Page 26 of Ruinous Need
Damn it.
I should have known better than to get my hopes up. “But—”
“Shut it, blondie. I don’t know who you are, but if V says we leave you, this is his place. And I don’t want to cross V.”
I don’t like Ben nearly as much as Merc.
Merc rests a hand on my shoulder and tilts his head at me. “Sorry. You must be pretty important. This job is top-secret. We don’t even know where he is right now. If he’s coming back for you…” He trails off and looks at Ben.
“Yeah, we definitely don’t want to cross him if you’re that important.”
I try to bolt for the door, but Ben bars my way with one muscled arm. “Don’t even think about it, blondie. If V’s this worried about you leaving, he will not be happy about us having to haul your ass back inside.”
“Please.” Panic rises inside me. The panic I’ve been suppressing all this time. I’m trapped. Alone. This was my one chance to run for it.
Merc holds his hands up and sidles out the door with Chekhov, mouthing the word “sorry” again.
After the door clicks shut, I throw myself against it, again and again until I’m pretty sure I have bruises.
I didn’t even know how much I wanted to leave until I got that close. I could taste freedom. And now it’s gone.
Viktor arrives home with a storm cloud over his head. I can practically see the anger rising from his skin.
“What?” I ask as he storms into the kitchen in silence and pushes me into a seat across the table from him. He scrubs a hand across his face, looking at me with those dead eyes. Like he’d rather be anywhere else.
“You tried to talk my friends into letting you out. That was stupid.” He talks to me as if he needs to explain slowly how dumb I am. That tone makes me want to rebel even more, just to see what he’d do to punish me. Heat curls in my stomach at the thought.
“It seemed smart to me. They didn’t know who I was.” I shrug and flip my hair.
“You tried toflirtwith them.” He grits his teeth as he says it, and his eyes spark to life.
Coal to granite. Granite to flickering onyx.
Why does it sound like my flirting annoys him more than the fact that I tried to escape?
“I tried to use the resources I had available to me.”
“Which included flirting.” His eyes are searing enough that I have to look away.
“Maybe.” I shrug and smooth my hair to the side. He follows the movement closely. “I don’t see why you care.”
His face darkens. “I don’t.”
“Then let me go.”
He shakes his head, fixing me in that heavy dark stare again. “You’re important. To him.”
“If I’m so important, why isn’t he marrying me tomorrow? Why am I here, with you, instead of in Chicago with him?”
“The Pakhan doesn’t have to rush things.” He says it like it’s a line he’s learned, not like he believes it.
Three years for a marriage is hardly a rush, I want to point out. But I’m sure Viktor will say he’s just following instructions there too.
I change tack. “Why didn’t your friends know about me?”
He scoffs. “This may surprise you, Lisette, but I don’t normally babysit. Or hold captives who aren’t in the cells. It would stick out as unusual.”
“They were Italian. That must be controversial. What are you, star-crossed lovers?”
