Free Scorch (The MacKenzie Family Book 17) by Liliana Hart

guard was dead, and someone would be in to remove him and clean up the mess later.
    “Let me put this in simple terms,” Maxim said. “Don’t be fooled into thinking your country will save you. Russia is alive and well here in the United States. I own members of your congress and give money to your president. Money, power, fear,” he said, checking off each word on his fingers. “MacKenzie Security is feared by your government and powers around the world. How long do you think they will let that stand? They hold classified information that no private company should own. They have the most brilliant minds locked up behind steel walls and armed guards.
    “Inside those steel walls is a tool that will create the most superior army the world has ever seen. Fear, power, money,” he repeated again, but this time in the opposite order. “There will be days for you to play hero and pretend you love your country as I love mine. But today is not that day. You will take the money and you will get the information from the woman and get her to hand over the suit. And you will bring her to me. Alive. Her brain is much too valuable to put a hole in.”
    “Yes, sir,” the soldier said, still unmoving.
    “You will do as I say or you won’t be the only one to pay the consequences of your failure. You have family, yes? A brother and sister? Nieces and nephews? Parents? Is there a woman you love who would scream for you as my blade took pieces of her flesh?”
    Maxim found satisfaction in the way the soldier paled. Sweat beaded on his face and he swallowed hard.
    “I’ll bring you the woman and the suit,” he said.
    “Good,” Maxim said. “Dispose of Gregor on your way out. If I find blood in my hallways I’ll slice open your testicles and let my cats feed off you.”
    “Yes, sir,” the soldier said, weaker this time.
    He watched as the man hoisted Gregor over his shoulder and took him from the room.
    “Ivan and Michel,” he said. “You will follow him to Surrender, Montana. I don’t trust our American spy. Once he’s done the job, kill him and bring the girl and the suit to me.”

Chapter 8
    D octor Lacey Shaw had a feeling she was going to remember this particular date forever.
    Every June twenty-second from here to her final breath would be met with a deep sigh and a slight mortification. It wasn’t often she felt like an idiot. Or foolish, for that matter. But in this particular moment she felt both.
    She’d walked in from her shift at the hospital just after five. She’d been tired and a headache had been brewing, so she’d stripped off her clothes and fallen into bed. And now she was stuck in a very awkward situation that was bound to get more awkward before it was through.
    She and Michael’s schedules rarely lined up. She was always swamped at the hospital. It was her life. And she’d done with it exactly what Declan MacKenzie had asked of her so many years before. Her fingerprints were on every inch of that hospital, in every department. But time and again she remembered that there were certain things work couldn’t do for her, and physical intimacy and companionship was one of those things.
    She’d never had a serious long-term relationship in the past eight years. Michael was the longest at six months. But they saw each other rarely, and though he’d moved some things into her home and he had a key, saying they were living together was stretching the truth a bit. In fact, she’d been planning to break things off, but she hadn’t had the time, and something like that needed to be done face to face.
    Maybe it had been the long works hours or the need for sexual companionship that had made her unable to stop things before they’d gone too far. But all she knew was she’d been sound asleep when Michael had crawled into bed beside her. But she hadn’t stayed asleep long. Her heart still thudded in her chest as he lay one top of her, the sweat cooling on their skin.
    “Mmm, I missed you,” he said,