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He’d been a bad man, in so many ways. A bad husband, a bad father, a liar and a cheater. But I’m not sure any of that meant he deserved to die–not like this.
In the world of these kinds of men, though–the world that I’m standing in the middle of right now, it does.
Levin holds me against him as the room starts to empty, the guards dragging the body away. I hear heavy footfalls approaching, and look up to see Fernandez standing in front of us, his face still stormy.
“You let this go on too long, Volkov,” he says in a harsh tone. “How long have you had this information?”
“I only just had enough proof to go to Vladimir and suggest that we make our move here, in Mexico,” Levin says calmly. He steps away from me, clearly trying to keep Fernandez’ attention off of me, but still within reach if I need him. “I brought it to you as soon as I knew. We had someone on the inside, but Grisha was good at playing things close to the vest. He was better at this than we expected.”
“The girl, you mean.” Fernandez looks at me. “I saw how quickly you pulled her out. Makes me think there’s a little more going on than just you being her handler.” He narrows his eyes at Levin. “I could go to Vladimir, you know. Tell him what I suspect. I’m sure he’d have some thoughts about one of his top operatives getting distracted over a piece of ass.”
It’s all I can do to keep my mouth from dropping open in shock. Levin’s face remains carefully, impressively blank as he looks evenly at Fernandez, but I can tell from the small twitch of his mouth, the flex of his fingers at his sides, that we’re both walking a fine line of danger.
I’ve learned to watch people even better over these past weeks. And I’ve learned him, too.
“I could take her.” Fernandez nods at me. “In exchange for keeping quiet about it all, I mean. You go back to Moscow the victor, able to take the credit for bringing Federov down. I keep this pretty one for my own collection. I won’t hurt her,” he adds. “That’s not to my tastes. But I’d enjoy her.”
Levin’s fingers twitch again. “I don’t think that’s possible,” he says evenly.
“Why not? She could be my payment, for all the trouble you’ve caused. I think I’m owed something.”
Levin lets out a long, slow breath, looking Fernandez dead in the eyes.
“It’s not possible,” he repeats again, slowly. “Because she’s my fiancee.”
Lidiya
For a moment, I can’t even speak. I’m completely dumbstruck. Out of everything I could have imagined that Levin might say, it was never that.
A heavy silence hangs in the air for a moment, and then Fernandez’s lips twitch, a dark humor spreading across his face. “Is she, then?” he asks, clear suspicion in his tone. “Well, I have a better suggestion, then. A little levity for the evening.”
“Oh?” Levin’s eyebrow rises. “I’m all ears.”
“You should marry her now. Here. No time like the present, right, with so much danger around? And there’s witnesses, even.” He nods towards the room on the other side of where we’re standing, where the guests who have remained can be seen milling nervously about through the arched doorway. “She’ll be protected then–against anyone who might want her. Including me,” he adds with a lustful smirk in my direction, and I see Levin’s hand twitch again, as if he wants nothing more than to shoot the man where he stands.
“Alright,” Levin says, his voice cutting through the air between them, sharp as a gunshot, and I let out a startled squeak of surprise.
“Levin–”
“Give me a moment,” Levin says sharply, reaching for my arm. “With my bride-to-be.”
He pulls me, less gently than he ever has before, into an alcove in the far corner of the room. He angles himself so that he’s blocking me from Fernandez’s view, his hand touching my cheek as if he’s a lover soothing my nerves.
Which, in a way, I suppose is the truth.
“This is the only way out,” Levin says quietly. “He’s going to demand you as payment, if not. And if I refuse that, I may not make it out of here alive, and the end will be the same for you. This way we both leave, and we’ll deal with the consequences later.”
“You mean the consequences of us beingmarried?” I squeak again, and Levin’s mouth twitches.
“Is this funny to you?” I demand, glaring at him, and his mouth twitches again.
“Absolutely not,” he assures me. “But I promise you, Lidiya, hashing out the difficulties of us being married, once we’re out of here, will be far less difficult than dealing with Fernandez here and now.”
“And things will be fine for you, back in Moscow? Who is Vladimir–”
“We can talk about that later,” Levin says, glancing over his shoulder. “We don’t have long, Lidiya. Tell me yes or no, and we’ll go from there. If you say no, I’ll do my best to get us out of here alive–but the odds aren’t going to be good.”
I know that the choice I’m being offered isn’t really much of a choice at all. I think of how easily they’d subdued Grisha. I know Levin is a much tougher man, a man that I’m rapidly coming to suspect has much more experience in these kinds of situations than he’s let on before–but he’s outnumbered. This way, it’s a certainty that we leave here together–and alive.
