Page 128 of Dual
“Where are you?”
“I told you I can’t?—”
“No, I mean, are you in the kitchen? I heard water turn off.”
“I brought you in the shower with me.”
“So does that mean you’re still… naked?”
I gulp a little, then laugh at him. I can’t believe it was just an hour ago that I walked into this hotel in a long, dark coat to cover all the blood I was covered in.
The fucking Kozlov Bratva. That was the tattoo I couldn’t identify on the man who attacked me at the house all those months ago. I uncoveredthatlittle connection today. I’ve been moving up the chain, and recognized the same tattoo on his last lieutenant Red killed a few hours ago. It’s been him hunting me from the beginning.
Kozlov must’ve realized The Librarian was finally gone and moved in to take over his client list. But that wasn’t enough.
This is the kind of brutal syndicate that sees blood feuds all the way through to the end.
Which means they’ll never stop until I’mdeaddead.
I step out of the shower, goosebumps rising as I towel off. “Not for long, big boy. It’s cold.”
“Ah. So you’re somewhere cold? The Alps?”
He’s smart enough to have figured out I’m in Europe. I tell him as little as possible and keep the phone calls short. I never ask for his help on anything that could identify where I am or who exactly I’m going after next. I’m sure his background programs are working overtime to triangulate this call. That’s all right. I’ve networked the call to rewire through a million more backchannel VPNs to jump every time right before he’s caught me.
“I miss you,” I say, turning sideways. I wipe off the mirror to stare at my body.
There, undeniably, is me.
And there, even more undeniably, is the smallest bump protruding from my lower belly.
Finding out I was pregnant in the middle of a revenge-murder spree was not exactly what I would have predicted on this year’s bingo card.
But hey, at least it freaked the fuck out of Red too. She’s not much for maternal instincts, and I get to take the reins sometimes now.
“Not for much longer,” Dohmn growls with so much intensity I’m so, so tempted to believe him. I haven’t dared tell him about the pregnancy. I don’t dare believe it myself most days.
“Open the door, Anna,” he suddenly says.
Right then, a knock sounds at my door.
My mouth drops open, and I swivel the towel around my body.
“You didn’t!” I gasp into the phone.
I run over, thinking oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck. If he’s found me, that means others could have, too. I must’ve made a mistake when I thought I made every effort to be so, so careful. We’ll have to run, and god knows if we’ll even make it out of the city alive. What if I put Domhn’s life in jeopardy again just because I don’t have the fucking patience to go no-contact for a little while?
But when I shove my face to the door to look out the peephole, there’s no Domhn.
“What are you going on about?” I ask Domhn through the phone, out of breath, simply at the possibility of seeing him again.
“Open the door. Let me in. I need to hold you.”
That’s when I glance down and see the takeout I ordered before I got in the shower, and my forehead plonks against the door. I have been perfectly careful.
Whatever door Domhn is standing outside of, it’s not mine.
“Goodnight, my love,” I whisper. “Stop looking for me.”
