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Resentment and fear swelled inside me. I snapped, "I'm not in danger." I took a deep breath to compose myself. Home was beginning to feel like the better option.
"Whoever hurt you might be hurting someone else." It was as though Katya's suffering plagued my mind. But I would be penalized for helping her and saying anything at all hurt us both anyway. She was an enemy to everyone here.
"Thank you for the coffee." I set the cup on the table and stood.
"I'm looking for a student here." He glanced over his drink.
"There's a student directory at main campus."
"She's connected to someone named Mik." The handsome man's demeanor shifted to fit more true to assassin than friendly wealth. "She knows something about someone."
There were only two possibilities; a trap by Anders and my brother or, less likely, this was Katya's brother. And by the way she'd spoken of her brother not showing mercy, I wouldn't survive—nor would my family.
"I don't know what you're talking about." I rushed away, fumbling to get my purse strap untwisted and dug for my phone as I sped from the shop.
Darkness had already set, and I searched the shadowed walk as I held the phone to my ear and called my brother. After several prolonged rings, it went to voicemail.
I attempted another call along the way to my car. Once inside it, I nervously tried to get my keys in the ignition. I continued to stab and jiggle with shaky hands before they went in.
I turned them, but only a low buzz sounded. My car was reliable. It wasn't old enough to not start —
Knuckles tapped my window, startling me from fear to terror. I turned to look up to Armon, whose shadowed face held the threat of no mercy—just as Katya had warned. Now I could see the resemblance in their hardened expressions and strong brows and jawlines.
Chapter Three
If Armon waiting at my driver’s side door wasn't bad enough, the shiny, black SUV that pulled up beside him maximized the terror.
My door clicked unlocked. As rapidly as I could, I attempted to snap it in place and hold it. Somehow, they had the ability to access the automatic locking system, making them even more dangerous.
Armon, hands in pockets with nonchalance, walked around the front of my car to the other side. I leaned to the other door, forcing its lock to stay. It would provide some protection from him getting in.
The locks clicked again, and someone in all black stepped from the SUV. The sleek pistol he held had me return upright in my seat. A fight to escape would end in pain. My trembling hands raised to grip the steering wheel.
Armon opened the passenger door and pushed my purse aside before he lowered himself onto the seat. "Who were you calling?" His calm but commanding tone suggested a lie might end in my immediate death.
"My brother." My lip quivered as he lifted my phone from the center console. The glow illuminated his deceptively handsome features as he tapped the screen.
"I thought we had great chemistry." A silence fell as he scrolled through my phone, but I didn't give it more than a sideways glance to see what he snooped through. Whatever power and skill he had professionally gave him the ability to hack into systems. I finally understood Katya’s words.
"Who are you?" I asked, slowly turning to look at him. I shouldn't have fallen for the friendliness in the coffee shop. Good didn't exist in men.
"Armon." He grinned, a flirtatious cock to his brow as though he wasn't about to hurt or kill me. He tossed the phone to the floorboard. "I fix things. And soon, that will include your entire family."
My stomach twisted into a painful knot as the sickness sunk in. He would kill us all, and given his methods and abilities, he'd be as cruel as a mob boss about it. I thought my brother was bad enough.
"Not you." He raised a hand to my cheek. My flinch of fear caused no response from him as he roved his thumb over my lip. "Without you, we wouldn't have had a face to discover Katya's whereabouts. You even gave your brother's name on camera and the college you attend." What a fool I'd been for helping her.
I tilted my face from his reach. If his finger against my lip was uncomfortable, it didn't compare to when his knuckles trailed my neck and slowly slid down my shoulder and side to rest on my thigh. It had been a gentle touch meant to create panic, yet also so teasingly sensual.
"All you had to do was prove you wanted to help my baby sister, but you called your brother to warn him." Fingertips dug into my thigh, turning the touch to threat. "You would have been responsible for her death when they tried to cover their misdeeds."
If he'd told me about his intention from the beginning, I could have helped his sister. But for the least I knew at the time, he could have been posing to trick me. "I thought—"
"No excuses, Sasha." He used the tone of a parent or teacher to a small child.
But had I known he wasn't someone sent by Anders or Mik, I could have said something. When I opened my mouth in retort, he shushed me with a finger.
"I'm going to be nice since you led me to Katya."
