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“Why would I hurt you?”
Timofey asks the question in a way that makes me doubt myself. Like it’s ridiculous that I’m afraid of him. Like I don’t have every reason in the world to run screaming from the mere mention of his name.
Then his expression flatlines. Every emotion drains from his face between one blink and the next. “What do you know that is worth killing over?”
I shake my head. “Nothing. I don’t know. You’re a criminal, that’s all I know. But everyone knows that.”
“You didn’t know that,” he says. “Not before you walked into my house two days ago.”
What I wouldn’t give to go back to that moment, yank myself away from Timofey’s front door, and never go to that meeting. God, would things be different.
Then again, who would help Benjamin if I did that?
I felt an obligation to Benjamin from the moment I heard about him. Now that I’m holding him against me, feeling his tiny chest breathe in and out, there’s no way I can leave him behind. He’s imprinting on me with every cry and hiccup. I’m a goner, in every way that matters.
But so be it. He’s helpless, and I won’t leave him behind.
Not the way so many people did exactly that to me.
“Move out of my way,” I hiss at the bastard intent on ruining my life. “Let us go. You don’t want to take care of a baby.”
“Don’t tell me what I want. You aren’t leaving here with or without Benjamin.”
“What do you want with a baby anyway? Whose baby is this?” I ask. “You said he was left on your porch. Why do you care so much about a baby you don’t even know?”
“I could ask you the same question.”
“And I’d tell you it’s because I’m a human being with a working heart. Because I don’t want to see a child left in an unsafe environment if I can do something about it,” I retort. “I’m sure you can’t relate to that.”
“You’re right.” Timofey nods solemnly. “I don’t have a heart. I’m cold and calculating. I’m actually keeping Benjamin for a ritual sacrifice later. Regular deals with the devil are how I maintain my peaches-and-cream complexion.”
He’s joking, I know, but I still squeeze Benjamin tighter. “The sad thing is that I don’t know if you’re kidding.”
Timofey snorts. “Then maybe you really are stupid.”
“Or maybe you’re a cold-blooded murderer and capable of anything,” I fire back. “The truly stupid thing would be for me to underestimate you.”
“So I guess that answers the question of whether you were eavesdropping or not.” He exhales and shakes his head. “I gave you such a simple, clear instruction.Wait in my office.That’s all you had to do. Instead, you had to follow me and fuck everything up.”
My blood pressuring is skyrocketing, pumping through my body at an ungodly rate. I can hear my heart pounding, the incessantboom-boomlike war drums.
“What are you going to do to me?” I whisper, even though I don’t want to know the answer. Maybe ignorance would be bliss.
“That depends. Are you going to hand over Benjamin?”
I’m ashamed to admit that I consider it for a second, handing over this helpless baby to save my own skin. Exchanging his little life for my own.
But I’d never forgive myself if I did that.
I’d rather die with dignity than live with regret.
“No,” I say firmly. “I won’t. I’m going to do everything I can to get him away from you or die trying. You’re a criminal and the worst possible choice to take care of a child.”
Timofey presses a hand to his chest and pretends he has feelings I could hurt. “Then you leave me no choice.”
He takes another step closer to me, compounding my claustrophobia and making me feel like a caged animal.
I eye my possible escape routes, but there aren’t any. Timofey is blocking the doorway and I can’t climb through a window with a baby in my arms. Not before Timofey could stop me, anyway.
