Ron—it’s good to see you alive. Are you
okay?” her father called out.

“I’m fine, Daddy. And you?”

“Never better.”

“Well this is a touching family reunion,”
Petrov called from the other side of the room.

“It’s over Petrov. You’re the only one left,”
Jeff called out.

“Then it’s not over yet.”

Veronica glanced about the vaulted ceilings
and dramatic archways of the room; tired of the current impasse.
There had to be something she could use in the midst of these
antiques, lush drapes and all of the other random odd and ends in
the room. Somewhere in the back of her mind, the memory of that
month in the jungle floated up.

It was just like stealing her lunch out from
under Rick’s nose. She’d used a combination of ground cover and
vines to get close enough then. She’d do the same now.

Carefully, quietly, she snaked her way under
tables and through artifacts until she’d reached the other side of
the room. When she was nearly perpendicular to Petrov, she steeled
her mind to the pain and shimmied up a curtain pull while sincerely
hoping it would hold her weight.

Jeff and Sean stopped firing when they saw
her, and the change in their behavior was enough to make Petrov
turn to see what had their attention. Veronica steadied herself as
he swung his gun around.

Sean fired on Petrov, and Veronica was once
again proud of his dead-on aim. The head of the Kulenović syndicate
crumbled with anticlimactic ease. Ronnie shifted her aim to his
minions, who were realizing they had a new threat in their midst.
Their realization came too late; it was over in seconds.