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“I’m no one’s property.” The words were like a whip.
Afraid that she would hang up, I blurted, “They’re not stalking me, but their boss is. Well, not stalking me so much as forcing me to stay with him. I need to get out of this house, and I need your help.”
“What exactly are you to Romanov?”
I debated if I should tell her the truth, but in the end chose to do so. She’d probably find out anyway.
“As of about an hour ago, I’m his wife.” The silence on the other end of the line stretched.
Then she said, “And I thought I had problems. Hot damn. I’d rather be chased by wolves instead of a dragon any day. Just so you know, my rate has now doubled. Do we have a deal?”
Like I had another choice. “We have a deal.” Though I had no idea how to come up with the money.
“I need time to set things up,” Onyx said. “It might take a while since you basically live in Fort Knox and have a security detail that rivals the First Lady.” She cleared her throat. “I also need some sort of a down payment from you.”
I frowned. “Like what? I told you I don’t have any money yet.”
“Not money, just a little tit for tat. I need you to send a message to those identical insane assholes. See, I do not enjoy receiving a picture of a human size birdcage with my name on it. Crazy as it may seem, that damn red bow around it doesn’t make it any nicer. You tell those psychopaths to stay the hell away from me before I go DEFCON on their asses.”
And let them know that I’d been in contact with the digital mercenary who had aided Viking’s wife to get off the grid? I didn’t think so.
“Sure,” I lied. “Just get me out of here.” My curiosity getting the better of me, I asked, “Why don’t you just keep your end of the deal? Then they would be off your back.”
“Do you know what they want from me?”
“Not a clue,” I admitted. “But surely it’s better to give it to them than to keep looking over your shoulder for the rest of your life.”
Angel and Demon were called the crazy twins for a reason. I loved them, but I wasn’t blind to their vices. I did know one thing—you did not want to be on their bad side. You didn’t back out of an agreement with the Bratva and live to tell about it.
“I made that deal when I was desperate.” There was a sudden vulnerability in Onyx’ voice.
According to rumor, she’d asked the twins for help when her sister got kidnapped.
“Desperate circumstances are kind of where the phrase making a deal with the devil comes from,” I hedged, recalling a conversation I once had with Kristoff. That thought reminded me of the reason why I’d called her in the first place. “Look, it’s none of my business, and I will talk to the twins, but can we get back to my problem please?”
“Fine. Just hold tight for a while. It might take a week or so to get things into motion."
“About the rest of the payment—”
“No worries. I like the fact that a Bratva queen owes me.”
I stiffened. “I’m no Bratva queen.”
She scoffed. “I’m sorry, is this a case of mistaken identity? Am I not talking to Ekaterina Romanov? Are you not married to a pakhan?”
“That’s just a formality,” I growled.
Another moment of silence. “You don’t seem to grasp the power you wield, grasshopper. Whether you want it or not, youare tied to Kristoff fucking Romanov. The man is called the Soulless One for a reason. And it isn’t for his love of kittens.”
It was true, Kristoff didn’t do pets. But that was neither here nor there.
“As I said, it’s just a formality, and I won’t be married to him for long.”
Another scoff followed. “Oh, you really have no idea, do you? If you believe you’ll find a single lawyer on this planet who will take on your divorce case, you don’t need legal aid but a shrink, because you’re delusional.”
I hadn’t thought that far ahead yet. I just wanted my life to get back to normal. I wanted to turn back time to yesterday, when I had been foolishly in love with a man I believed loved me back. Still, that didn’t mean I was going to take Onyx’ shit, even if she was my friend’s sister.
“I got you to help me, didn’t I?”
