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They shoved me into the back of the van and dropped Lily next to me. Her face was ashen. I felt the way she looked, but was hopefully better at hiding it.
“Who are you?” she asked the men, with a tremble in her voice. “What do you want from us?”
“Don’t say another word,” I said trying to sit up from the floor. “Everything is going to be all right. This isn’t my first rodeo.”
One man laughed. “Listen to your little pink friend.”
Images of Baldy rushed into my mind. The cold cellar. The girls. The pain. So much pain.
“I know exactly how this goes,” I said.
Comb-over grinned. “Do you now, doll?”
I refused to flinch at the pain his eyes promised. “Sure. It’s Kidnapping 101. A pencil-dicked man shoves me into a van and then calls Kristoff Romanov.”
For a split second I saw fear on his face. Thenthe blow came and knocked me over.
Lily screeched. “Asshole!” She lunged toward him, but the men flanking her pulled her back.
My cheek throbbed. I squeezed my eyes shut for a beat to compose myself, then straightened and wiped the blood from my lip. “You are going to regret that.”
“Sure I will.” His crooked grin gave me the chills.
I turned to Lily. “I’m so sorry.”
I felt bad for dragging her into this. When I’d agreed to become her roommate, it had never crossed my mind that she’d be in danger because of me. I’d survived this before and I would do so again. If I didn’t return within a few hours, Yuri would go looking for me. All I needed to do was hold on. The Bloody Ones would come for me. They always did.
Much sooner than I’d expected, the van stopped in front of a construction site. They dragged us out of the vehicle and led us along a gravel path and into the building. There was a cement truck to my left, along with a pile of shovels and rakes.
We were pushed through a corridor and into a room with steel-framed walls. A man awaited us there, standing before a makeshift desk. He was a slick, corporate type.
Lily looked shocked. “Charles?”
I blinked. She knew him? Then it hit me. This wasn’t about someone trying to get to Kristoff through me. It wasn’t about him at all.
Charles plucked lint off his suit as he walked up to us. He frowned at me. “Who’s this?”
“They were together, boss,” Comb-over said. “Wasn’t sure which one to nab and couldn’t leave the other to call the police, so we took ‘em both.”
Charles’ lips pursed in displeasure. “I’m so glad you could make it, Lily.”
“What the hell is wrong with you? Are you insane?”
“I could ask you the same,” he said, arrogance lacing his voice. “Who do you thinkyouare to file a lawsuit against me? Me! Did you really think you could win? I’m a lawyer. I have my whole company backing me. You, on the other hand, are nothing more than a pesky student who can’t accept the fact that her mother’s coffee shop is passé.”
“Fuck you,” Lily hissed.
My mind worked overtime as I tried to puzzle the pieces of this conversation together.
Charles took out some papers from his jacket. “Now this is what’s going to happen. You are going to sign these documents, and I won’t mess up your pretty face.”
“Let me guess. By signing those, I’ll be transferring the coffee shop to you?”
He flashed his teeth. “Finally, you’re getting it.”
And so was I. Poor Lily. Abducted and strong-armed into selling her deceased mother’s place. I wanted to smack Charles’ smile off his face.
“If my lawsuit is so pesky and doomed to fail, why not just wait for your day in court?” Lily snarled. “Why go this far? Do you really think you’ll get away with this?”
