AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It’s not Adrik she’s worried about—it’s the rest of Krystiyan’s men. Now that Krystiyan is dead, they’re unallied and disconnected. A roving band of guns-for-hire until they find their next opportunity.
She’s throwing my stuff in a bag, taking too much of the shit Krystiyan bought me which I would never wear in a million years.
“What are you doing?” I hiss at her. “We need to get back out there, we could still use some of those men.”
“And pay them with what? We haven’t made a profit. You’ve only drained half Kovalenko’s money—which we no longer have access to. We need to get out of here before those guys realize they’re not getting their last paycheck.”
She picks up my backpack and forces it onto my arm.
“Why are you in such a rush? We need our equipment at the very least—”
Ilsa wheels on me. “Sabrina, it’s over!”
She’s not packing anymore, she’s just staring at me like we already had this conversation and I didn’t hear it.
“What are you talking about? We can find another partner.”
“There’s not going to be another partner. Adrik’s buddied up with Yuri Koslov. He’s High Table, nobody else is going to join our vendetta against two of the most dangerous people in the city. And even if they would—” she holds up her hand to forestall me, “I’mdone. It was fun, it was crazy, it was a much-needed break, but it’s time to get back to real life.”
I can’t believe she’s saying this.
“Thisismy life,” I hiss at her. “I’m not going back to Chicago.”
“Well, I’m going home,” she says. “And you should do the same.”
She’s trying to be brisk and matter of fact, but when she sees the look on my face, she can’t keep it up. She stops and puts her arms around me for a minute, not saying anything. Just holding me.
It feels like every awful sensation is trying to spill out of me. Ilsa’s arms are the only thing keeping me together. I’m a broken vessel that will collapse unless it’s cradled just right.
Eventually she has to let go.
“Come with me,” she says.
I shake my head. “No thanks. I never really cared for Simon, either.”
She looks at me, trying to read my face.
I force a smile. Like I’m not terrified to be alone. Like I’m not minutes from falling apart.
“I’ll be fine,” I lie. “You can go.”
I think I fool her. She’s reassured enough to say, “Same old Sabrina.”
“Same old Diana.”
She smiles and shakes her head.
“See ya, kid.”
When she’s gone, I can’t even take anyMechtat,‘cause there’s no one to keep an eye out for me anymore.
* * *
I spendthe night at a cheap hotel in Odintsovo.
For the first time since I came to Moscow, I’m completely alone.
I’ve got about $6K in cash, a mix of American dollars and rubles. Also a couple baggies of product, about two hundred pills in total.
