Arielle Immortal Journey (The Immortal Rapture Series Book 5) (11 page)

“I think I found someone that seems to fit the profile we’re
looking for.” Rainer and Larue looked up, eager to hear the details.

Hahn licked his thumb and took the top page from the folder. He started to read. “The man’s name is Vasily Komarov. He runs a group of eleven operatives that specialize in kidnappings, but they are not known as a death squad. They coerce a company, a family, or
a government through fear and intimidation to pay the requested ransom. They work methodically to achieve a resolution without
elimination of the hostages. He has successfully acquired classified documents and
ransom money in every one of his assignments.” Hahn looked at
Rainer
and Larue; their eyes were fixed on him. The soft smiles on their
faces said they liked what they heard.

“Well?” Hahn asked.

Rainer stood up. He rubbed his hands together and smiled wickedly.

“I think we found the people we want for this assignment. Let's make a few calls, set up a few meetings, and go over the details. We need to fly to Brussels and Belarus. We have to make sure that they
understand that we call the shots.” Rainer took out his phone and
made his first call to Jorrit Van Cleef in Brussels.

“Hello.” The voice was hard.

“Jorrit, it's Rainer.”

Jorrit’s voice immediately changed. “Hey, Rainer, what’s up man?”

“I need your help,” he replied firmly. “We need to meet as soon as possible.”

“All right. Are you coming here, or do you want me to fly to St. Petersburg?”

“I’ll be flying into Brussels Monday next week with Hahn and
Larue. What time will work for you?”

“Anytime you want. I’m here almost seven days a week, and
spend a good part of each day in this hellhole,” he said wryly.

“I'll call when I arrive.” He hung up. Next he phoned Vasily,
who picked up on the second ring.

“Vasily, it’s Rainer.”

“Rainer! It’s been a while, how are you doing?”

“I’m doing well, but I need your help.”

“What’s up?”

“This is something that we need to discuss in person.”

“Oh?”

“How about meeting next week sometime? I need to see Jorrit
first, and then I can come talk to you.”

“When are you planning on meeting with Jorrit?”

“Monday next week. I’ll need to spend a couple of days there,
but then I can come and see you. How about Thursday?”

“Sounds like a plan. It must be something big if you are getting Jorrit involved.”

“It’s big all right, and it can’t fail. Our lives are on the line.”

“Fine, I’ll wait for you. Don’t worry, I’m sure we can make
things work,” he said with confidence.

“Thanks, Vasily, I’ll see you Thursday morning. We’ll catch an
early
flight from Brussels, and we should be there by ten. How about
eleven thirty at your office?”

“Perfect.” They hung up. Rainer took a couple of worrisome
breaths and exhaled deeply.

“When are you planning on us leaving for Brussels?” Larue asked.

Rainer walked around the big desk, and took a seat at the huge armchair. “I’m thinking that we should leave four days from now,
and take the Sunday afternoon flight to Brussels,” Rainer said. “That will get us there in the late evening. We’ll get a room, rest, and be ready to meet with Jorrit on Monday morning.”

“How long are we staying in Brussels?” Hahn asked.

“Like I said to Vasily, if we spend a couple of days with Jorrit we can get our plan in a good order, and then fly out to Belarus to meet with Vasily on Thursday morning.”

“I’m sure things will work out a lot better this time,” Larue said. Rainer caught his attempt at appeasement but did not respond.

Rainer picked up the desk phone and spoke to his secretary. He told her to make the arrangements for him and his men. When the
confirmation e-mail came, he printed the boarding passes and
handed
one each to Larue and Hahn. “Let's go home,” he said. “Take a
couple of days off, and we’ll meet at the airport Sunday afternoon.”

Larue and Hahn left his office as Rainer fell back on his chair and
closed his eyes. He worried about this assignment. He didn’t trust
Nikola. More than ever, things had to go exactly as scheduled. All sorts of emotions clouded his thoughts, and his mouth flattened into a hard line.

He was tired. He hated his life and the loneliness that enveloped
his miserable world every moment of the day, seven days a week,
three hundred and sixty-five days a year.

Panic spread throughout his body. He didn’t want to kill people anymore; he didn’t want to be the bad guy. He wanted a normal life. He couldn’t remember the last time he took a vacation with someone
he loved; he couldn’t remember a person that he loved! He had
vanished
from his normal life at the age nineteen, turning away from his
family and friends, blinded by the vast amount of money and the fast life the mafia offered. It was too late when he realized that the price he paid was his life. He couldn’t remember the last time he made love to woman he cared about. Sex was always to satisfy a need, and paid for with dirty money.

He had loved his parents, but he hadn’t been able to attend their
funeral when they were killed eight years ago. Pain shot right
through
his heart and his eyes welled up. He leaned back on his chair and
threw his arm over his eyes. Despair covered his thoughts more powerfully
than ever before. He hated himself every time these memories
invaded his mind. The thought of suicide had become stronger within the last
year as he guilt for all the terrible things he had done, the people he had destroyed, and the lives he had left shattered in his path grew more intense.

He groaned, thinking there was no out from this kind of life.
Even a
miracle couldn’t help him now. A soft voice snapped him out of his haze. He dropped his arm away from his eyes and let it fall on the
armrest.

“I’m sorry for startling you. I knocked several times but you didn’t answer.” He opened his eyes to see Georgiana’s beautiful face
looking
at him with tender concern. He drew in a sharp breath and a rush of powerful emotions swept through him. She was leaning over his
desk,
her lips softly curved. He blinked and gazed into her green eyes for a
long moment; the heat between them flared. Her eyes sparkled and
her moist lips were sensuously parted.

He dragged in a tight breath. “Hi…” he said softly, voice full of
want, lust, and longing.

