Page 46 of Tarnished Tyrant (Zhukova Bratva 1)

I follow his point and see a tiny red dot I missed before.

My body goes numb.

“You… you recorded us?”

He grins. “And it was so much easier than I thought it would be. Thanks for your cooperation.”

The smile on his face is so completely opposite to the horror and confusion pulsing through me that I launch myself at him. I swing my arm back, ready to slap him. But before I can even get close to him, Nikolai snatches my arm out of the air and yanks me against his body.

“I didn’t force you to open your legs, Belle. You chose that on your own. Don’t be mad at me.”

“I hate you,” I spit. “I hate you so fucking much.”

He arches my back, bending himself over me so I’m forced to look up into his eyes. “Fine. Then hate me. But unless you want our little tape getting out, you’ll do as I say.”

Fear curdles my stomach. “You can’t blackmail me into having sex with you.”

“And clearly, I don’t have to,” he snorts. “The collateral isn't for sex. It's for the audit. You said your threats last night were idle, but you don’t become as powerful as I am by taking any chances. You left me no choice.”

He tightens his hold around the wrist I hurt last night. The one that’s sore from touching myself while thinking about him.

It feels poetic, in a way, to have him gripping it now. A reminder of the dangerous hold he has on me. The hold I need to do my best to break.

Finally, he lets go. “Whether you and I get along… whether I need to release this collateral or not… it’s all in your hands now, Belle. Choose wisely.”

9

NIKOLAI

“Your girlfriend is very focused on her work,” Arslan says as he saunters into my office.

“Then I envy her.”

He laughs and drops down into the leather chair. “If you don’t like my visits, then take away my clearance. Did you know Stan on security doesn’t even check my ID anymore? He just lets me up.”

“He’s probably annoyed with you, too. Maybe for both our sakes, I’ll bar you from the building.”

Arslan just laughs again. He knows I won’t do it. More to the point, I can’t. He’s my best friend and right-hand man, and he’s been both those things for as long as I can remember.

Also, my biggest pain in the ass.

Though Belle comes in a close second.

He leans forward eagerly. “What are you working on? Let me help.”

“You must be bored.”

“There hasn’t been anything to do since you made nice with the Greeks.”

“You should be thanking me,” I tell him. “Fewer people for you to kill.”

“Well, what if I liked the killing?”

“Then get off your ass and figure out how to take out the Battiato mafia.”

He scoffs. “Like it’s that easy.”

“Exactly,” I say. “Which is why I need you to go do your job and let me do mine.”

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