Page 16 of Inferno

Taking the life of another is the only thing keeping my own heart beating.

And the more jobs I take, the less time I have to spend with Vlad.

I freeze as I zip shut the bag. That’s how I know he’s in the doorway. My body alerts me to danger. It goes into protection mode.

I turn to face him, his gaze locking with mine across the dimly lit room, a strange silence filling the space between us.

Six feet tall, his dark hair cut short, and a long, thin scar sliced across his left eye. A pale line against his tanned skin. To most women, he’s probably attractive. But it’s what lies behind his eyes that gives the real version away.

There is a dark evil that lies beneath them.

Tatiana might be the head of this family, but the awful shit they do, that’s all this man. The puppet master and he controls us all.

“How dangerous is he? This Enzo guy.” I ask.

Vlad swipes his thumb across his lip. His eyebrow with the slit twitches. That’s how I sense his fear.

“Dangerous to you? Probably not unless you are caught. It’s not what he can do, it’s what he knows.”

Jesus fucking Christ, the riddles of this family.

I pinch the bridge of my nose to try to reduce my annoyance. I know what happens to me when I have an attitude. And I don’t want that.

“What does he know?”

With a careless shrug, he dismisses the comment, the sound of his jacket rustling faintly.

“That’s what I’m trying to find out, malyshka. We stole something he wants back. We have to ensure he never finds out it’s here.”

“So what am I asking? What do you have?”

My head shakes involuntarily as I try to make sense of the situation.

“It’s better for interrogation purposes that you don’t know.”

Fuck, I want to punch him in the throat.

He’s probably making the right call. I’d throw my “husband dearest” under the bus to save myself.

Vlad knows I’ll never love him. I make that damn clear every day.

The second I have an opening to escape, I will make time to shove his wedding ring down his throat.

“Okay. Fine. Got it. So find out who Enzo is meeting, intercept them, interrogate, and then kill them.”

Another flower to add to my forearm. That makes me smile, but not in front of him. He doesn’t deserve to see that. He never has and he never will.

“Correct. Then report straight back to Misha with the information. Should be easy for you. You should thank me, actually, for this vacation.”

I choke on a cough. A vacation.

“It’s work, not a holiday.”

He steps forward and my stomach sinks as I watch that darkness take over his eyes.

His rough fingers dig into my cheeks, his stale, smoky breath is hot on my face as he hauls me off of my feet.

“Get on your fucking knees, malyshka, and thank your husband for keeping you alive. Thank him for giving you a purpose in this world. And when I shove my cock in that tight pussy, that is you thanking me for this vacation.”

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