“Y–Yes.”
I let her go. She sits up, rubbing the back of her head.
“You were at the Firebird recently, yes?”
“Y–Yes. Yes, I was.” Her eyes drift past me to Mikki, who’s standing in the doorway, blocking her path if she decides to run. “I was depressed so I decided to have a few drinks.”
“You got shitfaced,” I tell her, “and you started trouble there with the girls. Correct?”
She nods. “But I didn’t mean?—”
“Just answer the fucking questions, Kat. I don’t need your color commentary.”
She purses her lips and gives me a shaky nod.
“You were about to be thrown out and someone stepped in. Who was it?”
She swallows hard. “I can talk to whoever I wan—Ow!”
I yank her head back by her hair and pull the knife out of the holster in my belt. “Wrong answer.”
She sees the blade and says, “Okay, okay. It was Vladimir Petrov. H–He was asking questions about his daughter. He showed me a photo and I told him where he could find her.”
I stare at her. She’s afraid… but she isn’t lying. I let her head go.Shit.
“Mikki,” I say as I holster my knife and stand up, “clean this up and take it home. I’m done.”
Mikki takes two steps toward her as she looks over at me. “That’s it? That’s all you have to say?” Suddenly and strangely out of the blue, she starts laughing. “God, you are soweak,” she says. She’s got a broad smile on her face, despite her blonde hair being mussed and the blouse she’s got on hanging off one shoulder.
“I should have known you wouldn’t hurt me,” she says, her voice shaking. “You started fucking that girl and all of a sudden, a fat bastard like Vladimir Petrov can just walk all over you. Nowonder he’s got it out for you. He’s trying to stomp out the weak links.”
I tilt my head. That bad taste is back. “What the hell are you talking about?”
She stands up, straightening her blouse and running her hands over her hair. “When I told Vladimir about his daughter, he drove me home… then he fucked my brains out. Fucked me really,reallygood. Better than you ever have. And you know what he told me after? He told me that when he’s the last one standing, I’ll have a place at his side. My reward for giving him his daughter back.”
My heart is pounding. Her jeers are pressing every button I have, but I need to know what she’s talking about. “What do you mean, ‘last one standing’?”
“What do you think I mean?” she asks. “All that strategic bullshit training and you can’t even see who would benefit the most if the Amur and the Astrakhan were wiped out. You poor, weak bastard?—”
I grab her by the neck and squeeze. She gags. Her nails dig into my wrists. I could snap her neck easily. It wouldn’t even take much effort…
Her face turns red… then it deepens to purple and her lips start to turn blue. I’ve never wanted to kill someone so badly in my life.
But I don’t. As vile as she is, this anger isn’t for her. I let her go. She drops to the floor, gasping for air.
“You are alive right now because of me,” I growl at her. “Remember that the next time you decide to get in my fucking way.”
Mikki steps in, grabbing her off the floor and dragging her out. When he gets to the door, I tell him, “Come right back when you’re done. We’ve got work to do.”
27
NATALYA
The tears didn’t last long. I lie on the carpet, listening to the muffled sounds of the house, feeling the vibrations of distant footfalls for a long time before the realization of it all hits me.
My father wants me dead. No, it’s much worse than that. I’ve always thought that maybe he’s hated me enough to kill me for a long time, but for whatever reason, he just never went through with it. Now, he’s got a reason. One good enough to excuse whatever blowback he might face if anyone knew how I died.
For the first time in your miserable life, you’re going to be of some use to me.
