“So,” Tarasov says after a pause. “What do you want?”
“To make him pay.”
“Pay?” Tarasov’s eyebrows raise in exaggerated curiosity.
“You saw the way he treated me at the zoo. And today, leaving me behind… He’s taken everything that matters to me—Winter Reckoning, our Red Cap Raiders, my self-respect. Now I want to take the thing that matters most to him.”
“And that would be?”
“Viktor.”
“Viktor?” He’s confused.
“It’s encryption software Wolf wrote. A key that opens every door.”
“Every door.” Now he’s skeptical.
“Banks, government agencies, corporations. I’ve seen it work.”
“And you need my help to take this…Viktor.”
I toss my head, just one sharp shake. “I already have it. I hacked into his files at home.”
Tarasov huffs. “Then you already have your revenge.”
“Stealing Viktor isn’t enough.” I pause for long enough to swallow. “I want to give it to you.”
I’ve caught him by surprise. He blinks. He swallows. And then he finally says, “To me? You want to give your husband’s greatest prize to a man you have hated since you were eight years old?”
This is the hard part, the greatest lie I have to sell.
I look directly in his eyes. “I want him to hurt as much as I do. I want him to know that I gave Viktor to you—the man responsible for ruining his future, the reason he’s been thrown out of his beloved freeport. I wantyouto have it just to see him suffer.”
“Ah… My little Katie… You still have teeth.”
Acid coats the back of my throat. I desperately fight the urge to bite, to tell him what I really think about him, about his feckin’ bratva.
“You want to use me, Katie.”
“I…” I can’t devise a lie.
“You want me to be the tool for hurting your Lone Wolf. But if I do this for you, what will you do for me?”
I’m offering him something he thinks is worth a fortune, but he’s still demanding more. I let some of my real indignation drip over my response. “What do you feckin’ want?”
“I want to watch you, Katie.”
A chill wave of terror washes over me. “W— Watch what?”
“That should be your choice. You remember, don’t you? I always give my little Katie a choice.”
A wave of nausea rushes over me, so fast and so hard that I almost drop my mobile. But I’m here in Dover. I’m locked away. Tarasov can’t touch me. No matter what I choose, I’m safe.
“Katie?” he asks. “Do you want me to take the code? Then choose something to make me happy.”
Slowly, holding my phone with one shaking hand, I unfasten the three buttons on my shirt.
His eyebrows peak. “That is a good choice, Katie. One I will keep forever. For posterity.”