“It’s almost five,” she said. “I’m getting ready to go home, is
there anything you need before I leave?”

Passion and desire made his head swirl. He fought to control his
quivering body. “No…no, I don’t think there is anything,” he said, but
his eyes were filled with hunger. He took another deep breath and shook his head. “Since I’ll be gone all of next week,” he said, barely
suppressing a groan, “please keep me posted if something comes up.”

She rested her gaze on his beautiful face. The heat in his eyes didn’t escape her. He slowly rose to his feet and walked around the
desk to
stand in front of her. He was several inches taller than she even
though she was wearing high heels.

“You do have my mobile number, right?” he whispered, and
held
her gaze. “I want you to call me,” he said. His words caressed her
ears with raw desire.

“I will,” she murmured, and lowered her eyes demurely.

“What is it?” he asked softly.

“Nothing, I’m sorry, I’ll make sure I call you if something comes up.” She turned to walk away without looking back at him. He
closed his hand around her wrist and held her back.

“Wait,” he said. He pulled her back and put one finger under her
chin, lifting her face to his. Her eyes were wet.

“What is it, Georgiana?” Again, she refused to speak. Her eyes searched his. She flushed as heat spread across her skin. He
struggled to suppress the sudden desire that locked every muscle in his body.
He bent down and brushed his lips against hers softly. He was
stunned
to find himself in her tight embrace, their lips locked in a voracious kiss.
Her body pressed against his. The heat between them surged to a dangerous point. He lost complete control as he held her tightly
against
him. He had never experienced an amazing feeling like this. He
pulled
back gasping and stared at her beautiful face. It was almost
impossible to let her go. He lowered his head once again and took her mouth in a deeper kiss, a kiss that stimulated their minds and stirred them to
another orbit. She parted her lips and surged inside, tasting her
sweetness, her innocence.

The word “innocence” shot through his brain like ice water. He pulled back from the kiss and released her reluctantly, cursing
inwardly
that he lost control. She opened her eyes slowly, and met his gaze.
She swayed lightly back and forth, her expression hurt and confused. She cleared her throat, straightened her jacket, and excused herself.

Rainer stood still as the door closed behind her. His body was on fire, his mind in total chaos. He was enthralled, but he knew this
wasn’t
right. He would have to set firmer boundaries between them. He
could
not risk Georgiana's safety by becoming involved with her,
especially not now when his life was at risk.

He shook his head, jolting himself out of his paralyzed state. He
shrugged into his jacket, picked up his briefcase, and strode out and down the hallway to the elevator. He refrained from looking at
Georgiana as he walked out. He couldn’t wait to leave the building. The cool breeze
that brushed his face as he made it outside was a welcome feeling. It chilled his still burning body. He slipped into his car and leaned back against the seat and headrest. Closing his eyes, he released a deep exhalation.

Rainer was well-known for his high-quality work, but he was
still
nothing more than a high-class thug. He had been with many
women
in his lifetime, but they had all been call girls. The only good girl he ever dated was in high school, and that felt like centuries ago.
Georgiana
was a good girl, not someone he had the right to touch. He did not deserve someone like her. He had to find a way to stay away from her. He was determined to set things straight when he got back.
Nevertheless, he couldn't get her off his mind.

He sat in the car for a long time before flooring it out of the parking lot. He needed to get home and change clothes. He had
promised to meet a few friends at 6:30 at the local pub, although he admitted to himself that they were not real friends, people who would help him
overcome his fears and troubles; they were work acquaintances who were buried in the same dirty life as he was. The thought made him
bitter.

Sunday afternoon, he met Larue and Hahn at the airport, and soon they were on a plane to Brussels. The flight wasn’t long, but by
the time they arrived at the hotel, registered, and got into their rooms it was way past midnight.

Georgiana invaded Rainer's thoughts as he lay in bed. The
thought
of her lying in bed with him and them being intimate made him gasp with desire. He finally drifted off to sleep at some point, still thinking about her.

Jorrit was a tall, well-built man in his mid-forties with curly, sandy hair and blue eyes. He was sitting at his desk with his door
closed trying to get over a hangover and fatigue from being out half of the
night. The morning paper was spread across the top of his desk. He was holding a half-eaten croissant with his left hand and sipping his coffee with the other. His office was one of the three the group occupied on the second floor of the old building located at Rue
Bodenbroekestraat 47. The rooms were quite large but not very clean. The walls were light
brown to hide the dirt; dust lingered in the air. The room reeked of cigarettes due to a large ashtray at the corner of the desk filled with
cigarette butts. The other two rooms were crammed with desks, chairs, equipment, and people. Each desk had two computers back to back and guys sitting across from each other glued to those flat
panel monitors.
There were telephones, radio hookups, and huge screens along the
walls
for presentations. There were computer printouts, newspapers,
folders, and books everywhere.

The door to Jorrit’s office opened halfway and a guy leaned in. “Hey, boss, there are three guys here to see you. Are you here or
not?”

“Yeah…yeah…yeah… Let them in, they are my friends.” He
stood
up and walked to the door just as Rainer, Larue, and Hahn walked up the stairs. Jorrit gave each one a firm handshake and invited them
in.

“It’s good to see you guys, please take a seat.” He pointed at the sofa and the recliner as he took his seat behind the desk. Larue and Hahn sat on the sofa, letting Rainer take the recliner closest to the desk. They heard Jorrit's groan of relief as his sank into the armchair. His eyes looked tired and he could actually feel exhaustion coming out of his pores.

“You look like you had a rough night, did you?” Rainer asked
with a smile.

“Yeah, it was my birthday, and I went out with the guys to
celebrate.
One more year and I’ll be hitting fifty. This job is killing me even
though I enjoy it.” His voice sounded strangely serene.