Page 95 of Tarnished Tyrant (Zhukova Bratva 1)

But that was hours ago, and I’m sure I’m overdue for a second dose.

The living room is dark when I pad into the generous kitchenette. I open the pill bottle and pop two more, washing them down with water from the sink. Then I grab my phone off the counter and see there’s a text from Georgia.

GEORGIA:When are you coming back? The office is boring without you.

She sent it only a few minutes ago. She’s always one of the first people in the office, up and at ‘em by five-thirty in the morning. I’m barely even conscious before seven.

I fire off a response.Got hung up. Blame Roger. Hopefully just a few more days.

It’s strange to imagine going back to Oklahoma City now. Back to my apartment and my office. After what has happened here, I can’t imagine life ever being normal again.

But of course it will be. Men like Nikolai lose interest quickly. He’ll forget about me the moment I’m out of his sight for too long.

I’m not sure if I’m relieved or disappointed by that.

Georgia texts back immediately.I’m sure you’re ready to be home. Zhukova is the worst.

BELLE:Do you mean the company or the CEO?

BOTH!!she responds.

I type out a message and delete it. How do I ask Georgia what the hell is going on at Zhukova Incorporated without setting off alarm bells? Nikolai said he didn’t plan to kill me, but I know he’s capable of it. He whispered the truth in my ear.

And then you had a sex dream about him, the judgy voice in the back of my head hisses.

Finally, I type out a message and hit send.

BELLE:Did anything specific happen to you when you worked on the Zhukova account?

For all I know, Nikolai is monitoring my phone. He might be monitoring me right now. I look around the room, checking to see if there are any telltale glowing red lights in the corners of the room.

Interested in filming a sequel?Even now, the memory of his taunting question makes me feel hot. I was bound in his office, the threat of death looming before me, and I still almost said yes.

When my phone dings with a notification, I startle.

GEORGIA:They were pushy and acted like I was a nuisance. They didn’t trust me to do my job. Basic patriarchal bullshit. Is that what you mean?

“No,” I mutter aloud, my thumbs hovering over the keyboard. “It’s not.”

But I can’t exactly ask Georgia if Nikolai ever finger-banged her in his office or tied her to a chair and whispered filthy promises in her ear. So I set my phone on the counter face down and drop my face into my arms.

“You’re going to be a wreck today.”

I jump again and turn around to see Elise standing in her doorway. She has a comforter pulled around her shoulders and her hair is mussed from sleep.

“You’re up early.”

“Late, actually,” she says. “I haven’t gone to bed yet.”

“But the sun is coming up!”

“That’s the beauty of not working,” she says with a shrug. “But you have to work, and I know you got in late last night. I heard you.”

Thank God she didn’t come out of her room to talk to me. I wouldn’t have been able to explain the business casual ice pack around my ankle.

“I had, uh, dinner with some people from the office,” I say, navigating carefully around the whole truth. “Then I realized I left my laptop at the office, and I had to go pick it up. It was a whole thing.”

Elise shuffles past me into the kitchen and gets a bottle of water out of the mini fridge. She slides it across the counter to me. “You should drink this. You look like shit.”

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