I’ve savedeveryone,actually. From you.“A happy bonus.”
“You always were such a good actress.”
His words make me freeze. But I know Brad’s anger, and he doesn’t look angry. If anything, I’d say he’s… impressed.
“I wasn’t acting,” I say. “I meant it.”
“Hmm. We’ll see.” He starts trailing a finger down my neck. The contact makes me shiver with horror. “Now… whatever shall I do with you?”
58
YULIAN
I wake up to icy water splashing my face.
“The hell?—”
“Oh, there’s Sleeping Beauty.” Nikita scoffs. “Had a nice nap?”
I sit up on the couch. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing, Nik?”
“Saving your ass.” She drops the empty bucket unceremoniously on the ground. “We’ve got a problem, chief. When’s the last time you saw Mia?”
Memories flood me.
Mia. The balcony. The syringe.
Her request.
“I need you to trust me.”
My answer.
“I don’t think I can.”
I shoot to my feet, but gravity takes issue with the sudden movement.
“Easy there, cowboy,” Nikita says. “You were drugged. My guess is, your girl helped with that.”
Yes, she fucking did.The realization makes me burn with betrayal.
“Tell me where she is,” I demand, holding myself up on the back of the couch. My body feels leaden—like everything’s too fucking heavy to move.
“Saw her in Maksim’s car outside the Collinses’. Thought it was weird that she didn’t come inside—just sat there, looking in. She was crying, too.”
Of course she was crying. She was saying goodbye.
“Where’s Eli?”
“Home. With his grandparents. He saw her, tried to sneak out after me to go to her, but I put him back to bed.” Nikita frowns. “Why?”
“Brad.” I force myself to walk, one painful step after the other. My wound is acting up, the effect of the painkillers long worn off. With the sedative still weighing down every move I make, everything is a struggle. “He took Kallie. Demanded Mia and Eli in exchange.”
Nikita’s eyebrows raise. “That’s why Maksim?—”
“He was in on it.” I clench my fists. “He helped her trade herself for Kallie.”
Just saying those words makes me feel sick. Maksim has been my second for twenty years, and a soldier of the Lozhkin Bratvasince my father’s time. All this time, his loyalty has never wavered.
