“Move.” Ivan walked behind them, his gruffness letting Alexei know he was growing tired of waiting. “If either one of you makes a wrong move, we will kill you both and then start on the crowd. If you care at all about the people around you, you will behave.” Jennifer slid her arm around his waist. She smiled, though it didn’t reach her eyes. “Pretend you’re crazy about me. Otherwise, people might wonder why we’re walking so close. We have to get to town hall, you see. We can go in from behind, but there’s a good hundred yards before we can move to the alley.” Alexei saw what she meant. There were people milling around all over the place up ahead of them. He saw the place where she pointed, a small road that led to the back of the buildings on their left. “All right. We’re just two couples enjoying the day. You can handle that, can’t you, Ivan?”

“I think so.” Ivan switched to Russian. “Perhaps we can enjoy much of the day. I like this one. I think she’s got nice breasts under all the clothes she’s wearing. Let’s get the painting and then go back to the motel. We can enjoy their bodies before we kill them, my friend.” He could taste the bile in his throat, but forced himself to laugh and agree with the man he hated. How much? How much of his own soul was he willing to give up? Panic threatened as he started to walk Jennifer toward the opposite side of the road. It was all happening so fast. His life seemed to be coming to a point. His revenge seemed further away than ever before, and yet so tantalizingly close. All he had to do was get the painting and take it to Pushkin.

His feet moved along the ground, the thud in time to his beating heart. All he had to do to avenge his gentle brother’s life was kill two women after watching Ivan brutally rape them. All he had to do was go against everything his brother ever taught him. All he had to do was give up his soul.

“Hey, Jen! I’ve been looking for you. Did you hear what’s going on around here?”

A man in a cowboy hat strode confidently down the sidewalk.

“Be very careful,” Alexei whispered. “He really will kill your friend.”

“And you won’t?” Her words were returned quietly.

That was the question that ran through his head. Could he pull the trigger and end an innocent life?

Jennifer turned on a bright, charming smile. “Hey, James! How are you doing today?” She winked at the cowboy who stopped and stared at the four of them. “Callie and I are having fun, if you know what I mean.”

The cowboy’s mouth came open and then closed. Alexei felt a thrill of terror that the man would call them out.

“I thought you were with Stef.” The cowboy’s eyes narrowed in obvious anger.

“I’m with a lot of guys, James. You know that.” He shook his head. “Yeah, I heard that, too. And Callie. Biggest slut in the county. I thought I was different. I thought I meant something to you. I was willing to wait for you to wake up to what a creep Stef is, but I won’t watch you go through tourists, too.”

“You’re an asshole, James,” Callie spat out. “And Jen was right not to sleep with you. I was bored when I slept with you.”

“Bitch.” The cowboy named James stalked off without a backward glance.

Ivan laughed. “Dumb bitches,” he said in Russian. “American women are all sluts. Perhaps they will like what we do to them, eh?” But Alexei didn’t think so. Alexei got the distinct feeling that something was wrong. He moved along anyway, his mind whirling, seeking a way out until he knew there wasn’t one.

You’re the best thing I ever did, Alexei. That was what his brother had said when Alexei had asked if he minded giving up his chance to go to university. Mikhail had a promising future in the sciences before their parents had died.

He moved like an automaton toward the building Jennifer had told them would get them safely to the town hall.

A picture of his parents was in his wallet. It was hard to remember them sometimes, but they were smiling in the only picture that was left of the man and woman who had given him life. It wasn’t the only thing. He was left.

His parents had been gentle people.

His brother had been the finest man he had ever known.

Who the hell was he?

“You’re crying.” Jennifer spoke very softly as they walked.

He felt the tears slide down his cheeks. Fuck. How was he going to explain that to Ivan?

“Please.” The word was a little puff out of her mouth, meant for his ears, his soul.

Please. Had Mikhail pleaded? Perhaps. He had a brother to raise.

Mikhail would not have allowed pride to stop him. If he’d thought begging might help, he would have begged. The man who killed his brother had not listened.

Alexei turned the corner.

