Dorian nods. “I think so. I’ll wait in the living room.” He turns his gaze to me. “You’re coming with me. I’m going to keep youveryclose for the time being.”
Feeling my lips thin, I nod. I’m in no mood to get interrogated or threatened more. I don’t want to be in the samestateas any of these crazy assholes right now, but it doesn’t look like I have much of a choice.
Chapter Ten
Dorian
As always, the doctor we have on-call takes pleasure in swindling us.Fifty thousanddollars for a simple clean-and-stitch job that I’m certain Mira could’ve done for me. She doesn’t flinch or move as the doctor slices around in my arm, taking his sweet time retrieving the pieces of my shirt stuck in the wound. Just sits with her arms folded over her tattered shirt and stares ahead, her eyes glazed.
Once the doctor’s done and I’ve wired him the obscene sum of money he requested in return for his services, I send him on his way with a cursory threat to keep his mouth shut. My phone buzzes with a text from Connor, saying that he’s informed Sergei of the situation, and Sergei wants me to call him.
“Mira,” I say. She doesn’t move, doesn’t actually appear to have heard me. I feel my brows crease as I repeat her name a second time, then a third, to no response. It’s not just that she doesn’t respond; it’s that she doesn’t even seem tohearme.The fuck?I shift closer to her and wave a hand in front of her face. She flinches, blinks several times, and turns to look at me.
Last night, she told me she zones out when she’s listening to music. It seems she might zone out when she’s stressed, as well.
“I’m leaving the room to make a call. Stay here.”
Brows furrowed, eyes filled with anger, she gives me a single nod.
I try to gentle my voice as I say, “I can see that you’re upset,but—”
“Don’t,” she hisses. “Go make your call. I’ll stay here like a good little prisoner until you get back.”
I feel my head jerk back at the heat in her words. I’m tempted to stay right here and have an actual conversation, but Sergei Novikov is not a man to be kept waiting. I stand and leave the room, going to the hallway. Seamus and Connor are probably finishing up with body disposal right about now, but there are still blood splatters along the hardwood that’ll need to get cleaned up.
I pull out my phone and dial Sergei’s number. He picks up after only two rings.
“How’s the arm?” he asks without preamble.
“Fine,” I reply. “Flea bite. It barely even hurts.”
“Good,” he grunts. “The Serpents made a stupid mistake coming for you in your own home, but they also proved they’re a threat. Getting rid of them is now your top priority, understand? Make a plan and follow through, exterminate the rats before they spread their diseases any farther.”
“Understood,” I reply.
Sergei pauses for a long moment, then says, “The girl. Mira.”
Something tightens in my chest as I glance back toward the living room. “What about her?”
“Connor had quite the report to pass on. As did Seamus when I spoke to him. I’d like to hear your take on things.”
I give him a play-by-play of what happened. She made dinner, shots got fired. She grabbed a gun and started shooting back, quite successfully. I got hit, she seemed game to help me, then Connor threatened her and scared the shit out of her. She told us about her stepdad, Connor checked the parts of her story that could be corroborated. She’s been quietly seething ever since.
“Last night, she was a potential loose end; now she’s smack dab in the center of your dealings,” Sergei says. “Connor tried to find leverage on her to keep her quiet, unsuccessfully.”
“He wants to kill her,” I add.
“That would be a mistake. It seems she proved her value tonight, did she not?”
“She did.”
“It sounds like she saved your ass. I do not have an appetite for killing people who have been nothing but compliant and helpful, especially women.” Relief blasts through me, underscoring Sergei’s pause. I say nothing, waiting for him to continue.
“You have two options,” Sergei says. “She’s in this now, there’s no two ways about that. There’s no getting out after what she’s seen or done. Your choice ishowshe’ll be in it. You either recruit her to your legion—initiate her and ensure her loyalty—or you keep her as your woman.”
Initiations are brutal, and so is this life. I don’t want to subject Mira to that. In fact, I’m quite committed toprotectingher—I don’t want to hurt her. Over the last day, I’ve found myself growing increasingly partial to keeping her around longer than a week.Muchlonger than a week. If the option is between recruiting her, something I’m loath to do, and keeping her as my own, something I very much want to do, I’m going to go with the latter.
“I’d prefer to keep her as my woman,” I say. “There are problems on that front, though.”
