Unbroken (Fighting for Gisele #3) (13 page)

“Because you’d threatened to hurt us before, if he didn’t do what you told him to,” Gisele said. “That’s the only reason he agreed to do your accounting in the first place.”

Yuri smirked. “Ah, I see you’ve been learning things.”

Gisele had thought she’d heard the worst, but Yuri was just getting warmed up. He’d saved the sordid truth for the vulnerable moment, right after she’d heard about her father’s death.

“To protect his family, Andrew went to extreme lengths, and he nearly succeeded.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

Yuri clasped his hands together as if speaking to a school child, but Gisele was too alarmed to care. Whatever he was going to say had to do with her mother, and she wasn’t sure that she wanted to hear it.

“Andrew faked his wife’s death.” Yuri let that sink in.

Gisele tried to make sense of his words, but they sounded like gibberish. Her mother had died fifteen years ago. How could her father have faked that?

“That’s right, Gisele. Your mother is still alive.”

Shock rendered her speechless. The room was spinning, and it felt as though the floor had opened up, so Gisele might fall through.

“How can that be?” Gisele managed to utter, although her voice didn’t sound like her own.

“The Kovalenkos were as interested in what Andrew was hiding as I was,” Yuri said. “And Lazar didn’t accept the story Andrew told. He had some of his people verify the accident, and guess what they found out?”

“I have no idea.”

“There was no accident, at least not one with your mother involved.” Yuri paused for effect.

Gisele realized that her mother was still alive, but how?

“Andrew had arranged for your mother to go into hiding,” Yuri said. “I’m sure that he believed he’d be released from prison and could join her. Of course, he would have taken you with him.”

Gisele tried to absorb what he was saying.

“But Lazar found your mother. He discovered her hiding place shortly after your father died in prison.”

Gisele couldn’t breathe. She feared that she’d just regained the mother she’d lost, only to lose her again. The Kovalenkos had found her. “Oh my God, did they kill her?”

Yuri mocked her with his chagrin. “Of course not, Gisele. Your mother is our leverage.”

Gisele thought she might faint, but dug deep for strength.

“The Kovalenkos have been holding your mother in protective custody all these years,” Yuri said. “They’d hoped to ace us out of the action, but that’s not going to work. I have established an agreement with Lazar, and he sees that working together makes sense.”

“Have you hurt her?”

Yuri shook his head. “Your mother is fine. She has been treated well, but she has been held captive. We couldn’t let her escape and tip you off, now could we?”

Gisele struggled to imagine her mother living in captivity, hearing of her husband’s death, and knowing her young daughter was alone. What must that have been like for her? But Gisele had more pressing issues, as Yuri was staring at her.

“There’s plenty to go around,” Yuri said. “There’s enough money in this for everyone involved.” He hardly missed a beat. “Including you, Gisele, if you behave.”

The threat wasn’t lost on her.

Yuri leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees. “Listen to me closely,” he said in a deep voice. “If you don’t give us what we want…we
will
kill your mother. And it will be real this time.”

Gisele was stricken with terror, for her mother most of all. Yuri was not making an idle threat. And it wasn’t just her mother’s life that was in peril. Every breath that Gisele took from that moment on would be only with Yuri’s permission, if he had his way.

Gisele’s mind raced with possibilities, and she floundered for a way out. The mother she’d lost so long ago was miraculously alive, but might be taken away from her…all over again. The situation was beyond endurance.

Yuri narrowed his eyes and clenched his jaw. His practiced calm vanished, replaced with the venom that was his true nature.

When Yuri spoke, he enunciated each word, stressing its importance. “So tell me where the blue diamond is, Gisele. I know you have it.”

Yuri waited as if she might instantly cooperate, and when she didn’t, he frowned. “If you value your mother’s life, you will turn over the diamond that your father stole from me.”

Gisele was tempted to tell him off, to defy him. But Yuri was not a man to be trifled with. She had to deal with the situation in the best way possible. Her life depended on it, and even more important…her dear mother’s life depended on it.

Micah must win the biggest fight of his life to save Gisele!

Read next: UNDEFEATED (Fighting for Gisele #4)

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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

UNBROKEN by Emily Jane Trent ©2016 All Rights Reserved

Published By Camden Lee Press