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“This doesn’t bother you? I know who you are and that you were lying this entire time,” Ingram questions.
“Not at all. Are you kidding?” I lean back in the booth, mirroring him and trying to look very relaxed. “And you know what, coffee sounds like a great idea right about now.” I turn to the man who stood in front of me a few minutes ago and ask, “Would you be so kind? A cup of coffee, two creams, and two sugars. Please?” He looks to Ingram for direction on what to do since I’ve thrown them off their game plan. Ingram nods back, and the man heads to the counter.
Settling back into the booth, my eyes return to Ingram’s. His eyes are squinted as if he’s trying to figure out what I’m thinking.Good luck figuring out any of the thoughts going on up there, dude. It’s a scary place.
“I was worried my assumption of you was wrong,” I comment, and Ingram cocks his head to the side. The man returns with my coffee, and I thank him as I bring the mug to my mouth, blowing gently before drinking some of the hot liquid. “You’re right. This coffeeisamazing.” I bring the mug back up and continue to drink from it.
Ingram starts to look annoyed at my coffee drinking even though he’s the one that initially suggested I get some. “You were saying you have assumptions about me. What assumptions?” he asks.
I narrow my eyes and bite the corner of my bottom lip, trying to look like I don’t remember what I said. I totally remember what I said, but if I pretend like this conversation is uninteresting to me, then he’ll become more and more frustrated. When people get frustrated and feel unimportant, they start to speak more rashly and unabashedly.
“Oh, right. Well, I know I didn’t just get into the Elite without someone on the inside pulling some strings. Andrei didn’t tell me who it was, but when I met you that first day, I knew it had to be you.”
He sits up straighter in his seat. “How did you know?” he queries.
Play to his ego.“I always try to trust my gut since it’s gotten me this far. When we first met, there was just something about you. The confidence and charisma roll off you in a way that I knew you were someone important, but like, more important than just the head of the Elite. Almost like there was something more lurking beneath the surface.” I’m sure everyone listening is trying to keep from vomiting at this point. “So putting two and two together at that point was easy.”
Ingram places his outstretched arms across the back of the booth again as though he’s making sure I get a good look at him.In your dreams, dick.“Andrei told me you were clever, but he may have undersold it a bit. Of course, I would expect nothing less from the Volkov Printsessa.” I smile at his comment, but only to hide the snarl I’d rather show.
“But...” Ingram starts; that word always leaves me concerned. “I do wonder where you’ve been. You disappeared after the explosion at Reds. Which is strange as other members of the team have gone off the radar since then too.”How the fuck did we not discuss a cover story for this?“Care to explain what took you so long to come out of hiding?”
You got this, Nat.“Of course, but I would like it to be on the record that I’m seriously pissed about that explosion. What if I had been inside? How can I be sure that wasn’t the plan all along?” I lean forward so that my elbows are resting on the table. “I want to trust you, Ingram, but we’ve been lying to each other this whole time.”
He also leans forward, resting his elbows on the table with his hands clasped together. “You aren’t a target, Natalia. The Elite is a strong group, which is my own doing, but that meant I knew exactly where to hit them when the time arose.” He pauses to take a dramatic sip of his coffee.He’s really trying to pull off a Dr. Evil moment. Weirdo.“I had to take out the heart. The one in the center. The one they all care for no matter what. Take out the heart, and they fall apart.”
“BJ,” I conclude, and he nods his head. He was targeting her. He’s right, she is the heart of the team, and they would be at their weakest trying to seek revenge for her. Even when they were scrambling to look for her, they were unguarded and separated.Clever, but fuck these assholes for trying to kill BJ!
“That’s why I took off,” I say. “I didn’t know there was going to be a planned attack on someone, but Andrei had been threatening it. The explosion seemed chaotic and uncontained, which meant I couldn’t trust I wasn’t the target or at least my safety wasn’t of concern.”
“Your safety is always of the utmost concern, Printsessa.” Ingram calls me that name again, and it makes my skin crawl. Only Andrei ever calls me that as a term of endearment, and now Ingram is trying to use it as a way to show he has power equal to Andrei’s. He’ll never have that power, and soon enough, Andrei will lose it too, because he’s going down. “I am under strict orders not to harm you,” he tells me as a mischievous smile forms on his lips. “Well, not harm youtoomuch. I’m to do what needs to be done if you step out of line.”
“You won’t have to worry about that. I know who is in charge here.” Playing up his ego is really testing my gag reflex.Oh, you know you don’t have a–Stop thinking about that. Get your mind out of the gutter.“I was just laying low, especially after I saw Alexie in the crowd after the explosion. I immediately ran before he could spot me while trying to follow him. Getting his location was my new mission, so I severed contact with the team. Did they not tell you they haven’t seen or heard from me since then? Do you think they know we’re working together?” Before Ingram can reply, I make sure to really sell it. “How could you be so careless? If they suspect we’re working together, then this whole thing is blown wide open. Andrei will NOT be pleased to hear this.”
A flicker of what I believe is fear flashes in Ingram’s eyes. “We don’t know anything yet, so let’s not jump to conclusions.” He’s trying to backtrack because he’s afraid of Andrei thinking he failed. “You said you know where Alexie is. We need to get him and return him to Andrei as soon as possible.”
“Agreed. I never got an exact location because he’s too smart and guarded for me to get that close. So I kept my distance. I know the general area that he was working in. I saw him talking to an old associate I recognize but never cared to learn the name of.” Ingram continues to watch me as I continue to speak. “I knew he was my way to Alexie. The guys working on the outside…” I pause, looking over to the man sitting at the table next to us, the same guy that brought me coffee. “They’re never too smart and make it kind of easy.” I smile as that man shifts in his seat because he heard me, but he can’t react right now. “Anyway, I followed him, killed him, and took his phone.” My eyes dart to the phone still sitting on the table that was taken out of my back pocket.
Ingram picks up the phone. “This is the way to reach Alexie?” he asks.
“There is only one number on it. I haven’t called it yet, but I’d be willing to bet my life that a lowly minion like that guy was given a phone to only contact Alexie,” I say as I sit back, relaxing in my seat, just waiting for Ingram to take more of the bait.
He eyes the phone for a moment and turns it carefully in his hands like he’s handling a bomb. He hands the phone across the table to me. “Call him,” he commands.
As I grab the phone from him, his hand clasps around mine. “Anything funny happens, and I don’t care what Andrei says, you won’t be walking out of here.” He glares at me, but I notice he’s sliding a business card across the table with his other hand, stopping directly in front of me. “Tell him to meet us at this location in twenty minutes.”
I nod and grab the phone from him. Dialing the number, I try to remain confident, keeping up the facade for Ingram. He seizes the phone from me and puts it on speakerphone, then sets it in the center of the table. He doesn’t plan on missing out on any of this conversation.
“Griffin? Where the fuck have you been?” Alexie answers, clearly making up a name for the person I supposedly took the phone from.
“Alexie?” I ask in a soft tone. “It’s Natalia.”
“You shouldn’t be calling me,” he replies sternly.
“Don’t hang up! I need to talk to you.” I pause, and he doesn’t respond. We didn’t practice this, but we’ve played these games so many times that it feels natural. “Please, Alexie. I need you.”
Ingram has a smile on his face as my voice gains a desperate tone to it.You probably like it when women are desperate and at your mercy, you sick fuck.
“Natalia. Please, you need to forget about me,” he says, but he makes sure his voice doesn’t sound convincing.
