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He doubles over, spit flowing out of his mouth, his body curved around the point of my blade. I twist the knife, and he groans. The warm spill of his blood covers my knuckles.
“If you survive this, then go ahead and try to take what is rightfully mine. If my men want to abandon me and follow you, that will be their mistake to make. Because I’ll kill you and anyone else who threatens my Bratva. Do you understand?”
He releases a low groan. I take that as answer enough.
I slip my knife free, clean the bloody blade on Sergey’s shirt, and then slide it into the sheath.
“Goodnight, Sergey.”
He drops to his knees, and I turn around and return inside. I don’t look back as my father dies behind me.
38
PIPER
As soon as Timofey steps out of the apartment, I spin around and go back to Noelle’s room.
“We need to go,” I tell her. “Now.You have two minutes to grab anything you might need. Can you do it?”
Noelle is shaking in the middle of the bed, staring down at her own folded up knees beneath the blankets. She looks like a helpless child.
I lean against the edge of the bed. “Can you hear me, Noelle? Do you understand what I’m saying? We need to go now.”
If I can get Noelle away from Timofey and get her talking, maybe I can get more information about where Benjamin is. All I know is I won’t get anything if I let Timofey drag me out of here and lock me up in his mansion.
“I can stay here. Mom said I can stay,” Noelle says. “This is my room.”
“I know this is your room, but we can’t talk if we stay here. Timofey is coming back and—”
Her eyes go wide. “Timofey will hurt me.”
“No, he won’t. He won’t do that. I promise.”
She’s trembling again, shaking her head gently back and forth.
I grab Noelle’s hand and squeeze. “Please, Noelle. I’ll take care of you. Just trust me.”
Her eyes are glazed like when I first walked into the room. I’m worried we’ve lost whatever progress we made since I arrived.
But then she blinks and it’s like someone has turned on a light. Her face is more flushed and her expressions are more animated.
She looks like Noelle.
“Piper?”
I’m so relieved I could cry. “It’s me. I’m trying to help you, okay? Grab what you need. We have to leave.”
“Because Timofey,” she says, brows pinched together. “He’s going to—”
“He’ll be back, and we need to be gone before then. Can you hurry?”
Noelle doesn’t respond, but she climbs out of the bed and places her feet on the floor. Like a newborn giraffe finding their legs, she takes a few tentative steps before she can move like normal. A pungent odor trails behind her. Cold sweat and panicked exhales.
“Grab what you need, okay?” I tell her. “It’s chilly out. Get a jacket.”
I glance down the hallway. Timofey still hasn’t come back.
I walk into the living room and look through the least smudged of the glass panes to the ground below. I can see Timofey’s broad shoulders standing in front of the building. His back is to me and he’s talking to someone, but they are partially hidden behind the bare branches of a dead tree.
