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Hiding my wanting reaction doesn’t succeed though, and Grisha glances at me, I am sure assuming I’m upset at being kidnapped. Which, of course, I am. Let them think that. Let them think I am scared to death, because I actually am.
But please don’t let them think our proximity has my hormones raging, not to mention my imagination.
Why didn’t I just stay in the storage room? Why did I have to mistake gunfire for fireworks? How stupid is that?
If I had an ounce of brains, I’d have realizedoh my god, guns!and run to hide. It would have been so easy. Just tuck myself behind some of the crap stuffed in Sergey’s storage room and wait until the cops arrive.
How did everything in my life bring me to this moment, this insane, unexpected moment? I am a nice girl. I got away from my toxic father and put myself through college. I found an apartment in New York. I worked hard in a job I hoped would eventually reward me, if not monetarily then at least with promotions, not to mention free food. Maybe I’d even gain enough experience to open my own party planning company someday.
Guess all that’s off the table now. How the hell will I come out of this alive? What if I’d just gone somewhere for Christmas instead of trying to please my boss? What if Sergey had hired a different company for his gallery party?
What if an asteroid had hit the earth this morning?
Get a grip, idiot. So many what ifs, and none of them make a damn bit of difference. The fact is, I’m in trouble, my life is in danger, and I have no freaking idea what to do about it.
Except to maybe reason with these men?
Their conversation about Sergey the gallerist ceased for a moment. I grab my opportunity.
“Um, do you think we could talk about this?” I ask, using my best dealing-with-difficult-clients voice. “If you could please just let me go, I’ll head home and forget I ever saw you. If the police question me, I’ll say I saw nothing—because I really did see nothing—and that everyone was dead when I came out of the back room. I don’t want any trouble, just like you don’t. Maybe pull over right here on this corner. I can get home from here.”
They look surprised that I continue to make my case. But what the hell else can I do?
What if I never see my sisters again? They need me. I can’t let that happen. I’m the support that’s gotten them to where they are today, and that cannot come to a screeching halt. My dad will do nothing to help them.
Please god. Just let me get through this, and I will save Charleigh and Evie.
I try to swallow but I’m dry. So very dry. “Wh… what do you say? Can you at least think about it?” I ask in a trembling voice.
Surely, they’ll listen. Consider my plea.
“Hey. Hey, I have an idea,” I continue to babble. “I can leave town. That’s what I’ll do. Go back to where I grew up. My dad has a pawn shop. I can work there. You’ll never see or hear from me again. I’ll even tell you where it is. You can check up on me.”
Silence.
But I’m not deterred, and continue. “What do you think? You’ll let me go, right? Please. You don’t understand. I have two younger sisters who need me.”
A soft chuckle comes from one of the guys. Which one, I’m not sure. But Valentin, sitting on my right, pats my leg. “Can’t do that, Lily. But good try. You could be a lawyer, you know. You are very convincing. And persistent.”
Not enough, apparently.
“Look, you seem like a nice girl,” he continues, as if his words might actually provide comfort.
Gee, thanks.
“You’re not part of that world, those people left behind at the gallery. They’re not nice people,” he says. “You were in the wrong place at the wrong time. But that’s okay. You’ll be fine, because we’re protecting you.”
How iskidnappingmeprotectingme?
“He’s right,” Grisha says. “You’re not like those other… people. We couldn’t leave you behind. They would have come after you, Lily. You don’t deserve that.”
I don’t see how I deservethis, either. And who’d come after me? They’re all dead. Except Sergey, apparently.
But he hired my company. He knows my boss.
“There’s another reason you’re with us, Lily… we want to get to know you better,” Valentin adds.
What the hell. Are these guys unaware that today’s women expect to have a say in who we getto know better? In what world do people make this decision for me?