Who was he? A man like the one who took his brother’s life? For fifteen years, all he had thought about was revenge. For fifteen years, he’d told himself that he owed his brother this violence. What a fool he’d been. He owed his brother, his precious brother, a good, well-lived life. He owed his brother his honor. Unfortunately, he also owed the woman in his arms something. One last act of violence.

Alexei turned, quick as a cat. The gun was up, and before Ivan could wipe the lecherous grin off his face, there was a loud report and a neat hole appeared in his head. The man he’d worked with for years fell backward and hit the ground, his blood blooming across the stark white of the snow beneath their feet.

Callie shot toward Jennifer. The women huddled together, each seeming to protect the other.

“He would have killed you.” Alexei lowered the gun. He could feel his face flushing.

“Thank you.” Jennifer’s arms were tight around her friend. “You should run. Our men will be here soon.” He was done with that.

Three men burst into the alley, two with guns drawn at the ready.

He recognized one of the men as Jamie, the cowboy the women had reviled. He felt himself smile a bit. Clever girls.

“You drop that gun or I’ll take your head off. Please give me a reason to take your head off.” The man in the lead seemed perfectly ready to do that.

“I got them here as fast as I could,” James said, looking at the women. His face was stark, and he was obviously out of breath.

Alexei wondered if the man had started running the minute he was out of sight. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t carrying at the time. Walking away was one of the hardest things I ever did.”

“You did the right thing, James.” The head law official frowned at Alexei. “I’m serious. I really want to shoot you. One of those women you were about to kill is my wife. Only the fact she’s watching me right now keeps me from blowing your ass away.”

“Please to not blows on my ass.” Alexei dropped his gun and held up his hands. “I wish to become defective.” He could not go back to Russia. It suddenly struck him that he had something to bargain with. He had detailed workings of the Russian mob. He could tie Pushkin to American mobsters, even a few politicians.

Alexei sank to his knees in the snow as the men walked toward him. Two in uniforms, shiny gold stars hanging on their shirts, were in front. They hadn’t bothered with coats.

“Nathan, that was rude,” Callie said, indignation dripping.

Alexei waited patiently as the married couple worked out their obvious disagreements concerning the treatment of prisoners. The husband frowned at the wife. “Logan, pick up that gun,” the tall man with cold eyes said in a quiet, professional voice. His revolver was leveled straight at Alexei’s head.

“Yes, Sheriff.” The gangly, younger man first kicked the gun away, and when it was safe to do so, he reached down and picked it up, securing it.

“This one’s dead, Nate.” The one the women had called Jamie, or James, stared down at Ivan’s body.

“You all right, baby?”

It was the first emotion Alexei had heard in the sheriff’s voice.

His eyes didn’t leave his prey, but there was the slightest softening of that hard-as-nails tone.

“I’m okay, Nate. Jen’s okay, too, thanks to him.” The sheriff’s lips turned down. “I’ll wait to thank him. Logan, cuff him. We’ll get him back to the station and figure out just what the hell is going on around here.”

Jennifer stepped forward. “You can’t arrest him, Nate. He saved us.”

“It’s fine,” Alexei said quickly. “I will go with them. I will answer all questions. I would like to become a defective person. I have much helpful information.”

“What the fuck is going on?”

A man with dark hair stepped into the alley. It only took a moment for Alexei to realize this was Jennifer’s man. He could be in more trouble.

“Stef, everything is fine.” Jennifer tried to step forward.

“You stay right there, Jennifer.” The sheriff shouted the order.

Jennifer and Callie stepped back at his tone.

Alexei allowed Logan to pull his hands down, and he felt the cold metal snap around his wrists. He was in custody, his plans blown, his future in severe peril, but he hadn’t felt so light in years.

Alexei turned to the two women he’d blown his revenge to save.

He shook his head at the thought. In saving them, he’d finally saved himself.

“Thank you,” he said as the sheriff took his arm and began to lead him away.

* * *

“I could make him defective really fucking fast,” Stef said, looking at the Russian through the bars of his cell. The urge to make the asshole really fucking defective was riding him. His heart had been racing from the moment he’d realized Nate had left the building.

Rachel had been the one to tell him what was going on. He’d been caught up in his discussion with the doctor. He’d never been as afraid as he’d been when he heard that shot go off. He was going to start carrying a rifle with him wherever he went so he would always be prepared.