Page 69 of City Of Thieves
“Hey,” I say sharply, cutting through her rising panic. “We’re getting the fuck out of this. Don’t go sliding off the incline now.”
“You’re right.” She gathers herself together and blows out a shaky breath. “He admitted to tracking my phone, so I left the hotel to buy a new one. I know you told me not to, but I couldn’t get hold of Seb, and I panicked. I wanted to call my father next, but I couldn’t do it without Konstantin knowing. He’d be too suspicious. He knows we haven’t spoken in five years.”
Her confession knocks me out of my haze and into the mindset I need to be in right now—full underboss mode.
“Did the man who took you say anything?”
“No, but I heard him talking in Russian to another man.” She winces. “He said hispakhanwas looking forward to ‘seeing your face when you discovered who your whore’s master really was.’”
Her words sink in hard and deep, churning up a glimmer of a possibility.
“Tatiana, he hasn’t figured it out yet. When Belov comes back in here, act like you’ve told me nothing.”
“I don’t underst—”
“He still thinks Konstantin has a hold over you; that you wouldn’t dare risk Anastasia’s life by telling me about her…or him.” I hold her gaze, four words resting on my tongue. “Do you trust me?
After a beat, she nods. “With our lives.”
Our lives.
Those two words mean more than she’ll ever know.
I failed Nero, but I won’t fail her.
“We’re getting the fuck out of here, and then we’re getting Anastasia the fuck out of Moscow.”
Our heads turn in sync toward the door. Heavy footsteps are approaching.
“Once my hands are free, be ready for anything… And Tatiana?” Catching hold of her gaze again, I bleed as much truth into her as I can as before all hell breaks loose. “Just know from this moment on, all the bullshit I say isn’tto you… It’sfor you.”
The door swings open and Oleg Belov stands on the threshold, smoking a cigarette like he’s just had the best fuck of his life.
“I owe you information, Lorenzo.” Saying nothing, I twist at my restraints again as he walks at a leisurely pace toward his desk. Leaning against the front of it, he considers us coolly as he takes another couple of tokes. “Let us start with the part where Konstantin and I cut Vasily out of the sale of the ‘Atonement’ due to his repetitive threats.” Flicking the cigarette away, trailing smoke over his left shoulder, he picks up a knife from the desk and starts twisting it around his fingers.
“Is this a strictly fill-in-the-blank story, or are there multiple choices?” I drawl. “Threats about what?”
“To expose Miss Sanders and her daughter for a bigger share of the cut.” He flicks his gaze between us as he drops his bomb.Too bad for him we pulled the pin ourselves. I saw her scar. I already know her secrets.“I had his throat slit for that and for being a uselesssvoloch. As much as I enjoyed killing your brother, Ididdo all the work.”
“What daughter?” I demand, playing along.
In response, Tatiana stiffens beside me, her sharp inhale right on cue.
Oleg laughs. “I guess she did not tell you that part.” Pushing away from the desk, he stops in front of me, still twisting his fucking knife between his fingers. “I have a niece, Lornezo. Yoursukaopened her legs for my brother first.”
I force a glare at Tatiana and keep my voice as cold as ice. “What else have you lied to me about?”
She stares at me, projecting wide-eyed terror, and I want to fucking worship her for it.
“She and the girl are Konstantin’s dirty little secret,” he continues. “One that forced him to give meBoynyain exchange for my silence, but Vasily could not be trusted with this information.” Pausing, he turns to Tatiana. “He had… How do you say…?Loose lips.”
“He still found a way to blackmail you both,” I taunt, maneuvering this self-congratulatory speech back on track. He’s so consumed by his own narcissism that he doesn’t see my hands working behind my back.
Almost there.
“Nothim,mudak.” Oleg smiles, pointing his knife in my face. “I believe you know his accomplice well... Very well, in fact.”
I know where this is going. The betraying bastard’s name is on the tip of my tongue, but I need the confirmation to spill from his first.
