Page 6 of Hostage with Benefits'

His lips twitched. “This will be resolved soon.”

“Define ‘soon.’”

“When your father returns what he took.”

“Which is what, exactly?”

Mikhail’s expression closed again. “That is not your concern, I told you.”

“We’ve been over this. It became my concern when you threw me over your shoulder in a parking lot.”

He set down his fork with deliberate care. “You seem remarkably unconcerned about your situation.”

“Panic takes energy I don’t have. And fear doesn’t change circumstances; it just makes them harder to think through.”

“Is that what your therapist taught you?”

I stilled. “Something like that.”

Dessert arrived. It was some kind of honey cake that, under normal circumstances, I would have appreciated. Now my stomach was too knotted to enjoy it.

“The Wi-Fi password,” I said again as Irina cleared our plates. “I need my laptop and the password.”

Mikhail’s eyes narrowed. “Your priorities are concerning.”

“My priorities are practical. Look, either this gets resolved quickly and I need to make my deadline, or it doesn’t and I’m stuck here long enough that I’ll need the money when you let me go. Either way, I need to work.”

“Perhaps you should be more concerned with your safety.”

“Are you planning to hurt me?”

He looked almost offended. “No.”

“Then my most pressing concern is work. Thus, I need that password. And my laptop, preferably.”

Galina came in with tea, setting down delicate cups in front of us.

“See, she works too much,” she said to Mikhail in Russian. “Like you. Maybe that is good. She understands.”

Mikhail stood abruptly. “Enough.”

I stood too. “The password.”

“You are the most infuriating hostage I have ever encountered.”

“I’m the only hostage you’ve ever encountered who cares aboutpaying her bills.”

He turned and stalked from the room. I followed, ignoring Galina’s knowing look.

“Mikhail,” I called after him in the hallway. “The password. My laptop.Come on.”

He spun around so quickly I nearly ran into him. Before I could step back, he moved forward, backing me up against the wall. His arm came up beside my head, caging me in.

“You think this is agame?” His eyes peered into mine. “You think this is a situation where you can makedemands?”

He was close enough that I could feel the heat from his body and smell that expensive cologne again. My heart was hammering, but not entirely from fear.

My eyes dropped to his mouth without my brain’s permission. Full lips pressed into a hard line, the bottom one slightly fuller than the top. I had the sudden, insane thought of what they might feel like against mine, against my neck, against?—

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