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“Not sure, but he also wants you to join everyone for a dinner tonight. He’s meeting with a couple of people—investors.”
“Investors?”
“He’s slowly taking over New York. His name is getting plastered all over the state.”
“What does he even do?”
“Besides the obvious money laundering, he’s been buying property all over the place. I think that’s what his father would have wanted.”
Hundreds of thoughts run though my head, and I decide to go along with his conversation. “I thought his father was crap.”
He laughs and shakes his head. “I’m taking about his adoptive father. He was a great man.”
My eyes wander around the room. “What happened to him?”
“Cancer took him. And his brother was taken from him as well. I played a part in that—which I regret, but I didn’t have much of a choice. Everything changed after that. I’m sure there is so much more I’m not telling you, but I can only tell you so much, you know?”
“No, I understand, and you’ve really helped me.”
“Mikhail will get you at seven. Don’t piss him off tonight.” He smiles as he heads toward the door.
“I’ll try not to, but it’s like walking in a minefield.”
It feels like a weight has been lifted off my chest. I don’t feel as angry. I do believe there’s another version of Mikhail I’m not as familiar with, but I’m not sure if I want to meet him.
For the first time in a while, I feel like I can lower my guard. I only hope I don’t get too comfortable.
* * *
The energy in my room shifts instantly when I see Mikhail leaning against the doorframe. He makes the space look small.
I stand in front of the dresser messing with the jewelry in a weak attempt to bide my time.
He’s dressed in an all-black suit with silver rings and a watch on his hand. Those sunken cheeks of his beg to stretch with a smile.
I watch him in the reflection of the mirror as I put on earrings. His eyes devour every part of me, not leaving a single inch of my body untouched by his vision. It’s a shame a man as handsome as Mikhail gets rich from the suffering of others. No amount of money could be exchanged for his human decency.
“Mikhail?” I call, giving him a glare.
“Yes, ma’am?”
“You see that door?” I ask. “I want you on the other side of it.”
He laughs darkly and walks inside the room, ignoring my demand. “Where do you find the strength, Sloane?”
Acting naïve, I ask, “For what?”
The room closes in on me when he places his hands on either side of the dresser, caging me in. His head lowers to mine. “Don’t play coy with me.”
I bite down on the inside of my cheek, ignoring him while I look down at his hands. The hands of a killer.
He lifts one arm and brushes my hair to the side, nuzzling his mouth close to my ear. “Find your words, love.”
“I have nothing to say to you,” I admit.
As if that was the magical phrase, he pushes off me and walks away. “Finally,” he grits out.
My head turns to him and my mouth drops open slightly, ready to fight him with my words. It’s like he always has to have the last word, but if I say something back then I’m no better than him.
