AllFreeNovel
Share Us
DEMYEN
“Your cut, as agreed.” Raizo slides a tall stack of bound hundreds across the desk to me. “Thirty million dollars.”
My arms feel heavy. I can’t lift my hands to touch it. “That’s sixty percent?”
I don’t actually care. It could be zero percent and a big part of me wishes it was. But I can’t think of a better response that doesn’t let Raizo on to the fact that I’m loathing literally everything about tonight, this auction, and him.
Raizo nods with a knowing smile. “I told you, she did amazing. And we both know how incredibly beautiful she is.” He tilts his head as he looks at me. “You know, I’m sure her daughter?—”
“Not for sale.”
He holds up his hands in mock surrender. “Fine, fine. I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. Just figured I’d offer.”
If he doesn’t shut the fuck up about Willow, I might actually rip his tongue from his mouth.
I rub a hand over my jaw and stare at the cursed money stacked in front of me. “Who ended up buying her?”
“Now, now, Mr. Zakrevsky. You know as well as I do that these sales remain confidential.”
Of course they are. I was banking on Raizo’s need to brag to do me a favor and feed me a few breadcrumbs. “Fair enough. Can’t blame me for wondering who I should be selling to more often.” When it’s clear Raizo buys my excuse, I roll a half-shrug. “Is she here?”
He chuckles and shakes his head. “Believe me, I tried to get a few spare moments with her myself. But the bidder paid a premium for immediate retrieval.”
My stomach drops.
Immediate retrieval?She could be anywhere by now. Anywhere in Vegas, at any air strip waiting for takeoff to who the fuck knows where…
She’s gone.
Clara’s really gone. And it will be near impossible to bring her back.
What’s shocking to me is how I feel about this. In a word: devastated. But it’s even more than that—it’s in the way my blood suddenly turns to ice, my heart stops beating, and my gut turns to acid.
I want to scream. I want to rage.
I want to burn this whole fucking world down until all that remains is a clear path from me to her.
But I can’t let Raizo see that any of this bothers me. If anything, I have to pretend like I’m thrilled to hear it. Or at least mildly amused. So I manage to twist one corner of my mouth into something resembling a smile and make him believe all this news is great.
Just… fucking…great.
Raizo leans back in his chair, finally able to stop fingering the money he’s so goddamn obsessed with. “So, you’ve exacted your revenge on the Everett family and in such a delicious fashion. Sold Greg Everett’s daughter into slavery and kidnappedherdaughter for whatever the hell you’re planning to do. Do you think this will be good enough for Tolya?”
I pause and level my gaze at him. There’s something in the way he says it—like he’s almost too happy that all this has gone down the way it did.
Raizo’s been playing you…
Does he know? Did he figure out, at some point, who Clara is to me? What she means to me?
Or is it possible that Bambi might be right?
And if she’s right… that means Clara was, too.
“I can’t speak for Tolya,” I respond coolly. “Although I’m looking forward to sharing the news. I’m sure he’ll sleep better.”
Tolya might sleep better, but I’m pretty sure I’m about to become an insomniac until I get enough answers to settle the unease in my gut about Raizo. I can’t just confront him about the accusations outright because I have him right where I need him to be: close, confident in our business transactions, and reliant on my goodwill as a host to lend him my venues.
I lean down and pick up a discarded duffel from the floor. With a single sweep of my arm, I manage to get most of the money into the bag. I want to just leave whatever’s left on the desk and get the hell out of here, but that would make Raizo instantly suspicious. So I do one more sweep and stuff it all into the bag, zip it up, and sling it over my shoulder.
