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Regan looks at me nervously, suddenly changing her entire demeanor. “Wait, why are you texting him?” she asks, panicking with wide eyes. “Don’t tell him I said anything to you. He’ll kill me!”
I laugh. “You’re in way over your head, Regan, so I suggest you go along with what I say.”
She nods violently, finally starting to realize that this isn’t a game.
Rurik pats her on her shoulder, smiling widely. “Luka thinks we’re going to sell you to his rivals, which should anger him on both a personal and professional level if he actually likes you.”
“He’d better like her,” I growl. “Otherwise, we’re not getting very far with this plan.”
Rurik raises an eyebrow. “I said we could just kick down his door. That would’ve been faster.”
“Yes, and far more dangerous. Let’s just see what he has to say.”
A few minutes tick by, and Regan becomes an inconsolable mess as she sobers up. I try to keep a level head, but it infuriates me to see her pity herself so much after what she’s done to Delilah.
My sweet Delilah. I didn’t realize how much I needed her until she was gone.
A buzz comes from Rurik’s pocket, and my heart leaps into my throat. That must be Luka. Our bargaining chip is working.
But Rurik’s face says everything I need to know before I even get the chance to see the message. “Oh well,” he says, reading the text aloud to me.
“Oh well?” Regan chirps, lifting her head. “Oh fucking well?!”
“Doesn’t seem like he cares about you that much,” I say, glaring at Regan as her expression betrays her. She wants to play it off, pretend everything is fine and that she isn’t utterly wounded inside.
But it isn’t working.
She’s clearly crushed.
“He’s probably just surprised. I’m sure he’ll give some kind of counter-offer once he’s over the shock of it all,” she stammers, trying with every bone in her body to save face instead of bursting into tears.
* * *
We’ve waited long enough,but with Regan’s constant sobbing finally fading into sleep, I’m starting to think we’d be better off dumping her in a river with cement shoes than using her to get back Delilah.
I was hoping that Luka’s careless response would be a bluff, and he’d show up to my club with truckloads of armed men that we could ambush, but without so much as a whisper of a car engine outside, I suspect we’ll never get the chance.
What are we on now?
Plan C? Plan D?
It doesn’t matter much to me anymore. The only thing I care about is getting Delilah back, and if that means sacrificing everything I’ve worked so hard to achieve, then so be it. At this point, I’d lay down my own life for her.
“Do you think we should stage a ransom video?” Rurik asks, motioning over to a sleeping Regan, slumped over in her chair with tear tracks streaming through her makeup.
“I don’t think that’s going to work. I think we need to bite the bullet and go to him. We know where his house is. Wecouldjust rush him. Right now might be the perfect time to do it, honestly,” I suggest.
Rurik pauses for a moment. “We’re going to need more men,” he replies, sounding completely exasperated.
“So get more,” I respond coldly.
Rurik scoffs at me.
“What was that?” I growl.
“Nothing,” he responds.
“Sounded like you’re tired of putting up with my bullshit.”
