Page 96 of Choosing Stella

“You refused help you should’ve accepted.”

“So you sent them.”

“I needed you somewhere we could talk without your bodyguard deciding everything for you.”

Stella laughed once.

“You still don’t understand. I was deciding. That’s why I said no.”

Something heavy scraped across the floor.

Volkov’s voice lost some of its polish.

“You should’ve accepted what I offered.”

“You wanted me grateful.”

“You should be.”

“For what?”

“For keeping you out of prison. For seeing what you were when Antonio treated you like entertainment.”

“I was there because he paid me.”

“You were wasted on him.”

“I wasn’t his.”

“You could’ve been mine.”

Glass shattered over the live feed.

I reached the door and grabbed the handle.

Inside, Volkov swore.

Stella’s breathing turned rough.

“You can barely stand,” he said.

“I’m still standing.”

I pulled the door open.

Stella was coming straight at it.

A heavy chair lay on its side behind her. Broken glass glittered across the carpet near the table. She braced one hand briefly against the tabletop, but she was upright.

Volkov stood several feet behind her with a short knife in his hand.

He saw me and lunged.

I caught his wrist before the blade reached Stella and drove my forearm into his elbow. The knife turned away from her.

I hit Volkov across the jaw.

He staggered and came back with the blade.