Page 29 of Tarnished Tyrant (Zhukova Bratva 1)

Sweeney sighs. “Yes, sir, Mr. Zhukova.”

The two men turn as one and stomp into the waiting elevator. Just as the elevator doors are closing, I hear Officer Hedger snort, “He’ll ‘take care’ of her alright.”

Then Nikolai and I are alone.

The second the doors close with a ding, I shove him away from me. “Let go of me, you psychopath.”

“You’re the one who threw yourself at me,” he remarks.

He fixes his cuffs, which did not need fixing, and plucks an imaginary piece of lint from his shoulder, which did not need plucking. The whole thing is an act, to show how in control he is. Truthfully, it’s hard to imagine a single fiber of him ever being out of place.

Me, on the other hand? I feel beyond frazzled.

“Because it was the only way to avoid being dragged out of here by those two police officers you’re obviously paying off.”

“You’d know if I was paying those officers off.”

“How?”

He gives me a lethal smirk. “You’d be dead.”

A shiver moves down my spine, but I do my best to stand tall. “Just give my sister back to me and I’ll leave.”

“Now, why do you think I’d want you to leave?” he tuts.

“Gee, I dunno, maybe because you just threatened to kill me?”

I sound much braver than I feel. In my head, though, I’m acutely aware of how dark and how empty the hallway behind Nikolai is. No one else is here. We’re completely alone.

“I don’t make threats, little lamb. Only promises.”

This time, I can’t hide the icy chill that moves through me.

Nikolai notices and smirks. “What’s the matter,lapochka? Scared?”

“As I should be,” I snap. “You’re insane.”

He shakes his head. “No. Insane people don’t know they’re insane. They think they’re perfectly normal. But I know I’m not normal.”

“How comforting,” I mutter as I creep closer to the exits. I glance to the side, eyeing the sign that marks the stairwell. Maybe I could race over and get down the stairs before Nikolai could stop me.

And maybe I’ll also magically learn mixed martial arts or how to fly.

No, escape isn’t an option.

“You know how I know that?” he whispers, drawing in even closer. “Because normal people don’t have ‘henchmen,’ as you called them, who can kidnap fourteen-year-olds out of their hotel room, pay off the front desk worker, and hide them away in places where no one will ever find them.”

I know Nikolai is guilty, but hearing him admit it so openly is still a shock. “Give her back,” I spit past my suddenly numb lips.

“Agree to my terms for the audit and I will.”

“Are you—Seriously?” I shake my head. “This is still about your fuckingaudit?I won’t tell anyone if that’s what you’re worried about, okay? I’ll walk away and never mention it to a soul. You don’t have to worry about that.”

“I’m not,” he says.

“Then what?”

Nikolai studies me for a moment. My body flushes hot every place his eyes touch.

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