Midnight Pursuits by Elle Kennedy Read Free Book Online

eye?”
    â€œYour lovely friend is a wildcat. The second I got near her, she unleashed a right hook.”
    Ethan had to grin. Yeah, it figured that even an injured Juliet would start a fight. It was actually rather impressive that she’d managed to gain the upper hand on Val. Not many people did. Markin was as deadly as they came, a former soldier and medic in the army who’d been discharged the prior year due to a shoulder injury. But Val wasn’t out of the game completely. He still took on the occasional contract job for Morgan, and he was the only person Ethan knew in Belarus, which was why he’d dispatched the soldier to tend to Juliet until he arrived.
    â€œOther than a solid right hook, how is she?” Ethan asked.
    â€œShe’s in bad shape, brother. Single gunshot to her left side, but it’s the infection that did a number on her. She must have stitched herself up in the field—did a decent job, all things considered.”
    He couldn’t help but feel a spark of admiration. The woman was a true warrior. He’d known from the moment they’d met that Juliet Mason was tough as nails, so it didn’t surprise him in the slightest that she hadn’t let a measly bullet wound keep her down. Unfortunately, not even warriors were immune to infection.
    Ethan didn’t even want to think about what would’ve happened if he’d decided not to answer Isabel’s phone.
    â€œI was with her for six hours,” Val went on. “I gave her two rounds of antibiotics, but the fever was still high when I left. The bullet itself didn’t do much damage, and the wound will heal fast. Once you contain the infection, she should be fine. Give her another shot when you get there and change the dressing every few hours.”
    â€œGot it. Thanks for taking care of her, Val.”
    â€œNo problemo, rookie. Tell your boss to give me a call one of these days. I’m itching for some adventure.”
    â€œWill do.”
    As Ethan hung up, he felt the cabbie’s eyes on him in the rearview mirror. “You here visiting your girlfriend?” the older man asked. “Is she sick?”
    It figured that he’d get the one cabdriver in Belarus who spoke perfect English.
    â€œYeah, she has pneumonia,” he said absently, before shifting his gaze out the window.
    The city was covered with a blanket of light snow, but the roads had been plowed and the driving conditions weren’t bad. Only a few brave souls roamed the streets, most likely heading home from a pub or a party, their breath coming out in visible white puffs. The temperature hovered just below zero degrees Celsius, and Ethan suddenly noted the irony of him sitting in this cab wearing a parka, wool hat, and gloves, while Juliet was burning up in some hotel room.
    It took only ten minutes to reach the Grenadier Hotel from the airport. It was a low-rise brick building with frost-covered ivy strands clinging to its walls and an arched entrance featuring a pair of enormous oak doors.
    Ethan didn’t enter from the front. Instead, he waited for the cabbie to speed off, then ducked around the side of the building.
    Getting in through the service entrance was no trouble at all. He didn’t encounter a single employee or locked door, which made him want to find the manager and tell the dude how shoddy his security protocol was. Then again, that’s probably why Juliet had chosen the place. Easy access, easy escape.
    Her room was on the second floor, another strategic move on Juliet’s part—a former thief like her would have no problem scaling the second-floor balcony—and the suite she’d booked happened to be situated next to the stairwell door, serving as yet another escape route.
    He climbed the stairs with energy he certainly didn’t feel, not after enduring an eleven-hour flight sandwiched between two loudmouthed businessmen. He hated flying commercial, but he’d had