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"But I betrayed you," I tried, making my tone a little softer, making it more how it used to be before K got a hold of me and taught me how important it was to speak with conviction no matter what I was saying. It spoke of confidence, of power, of someone who you shouldn't fuck with.
"You gave me a chance to get away from that life," he countered. "It was the push I needed. By this time tomorrow, he will know that some of his coffers are a bit more empty than they were the last time he went in to admire them."
"You stole from Viktor?"
"More than enough to get us out of this godforsaken place."
"You want to... leave the country?" I asked, stiffening a little.
Still sitting on me, he felt it. "What is left for you here, kotyonok? Come with me. We will get somewhere and live like kings, fuck like teenagers, and grow old together like generations past did."
"Rus, that's all nice and all... but I can't get out of this country. I have no passport. Not in my real name or my alias."
"That is easy enough to fix. We will leave here. Vik will be here soon. We need to go, find somewhere safe to disappear until we can get documents for you. Shouldn't take more than a couple of weeks. Then we can go anywhere. Where do you want to go? Islands? Europe? Anywhere."
"Rus, I..." I said, shaking my head. Honestly, I wasn't sure I could offer a good lie right then with my head spinning.
"Okay," he said, holding up his hands. "Okay. Too much. All you need to know is that we need to go. Now. Can I let you up?" he asked, genuinely waiting for an answer.
It hurt to nod my head. Literally, it made it feel like my neck was fighting the motion. But I needed to not piss him off. I needed him to think that I was going to go along with him, that I wasn't a captive but a willing partner in crime.
If I kept my head and managed to be convincing, I could make him trust me. If he trusted me, I could get a chance to get away or get alone long enough to contact K or Xander.
When Ruslan's weight lifted off me, I took a slow, deep breath, trying to ease the fluttering of my pulse and the dread in my belly.
"Come," Rus said, holding out a hand as he stood off the side of the bed.
"Can I get changed first?" I asked as I took his hand and let him pull me to stand in front of him. "I, ah, crashed last night without changing after all that traveling yesterday."
"That depends," he said, giving me a smirk as he ducked his head a little to look me in the face.
"On?"
"On if you're looking for another weapon to stab me with."
"Want to frisk me?" I challenged, cringing a little at my snippy tone.
But apparently Russians, like badass bikers, liked their women with a little spunk and he laughed. "Much as I'd enjoy that, Maisy, I don't want it like this."
"What like what?"
"Malysh," he said, taking a step closer and reaching out to tilt my chin up. "You, I wanted to see all of you the second I walked through the office door that first time. But I don't want it out of pride, fear, or some misguided power play. I trust you."
With that, he dropped his hand and moved toward the door, turning away from me and giving me what little privacy I could have in such a small space. I quickly dashed around to grab clothes, falling twice and knocking over the freaking lamp when my leg got caught in the cord.
"I guess I had no worries," he said, sounding amused.
"About what?" I asked, watching him closely as I grabbed the cell and quickly tucked it into the pile of clothes.
"You being some kind of danger to me. You're more of a danger to yourself."
I small-eyed him because he couldn't see me, but did feel my lips quirk up a little. It just reminded me so much of the teasing he used to do when coming into the office.
"Can I change in the bathroom?" I asked.
He turned slowly. "Whatever you want," he said, but I was pretty sure I saw a little disappointment there, like he was upset that I didn't trust him to not look.
"Thanks," I said, ducking my head a little as I dashed into the bathroom and closed the door. I chose not to lock it, trying to inspire him to not get suspicious of me as I stripped out of the clothes from the day before and into the black skinny jeans and white wifebeater I had grabbed along with fresh undies and my boots.
