I had planned to secure his help by wowing him with the possibility of an informant from his rival crew. Now Maddox is my only lifeline, and Vladimir fucking knows it.
One of the reasons my crew calls me The Snake is showcased when my annoyance rolls right off my scales. Now is not the time for me to lose my head. I’ve got enough people playing me for a fool. I can’t add another to my list, especially when it’s avyperduschlike Vladimir.
“I want to head to Florida and speak to my informant in person. I can’t do that if I’m sitting in a holding cell, awaiting trial. I need my charges dropped.”
Vladimir looks like I told him I’m giving him the millions of dollars in my bank account when he asks, “And you need my help to do that?”
It takes a good three seconds for me to lower my chin, and even then, it’s as weak and as pitiful as the man I’ve been portraying the past four hours. “I had my case transferred to Mr. Schluter’s side of his firm a couple of hours ago. Ernest is willing to do what’s neededafteryou’ve given him the green light.”
While Vladimir contemplates a reply, I sit on the end of my bed to run a hand down my tired face. I’m exhausted from a lack of sleep the past two days, but that’s not the only thing making me restless. It’s from dumping a woman I’m certain isn’t evil into hell without first giving her the chance to explain herself. Justine said words identical to ones that almost got me killed, but that doesn’t mean she understands their significance. Perhaps she does truly believe I deserve better.
My hand has only just fallen from my face when my bedroom door shoots open and Justine darts into the testosterone-filled space, oblivious to the danger she’s thrusting herself into.
“You’re a complete and utter idiot. I know we’ve said stupid things, done stupid things, and acted stupidly, but I am a professional, Nikolai. Nothing said or done would have ever affected my representation of you in court.” Since her eyes are locked on mine, she fails to notice we have company. “Your inability to trust just cost you five to seven years of your life, because what Carmichael said Friday was true. I’m not just the best attorney Schluter & Fletcher has seen, I was your only chance of having your charges dismissed. Because I see you, Nikolai—the real you—I would have defended your honor until my last breath.”
Justine’s breath catches in her throat when Vladimir mocks the speech that resurrected the dead organ in the middle of my chest. “Is that so,Ahren? You see the real Nikolai?”
I didn’t need proof that Vladimir has been watching us, but if I did, him calling JustineAhrenis all the evidence I need. Excluding the times I taunted Rico’s wife, I’ve never called another woman angel.
Anger thickens my veins when Vladimir rakes his eyes down Justine’s frozen frame, but before I can act on it, Roman fists my shirt, wordlessly warning me to stand down. I understand his concern, responding to Vladimir’s taunts only ever increases them, and usually, the stretch in time is filled with blood curdling punishments, but Justine is still recovering from her last tussle with a man as evil as Satan. She’s not ready for a second round just yet. And no, I’m not referencing her exchange with Sergei.
After drinking in Justine’s body in nowhere near enough time to fully appreciate it, Vladimir returns his eyes to her face. “Maybe we should have kept her on as counsel. It would have made the trial more entertaining for all involved.”
He’s talking to me, but he can’t take his eyes of Justine. He sees in her what I do. He knows even with her being more good than evil, no matter how rough the track got, she’d never sell out anyone but herself. The way she stands across from death with the grace of an angel reiterates everything I already know.
She may have quoted Carmichael’s words, but that’s only because she’s been trained to secure clients no matter the cost. She didn’t mean her comment in the manner I heard it. She truly does want the best for me. That’s why she stood between Officer Prentice and me, and why she pleaded for Sergei’s life to be spared instead of encouraging his punishment. She wants to save me from the darkness surrounding me as much as I want to pull her into it.
Up until two days ago, I would have said it wasn’t possible. I am beyond saving. Now I’m not so sure. They say it takes a devil to make a good angel. Who’s to say that logic doesn’t work in reverse. All devils were an angel at one stage, so perhaps only an angel can see the one percent of good Satan missed during my fall from grace.
My eyes snap from Justine to Vladimir when he pushes off his feet and heads Justine’s way. When a lusty glint brightens his dark eyes, no amount of muscle will stop me rising to my feet. A snake doesn’t hide in the grass when he’s being threatened. He looks his aggressor dead-set in the eyes while preparing the perfect strike.
When Vladimir stops in front of Justine, I push Roman out of my way. He fumbles for barely a second before he grips my shirt so firmly, the cotton thread pops from his force. For a man double my age, his has a lot of strength in his hold. Under different circumstances, it would be inspiring, but right here, right now, it has me tempted to pull out my knife and slice his tendons. He’s putting Justine’s life at stake for mine. Can he not see how wrong that is?
Roman ignores the threat in my slanted gaze by issuing one of his own. “He will kill her where she stands if you don’t keep your mouth shut.” His words are only whispers, but not even my furious pulse can drown them out. “If you want to save her, convince Vladimir she isn’t worth his time. Show him he has no reason to crave her. When he sees she is marked, he’ll lose all interest in her.”
While glaring at him as I usually do Vladimir, my mind fills with the many ways I will kill him for suggesting Justine is anything but perfect. She may be scarred, but they show she walked through the gates of hell and survived. They are a part of who she is.
I will not use them against her.
Hearing my unvoiced threats, Roman mutters, “Then she will die.”
Before I can assure him I’d slit the throats of a million men before I’d ever let that happen, the need in Vladimir’s voice when he speaks to Justine sends a chill down my spine. “As fine as a rose petal, but with the intensity of a huntress. You’d be a lot of fun… But no woman disrupts the rightful order. Not even one as pretty as you.”
While pressing his thumb against the throb in Justine’s neck, he slings his eyes to me. “Is she yours, Niki? Is she the reason you tried to slit your cousin’s throat?” Roman loosens his grip on the back of my shirt when Vladimir’s gameplan finally dawns on me. He likes what he’s seeing, but his needs will never be higher than his wish to keep my wings clipped. “You’re letting a woman weaken you like Rico did. I thought I raised you better than that.”
Roman’s relieved breath hits my neck when I say, “She isn’t mine. She isn’t anybody’s. Sergei has been stepping out of line for years. I simply put him back in his place.”
Even knowing every word I speak is a lie, Roman has my back like he always does. “Sergei disrespected Nikolai. He was punished for his insolence, not a whore.”
“So you wouldn’t mind if I made her my whore?” Vladimir asks, his tone a cross between interested and taunting.
When he smiles at Justine’s faint beg for me to save her, my hands itch to drop his smile three inches lower. If I weren’t aware Roman is right, Vladimir will kill Justine before I get within an inch of her, I would. Alas, a war can’t be started when there’s only one team.
The suspicion on Vladimir’s face shifts to consideration when I say in Russian, “Would you like her? You can have her if you want. As a gift, perhaps?”
I almost bend in two when moisture floods Justine’s eyes a mere second after my offer. Although curious to uncover how she knows what I said, now is not the time to interrogate her. Her pureness has caught the eye of Satan, and it’s being tainted for every second he stares at her.
While watching Vladimir like a hawk, I pray for a breeze strong enough to whisk Justine’s hair off her neck. Even being bald, fat, and ugly, Vladimir craves perfection, so his interests will diminish the instant he knows Justine is marked.
