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The city sparkles in the midday sun, its shimmer and shine a lie to look at. Seeing the city from this view makes me think it will be warm and beautiful, but I know the second I walk outside, the cold trapped between the high-rises will chill me to the bone. At least that’s how it’s been recently. Having been nowhere but the Novak mansion, the cabin, and now here for as long as I remember, I don’t have much to compare the weather to.
Something thumps against the wall, and I twist around to glare at the door. At this rate, he’d have already packed the entire bedroom into two small suitcases. Seems unlikely. There’s one more thump, and I shake my head and sigh, resuming my study of the view. I’m going to miss it most, I think.
A few more seconds of silence brings him out of the bedroom, but I refuse to look at him. Not when he hasn’t apologized or said a civil word to me since earlier. And I still haven’t gotten breakfast.
“Are you going to ignore me like a child?”
I shrug, not looking, “I don’t know. Are you going to continue throwing things around the bedroom like a child?”
With a huff, he loudly does something behind me that makes me look. The suitcases are there, standing in the foyer area of his apartment. “Ask the guards to take these down to the car, please. I’ll be out in a moment when I don’t feel like I want to strangle you again.”
I can only glare at his back when he retreats to the bedroom once more. With a sigh, I heave myself up and head to the door to ask the guards for help, even if we are both capable of carrying our own bags. If only it will give him one less thing to bitch at me about this morning.
Marital bliss can go fuck itself.
I open the door and stare at the empty hall. “Maybe they went on break,” I whisper to myself and turn back to the suitcases. It won’t take much effort to put them in the hall and direct them when they return.
I’m in the middle of getting the suitcase to slide right on the floor when I feel something cold against my neck. “Oh, well, don’t you look pretty,” a voice says from behind me, a voice I don’t recognize.
I tighten my grip on the suitcase, testing its weight, but it’ll be way too heavy to swing around and hit the man. Seems Kai’s penchant for overpacking is an even bigger problem than having to lug heavy things into vehicles at the moment.
“You should probably leave,” I say, keeping my voice steady. “The last person who held me at gunpoint didn’t end up very well.”
He presses the gun into my neck harder, digging it in. “I suspect you mean my cousin. Where is he?”
I shrug. “Not sure. He had an unfortunate incident with a fire poker. He’s probably grizzly bear food by now. How did you find us?”
He doesn’t answer, and I resist the urge to turn and look at him. If you’ve seen one of Sal’s disgusting family members, you’ve seen them all. And if I look at him and recognize him, I might not be able to resist the urge to attack him. Which might get me killed faster.
I swallow hard, oddly proud of myself, considering how short a time ago I’d been all aggression and no logic.
“You think you’re so clever, don’t you? But you’re not. You and all your kind are worthless wastes of space, only good for fucking and killing,” he says, his voice dark and angry.
“Well then, I guess that puts me in my place. Do you mean me, in particular, my family, or women in general?” I resist the urge to quip about his likely inability with women, at least.
The gun digs in at my nape, and I look around for a weapon, anything I can use to get space between him and me. All I need right now is for Kai to come out of the bedroom and check on me again, or at the very least to make sure I did what he asked and find us.
I rack my brain and can’t think of anything. In the hall, with the guards likely incapacitated somewhere, there’s nothing I can do to save myself. That’s the most chilling thought of all.
I couldn’t save myself then either.
“Where is your keeper?” he asks abruptly.
I think hard. If he’s here for Kai, maybe I can get away and find help, but I won’t leave him to be shot, or worse, while I’m gone.
“Oh, you know, he went out to get some breakfast.” It’s not my best work, and no one in their right mind would be convinced.
“Well, that’s bullshit since I’ve been outside all morning, then out here after I killed your guards. He never left the apartment.” He grabs my arm and spins me to face him, the gun now digging into the side of my neck. “Now, tell me where he is, and I won’t kill you.” His eyes track down my body. “For now, at least.”
Is every member of his family a disgusting asshole, or what? Can I get a break from them? “I’m afraid I can’t help you.”
Kai steps out of the apartment, his own gun now held to the stranger. “But I might be able to. Let the girl go, and I won’t kill you right here. Don’t let her go, and she’ll be decorated with your brains, and I assure you, she won’t care one bit. Might appreciate it, in fact.”
I meet his eyes over the stranger’s shoulder, my heart beating erratically in my chest now. Funny how when someone is threatening my life, I feel nothing. Now that Kai is here and can get hurt, I start freaking out. He gives me a little nod, one that says he’s here with me, and I can breathe a little deeper for it.
The man spins quickly, moving behind me to grab me around the neck and slide the gun up to my temple. “Kill me, and I kill her. Either way, this ends badly.”
Kai must recognize something on the man’s face since he slowly lowers his own gun. Not all the way, but enough to give the illusion of backing down. “Calm down, and we can figure out how to help each other get what we want.”
