Page 61 of Devious Madness

He’s insane. I’ve been kidnapped by a complete crazy person.

“Stay here.” He points at me.

I roll my eyes. “Not on your life.”

“Mira.” He snaps my name, the sound of it sharp and lethal. Just like him. “Stay. Here.”

“You don’t think they’ll just come up here and get me if they wantme?”

His jaw flexes. “They won’t come up here. They’re not getting to you.”

Panic forms. “You’re the mafia guy; why do you think they want me? Maybe they’re here for you.”

“Because I have informants who would have warned me if there was a chance of police involvement.” He opens the bedroom door. “Do I have to tie you up?”

“I don’t think them finding me bound to your bed is going to be a good look. If they are here for me, then just let me talk to them. You don’t have to solve every problem with bullets.” I breeze past him, expecting him to snatch me up before I even get to the stairs.

I’m surprised when he passes me and takes the lead, jogging down the stairs as pounding begins on the front door. When we get to the foyer, he stops and turns to me.

A part of him probably wants to drag me back to his room and follow through with his threat to tie me to the bed, but the rational part of him seems to be in control now. He sighs, a slow and deflated sound.

His phone buzzes, and he answers the call, granting me a short reprieve from his stifling attention.

As we walk down the hall to the front door, he’s on the phone having a tense conversation with someone in Russian. I really wish I could understand what the hell he was saying. The language is so coarse, I can’t tell if he’s angry or if it’s just the dialect.

Once we reach the front door, he’s off the call and has his phone stuffed into his back pocket. The gun remains in place at his back. It should frighten me, this little standoff he’sabout to have with the police, but the confidence I have in him can’t be explained.

“You say nothing. You do nothing. Understand?” Rurik looks less than convinced I’m going to do any of that, which is probably the only reason he didn’t stop me from coming down.

“Sure. Whatever. I’m a fly on the wall.” I step away from him and nestle myself beside the console table.

Naturally my hip bumps into it, and the black vase wobbles. I catch it just before it tips over and carefully put it back in place.

More pounding on the door shakes my own confidence that I can let him deal with whatever is on the other side of the door.

Rurik opens the door, blocking the entrance with his body. It’s crowded, but I can manage to see at least three people standing on the other side of him. Two in uniforms and then one in a suit. I can’t see his face, but when he talks, I know his voice.

“Good evening, Mr. Mikhailov. My name is Detective Calloway. We’re looking for Mira Pierce.”

“What do you want with her?” Rurik’s back tenses.

“Is she here? Maybe we should come in?—”

Rurik crosses his arms over his chest, blocking any sort of attempt to cross the threshold.

“Here is fine.” Rurik remains the stone wall I’ve come to know over the past few days.

Detective Calloway’s heavy sigh reminds me of the disappointment he had the other times he cornered me intoa conversation.

“Look. I know she’s here. She’s a person of interest in the homicide of Nico Mannetti and it’s in her best interest to speak to me. If she won’t, then I don’t have any choice but to arrest her and bring her to the station.”

Arrest me? I clench my jaw, doing my best to keep out of the conversation. But there’s no denying how shaky my legs are getting.

“You’re not arresting anyone. She hasn’t murdered anyone, and you know it.” How can he sound so bored?

A thin veil of sweat forms on my brow, and he’s over there sounding like he’s sitting on the beach asking for another Mai Thai.

“Well, I don’t know anything yet.” The detective doesn’t budge.

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