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“I didn’t do a damn thing to her.”
“Oh, that’s right. Rodion did. He’s your hitman, right?”
If Timofey is surprised I know about Rodion’s job title, he doesn’t show it. He doesn’t reveal anything. His expression doesn’t change one iota as we stare at each other, the uncomfortable truth sitting between us.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he says finally.
“Screw you. Yes, I do, and you know it.”
At that, Timofey’s control snaps. He lunges towards me, towering over me. I feel his hot breath on my face as he leans impossibly close. “You don’t have a single fucking clue what I know. Don’t pretend you do. Trust me, Piper Quinn—you’re safer being clueless.”
I swallow down the terror crawling up my throat and meet his eyes. “I’m sure you’d love it if I was some clueless ditz. Just another human chess piece you could move around the way you wanted. That would make things easier for you, wouldn’t it?”
“If you cooperated? Yes.”
“No, if I was as stupid and blindly loyal as every other person on your payroll,” I fire back. “But I’m not. I’ve spent my entire life protecting myself from dangerous people like you. I’m not going to let myself be steamrolled over now. I’m not going to end up like Emily.”
Suddenly, Timofey’s fist is in my hair. He jerks my head back and stares down the long line of his nose at me. I struggle to swallow with my head at this angle, but I won’t give him the satisfaction of begging to be let go.
“Listen to me,” he demands. “You don’t know what you’re saying. Rodion didn’t kill Emily. Even if he did, walking around shouting about it is a good way to get yourself killed.”
“So you admit it. You’ll have me killed.”
“Of course I will,” he says easily. “I made that clear the first time we met. I’ve never claimed innocence. I’ve killed plenty of people, and I’ll add you to the list if need be. But where Emily is concerned, my hands are clean.”
I don’t know why Emily matters so much to me. I don’t know the woman. Maybe she was Timofey’s girlfriend; maybe she was just a fling. She shouldn’t be important…
But she is.
It’s probably because I can tell she’s important to Timofey. He tenses at the sound of her name. I want to know what woman could have that kind of hold over him.
I want to have that kind of hold over him.
I bury that last truth down deep. Into the dark shadows at my core where no one will ever find it. Not even me.
“If you didn’t kill Emily or have her killed, then who did?” I ask.
Timofey stares at me for one second. For two. The tension from earlier wraps around us, now tinged with anger and violence.
The part of me desperate to lose myself in his touch doesn’t mind so much. I can only imagine what Timofey would be like unrestrained…
The sane part of me knows I need to run as fast and as far from this man as possible.
All at once, he lets go of my hair and shoves me back. “Tread carefully, Piper.”
“What does that mean?”
He grabs his drink from the table and tips it back. His throat bobs as the alcohol in the glass disappears. When he finishes, he doesn’t even wince. “If you turn against me now, I’ll ruin you.”
Without another word, Timofey turns away and leaves me standing there.
I’m too terrified to ask what he means.
39
PIPER
I’ve been swaying side to side with Benjamin for what feels like hours.
