Page 99 of The Agreement

Maxim wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, the bat swinging with it as he swiped away sweat. Roman got a whiff of that sour stench from where he was hanging, and it made him wonder how long the man had been swinging before he woke up.

The double vision, aching ribs, and constant throbbing said more than Roman cared to know.

“It doesn’t fucking matter how I found out,” Maxim said flippantly, waving that sweaty hand and bat high. “Nothing you say will change my mind about tonight.”

“This is the punishment for sleeping with your daughter?”

“You think a few cracks from a baseball bat is what you get for fucking her? You’re going to die tonight, Roman Avdonin. I hope it was worth it.”

“My father—”

“Won’t forgive me,” Maxim interjected with a nod, “but he will understand. An unfortunate byproduct of your choices—I’ll lose my only friend.”

He actually sounded sad about that, pained.

Roman still wouldn’t apologize.

What difference would it make?

With only a push of the bat’s tip against his chest, Roman’s ribs sent agony ripping through his body and straight up his spine. The groans that left him were inhuman—the sound a wounded animal might make as it lay dying. The action sent him swinging from the pole, back and forth, softly. The pain was still unreal, and only got worse with every slow second.

Maxim wasn’t oblivious to Roman’s plight, and in fact, smiled at the sight in front of him. Proud of his work, clearly.

“There has to be something else,” Roman added, teeth clenched.

He needed to work through the pain to get to the truth. That was the thing he hadn’t missed in all this—what he bet Maxim didn’t want him to point out.

Maxim said nothing in reply, but his gaze hardened.

“It has to be more than Karine, right?” he asked the man, his breaths coming in short, hard bursts. “More than me asking questions. It has to be.”

“No, actually.”

Bullshit.

“You wouldn’t kill the me over that. You wouldn’t risk what my father will do to you for that. At least have the balls to tell me—”

“You don’t get to demand anything from me.”

“Not really great at doing what I’m told, or haven’t you figured that out yet?”

Yeah.

His arrogant nature just had to go and show itself at the worst possible time. This time when Maxim took a step toward him with the bat raised, Roman had no doubt there would be nothing to stop the swing from landing against its intended target.

His fucking skull.

The first one wouldn’t kill Roman, they both knew that. However, a few more blows from that bat certainly might. Or ... did the man intend to leave him alive for a while? What was Maxim going to do, then?

That was the worst part—not knowing how this would end. There was still nothing Roman could do about it.

His hands were literally tied.

And then he remembered ...

The plan.

The fucking plan.