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“Emily,” I spit. “Her name was Emily.”
“IfEmilyreally cared about Timofey, she never would have tried to tell Rodion who his father was. That girl was putting Timofey’s leadership at risk. I did what needed to be done to secure it.”
I scoot forward, hoping it looks like I’m shifting from the passion of the moment rather than with a destination in mind. If I get another foot or two closer, I’ll be able to lunge off the bed, grab the phone, and hopefully call Timofey before Sergey can wrest the phone away from me.
“That’s the difference between you and Timofey,” I say. “He doesn’t need to lie and cheat and murder to trick people into following him. He’s charismatic and bold. He earned the respect of his men. You’re probably just jealous of him.”
I toss out the accusation as more of a distraction than anything, but it lands harder than I expect.
Sergey’s face flushes. “How can I be jealous of a man that I built? I created the man you think is so wonderful. Timofey would be dead without me.”
“That must make it even worse,” I say. “You adopted him because you thought he’d be your puppet to control. But you couldn’t even dothatright. He outshined you in every way. Now, you’re struggling to hold onto the reins.”
His nostrils flare and his smile uncovers a new edge to it that wasn’t there before. “I didn’t come here to hear your amateur theories.”
“Why did you come here?”
“To pick you up, my dear,” he says as though I should have known it all along. “We have a gala to attend.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you. If you don’t leave, then I’ll—”
“Die.”
I blink at him, shocked. But Sergey only shrugs.
“You’ll die,” he repeats. “You are not a crucial part of the plan, to be honest. More of the icing on top. If you don’t cooperate, I’ll kill you.”
“But if you—You can’t. If you do, Timofey will never forgive you. He’ll kill you.”
Sergey grins, and I feel like there’s ice water in my veins. “Come on, Piper. It’s time to go.”
He takes a step towards the bed, and this is my moment. There’s no time for subtlety.
I lunge for the end of the bed, scramble onto the floor, and grab my phone. The moment I get my hand around it, Sergey swats it out of my hand.
The man has a surprisingly powerful hit. My hand stings. But I barely have time to register the pain before he has me pinned to his chest with the iron band of his arm. His free hand skates down over my hip, teasing the hem of Timofey’s t-shirt.
His breath is heavy on the back of my neck. “It would be rude to take a call in the middle of a conversation, Piper. You have company.”
“You are not welcome here,” I spit.
“Oh?” He slips his hand down my thigh, curling his fingers dangerously close to the edge of my panties. “Am I imposing? I hate to intrude. I prefer a warm welcome. Then again, sometimes you have to do what needs to be done. If someone doesn’t give you what you want, you have to take it.”
My heart is thundering in my chest. Sergey’s words are too plain to be misunderstood.
He sighs in disappointment. “Unfortunately, we don’t have time to linger. As I said, we have an event to get to. Are you ready?”
“Fuck you.”
He chuckles and slaps my ass hard enough to bruise. “Don’t tempt me.”
Then he leads me out of the room, down the hall, and out to a waiting car.
I don’t see a single other soul the entire way.
48
PIPER
