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About what?
I look away from him when he finally releases me.
He pushes me off his lap. I wobble on my feet.
“Get in bed,” he says, turning away from me. “You’re here now. Sleep off the rest of those drugs and when you wake, we’ll talk about the consequences for what you’ve done.”
Wordlessly, I stare at him before he scowls and turns me to face the bed. Gripping my arm, he smacks my ass, hard. “Bed,now.You’ll learn very quickly that I won’t tolerate disobedience.” He punctuates his words with another sharp smack.
My cheeks flame with embarrassment. My heartbeat races as I climb into bed like a chastened child, afraid of what he’ll do.
While he watches me, his arms crossed over his chest as I lift the blanket with my bound hands and slide under it, a part of me wonders if he’s human underneath that stern exterior. Or is he so used to getting his way he doesn’t know how to be human anymore? He manhandles and dominates me with such ease, it seems it’s part of his character.
When I’m tucked into the bed, exhaustion hits me like a freight train. I’m vaguely aware of him swiping something on his screen and talking in a low voice in Russian before he turns away.
I can’t sleep. I won’t sleep, I tell myself, not when he’s watching me and holding all manner of threats over my head.
I’m relieved to find I’m able to process my thoughts more clearly. I’ve lost everything — the few friends I have, a safe place to stay. A place to call my own. But the absolute worst of it all would be losing my ability tothink.A cognitive impairment sounds to me like a punishment worse than death.
So when my thoughts begin to sift through what happened — what I did, and what he did — I realize with a sigh of relief, I can stillthink.
It feels like an hour or more later as the adrenaline finally crashes and the aftermath leaves me spent. I tell myself I won’t fall asleep, that I’ll stubbornly refuse to do what he tells me. But the bed is warm and it’s quiet in here. I have no idea what the day ahead holds for me.
I should maybe sleep while I can.
I close my eyes and drift off, waiting for him to come get me at any second. I dream of codes and computers in a darkened room, but this time my hands are bound.
CHAPTER NINE
Mikhail
I watch Aria Cunningham sleep,her hair tossed around her head like a halo. I wonder if she has any idea how beautiful she is. It seems someone who knew she was walking perfection wouldn’t dress in drab clothing and hide behind scratched glasses. I want to unwrap her like a precious gift.
I will.
But I have business to deal with first.
Minutes pass as I watch her sleep.
My phone buzzes with a call. Aleks.
“What?” I snap.
“They’re making a move.”
I’m on my feet, pacing toward the window wordlessly so I don’t wake the little hacker. I flick open the blinds.
“Detail all security you have in place and everything you know.”
I expected this. Hell, I half wanted it. I told my mother I had a surprise for her in Volkov’s presence for a reason. I don’t want him thinking I’m being complacent. I want him counting down the minutes until he can make his move. But he’s no fool. He knows I’m ready to make a move.
I look at the woman sprawled on my bed as Aleks runs down all the details.
“Safehouse ready. All bodyguards on twenty-four-hour alert with shifts switching every three hours. Kolya let it slip when he was having drinks that you’re heading to Moscow, and I’ve ensured all private intel is encrypted. Lev ran a sweep an hour ago.”
My youngest brother Lev, affectionately termed “The Shadow,” moves in and out of places with ease. While Aleks is our group surveillance expert, Lev is our best strategist. He works very closely with Aleks. “He recommends we have a decoy.”
I clench my fists. “For whom?”
