Free Last Kiss (Hitman #3) by Jen Frederick, Jessica Clare Page A

I push him aside. He falls away easily. “She’s seizing.”
    I did not realize she was sick, although perhaps I should have noted the episode in the van when we were escaping from Hudson’s compound in Brazil. The noise and the guns sent her into a panic and she rocked on the floor with her ears covered, shouting something repeatedly. But I thought nothing of it at the time, because many people do not respond well to bullets ricocheting around and mad men trying to kill them. Rocking in the corner is a normal response. Our disinterest is the oddity.
    “Naomi. Naomi.” If I hadn’t been watching her closely, I would have missed a slight muscle twitch, an interruption in the rhythm of her convulsions that did not seem organic. I lift her in my arms, ignoring Aleksei’s protests.
    “Don’t move her; she’ll bite her tongue off,” he cries.
    “Then she won’t be able to talk back, eh?” I say and again, her face moves strangely in almost a scowl. Aleksei hovers behind me like a frantic mother. But what do I know of seizures? It doesn’t serve me if she cannot talk. Laying her on the sofa, I pull my belt off and stick it between her teeth. There is a fair amount of resistance as I insert the leather, and I succeed, but not before she bites my fingers hard. Now I’m certain she is glaring. Her eyes snap open and she looks at me with great clarity until her gaze slides away as it is wont to do, past my cheek and over my shoulder. But in that moment, I see her—bright, sound of mind, and mysterious. Her eyes are a shocking blue, fathoms deep like the Sea of Okhotsk. And with that one look, the siren has captured me. Myheart races, fast like a bird. There is a shift inside me. A door has cracked open, or perhaps it is my soul that she has speared.
    I shudder visibly, unsure whether I want to free myself or dive deeper into her grasp.
    “Do you need a doctor?” It is a bit of a stupid question because if she truly is seizing, how could she answer? A quick, impersonal pat along her legs and waist reveal no needle full of medication. If the seizures were a regular thing, she would carry a kit of medication and needles, but none is to be found. One of the Petrovich boys is allergic to bee stings and carries his antidote with him at all times. She has nothing like this.
    It occurs to me that I could call her brother, Daniel, and simply ask but I do not want to contact him until we are out of the country, until he is not a threat to us. I’ve just gained the Emperor. I will not lose her. Not to the traitor Aleksei, not to a rival
Bratva
, and not to her family. She is mine until I see fit to release her.
    “What did you do to her, Aleksei?” I ask, coming to a comfortable conclusion. There is a risk, albeit a small one, that she is truly ill. But I think not.
    “N-n-nothing,” he stutters. “But what are you doing here?”
    I am saddened to see such a warrior subdued and sniveling. I am heartsore over what our brotherhood has turned into. I blame this on Sergei and Elena, who have treated us like dogs and set us against each other. “Aleksei.” I turn, but keep a hand on the stomach of Naomi—her center. Under my palm, I can feel her steady breaths. She’ll not be able to move without my knowing. “You tried drugging me, but I have this.” I hold up a straw.
    “The straw? It is an effeminate touch.” He sniffs.
    “It also detects poisons. I have used it for years. A dip into the liquid and the straw becomes striped. A subtle change only visibleto someone who is looking for it. I admit I did not believe the traitor in the
Bratva
would be you. We have been comrades, brothers, for so long. Why wait until now to betray me?”
    He is silent for once. He glances longingly at the door, calculating whether he can escape before I take action.
    I pull out my gun fitted with its suppressor and point it at him. “Come over here. I do not want to shoot you by the door,” I order wearily.
    Pfffft
goes the gun when I