Page 32 of Kneel for Me

“I don’t really care,” Adrian said, cutting him off again. “Now, either keep your mouth shut until Ninel joins the little party, or I’ll shut it for you.”

“Trust me, you don’t want him to shut it for you,” I assured him when he opened his mouth to say something that’d no doubt piss Adrian off, considering how red his face was. Poor Boris was about to explode from his temper.

He’d lost the game, and he was slowly coming to that realization, too. He’d failed, and his failure in taking us all out was going to cost both him and Ninel their lives.

Boris wisely kept his mouth shut. I glanced at my watch. It wouldn’t be long before Ninel’s drug wore off and she’d join the little party, too. Ninel had always been the kind of woman to do what she thought was better for her, regardless of the others around her. If she thought she could say something that might save her life, she’d give us every little secret Boris held.

I was counting on her to be selfish because, quite frankly, I didn’t want to be down here all fucking night. My stomach had been rumbling for the past thirty minutes, and I was more than ready to get back to Russia.

And to hopefully get my man back to Russia. Because I couldnotfathom leaving him behind. Adrian wasmine. Ineededhim to come home with me, and I was hoping I could convince him to follow me. Fuck what he meant to the Jackson family. I’d waitedyearsto make him mine, and I didn’t want to go any damn longer without him. I just hoped he knew this thing between us was real and didn’t fight me just for the sake of his fucking family.

I was his family now.

“Is Igor coming back down?” Adrian asked, rolling his head to look at me.

I shook my head. “I’m pretty sure he’s entertaining himself with Mark.” At least, that was what he’d told me he would be doing. Besides, this wasn’t really Igor’s thing. Igor wasn’t one for playing with people while their hearts were still beating. He liked to take them apart after they were dead so he could see how their organs worked and how everything was connected. And he especially liked to see those with mental illnesses—to see how their brains looked.

I’d already promised him he could play with my brain if I died before him because he wanted to dig into my brain and see how it fired differently from others. The man was unhinged in a completely different way than I was because he was still completely sane. He was just… built differently. Even if he was neurodivergent, I didn’t have a psychiatrist on my payroll to have him tested. And if he saw onenotin my pocket… Well, I could only imagine how well things would go over once Igor confessed to playing with dead bodies.

They’d put him in a strait jacket, lock him up in a padded room, and throw away the key.

A low moan drew my attention to Ninel. She slowly lifted her head, and she blinked heavy lids at me, like she wasn’t sure if she was hallucinating. And then, she proceeded to vomit all over herself. I grimaced, my lip curling in disgust.

“Oh, that’s fucking fantastic,” I grumbled.

Adrian gagged, then turned away with a groan. I swung my head around to stare at him, narrowing my eyes. “Are you one of those people who gets sick when other people do?” I demanded incredulously.

He grimaced. “Yeah,” he rasped. “But my stomach is pretty empty, so I think we’re good.”

I sighed and patted his back before standing to my feet. “Suck it up,kotik. This room is about to get a lot messier if Boris and Ninel don’t comply. Who do you want to play with?”

Adrian shook his head. “She vomited. I’m good. This is all you.”

Ninel looked up at me, her face pale and vomit sticking to her chin. It was a decidedly disgusting look, honestly. And it was demeaning, which was honestly kind of perfect for the wretched fucking woman. She’d betrayed her own daughter, Inessa, and for what? Money? Power?

Family clearly didn’t mean shit to her. It was a damn good thing Adrik had set up the marriage between Inessa and Jaxon while he was still alive and breathing. Fuck only knew what would have happened to Inessa if he hadn’t.

I’d never been close to Jaxon’s wife, but I knew enough about her family to know there would be no love lost between her and her mother. Hell, she might even send me a gift card as a thank you for getting rid of her.

The thought made me snort. Adrian cast me a confused look, but I shook my head. When I held my hand out, Adrian handed me his knife, letting me take the reins for this one.

Stepping closer to Boris, I pressed the flat of the blade beneath his fatty chin and tilted his head back. “I hope you enjoyed the game while we played it, Boris. Because now, I have all the pieces, all the cards, and I hold the dice. We’re going to play it my way now. And how easy your loss is will depend entirely on your cooperation.”

“Fuck you,” he spat.

I smirked. “I’ll let that one slide, but the next disrespectful thing to come out of your mouth will result in a lost fingernail. Got me?”

He clenched his jaw and nodded. I patted his cheek condescendingly. “Let’s begin, shall we?”

25

Ivan

“The quicker you answer my questions, the sooner this will be over,” I assured Boris as I tossed the knife into the air, catching it by the blade without even nicking myself. “First order of business, Boris.” I pressed the knife beneath his chin again, letting the tip press into his throatjustenough to make a trickle of blood run down his neck. “Who did you pay to drug my pilot and my flight attendant?” I asked.

Boris spat on me instead of answering my question. Sighing, I wiped the spit off my shirt, and then, just as I promised, I grabbed his hand and shoved the blade of the knife under his fingernail. He screamed, doing his best to free himself, but he could barely move due to his restraints. I popped the nail of his index finger off, letting it fall to the floor. Tears ran down his cheeks as I straightened back up.

“Didn’t I promise to take a fingernail every time you disrespected me, Boris?” I asked calmly, cocking my head to the side the slightest bit. I pointed my now bloody knife at Ninel, not bothering to actually look at the traitorous bitch. “I’m cutting off a chunk of her ear next if you don’t give me the answer I’m looking for,” I promised. Ninel made a panicked sound in the back of her throat. “This knife isverysharp, Boris. Adrian takes very good care of his weapons just for occasions like this.”

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