I knew I should’ve waited longer to heal up after my recent dosage from Dr. Poison, but I didn’t know how long until he got bolder with Gemma. And from the amount of women he’d strangled to death, I knew the break-in was just the precursor.
I straightened my spine and leaned in closer to him. I couldn’t run away when I was the only one who could save her.
“Want a sip?”
He frowned. “Why?”
Too soon. I needed to slow things down.
“I’m trying to be generous,” I teased. “After all, I can’t help it if I have better taste in drinks.”
A tendon ticked in his neck, and his free hand tightened into a fist.
I braced myself and reminded myself that I could take a hit far better than Gemma could. Thankfully, one didn’t come.
He leaned back in his seat, but I could still see the tendon straining against his neck. “Stupid bitch,” he muttered in Russian.
Asshole.
I giggled like I had no idea what the word meant. Inside, I was imagining the look on his face when my poison stole his last breaths.
Over the next twenty minutes, I let him lead the conversation, and predictably it revolved around him.
When he grabbed my arm and tugged me out of my seat, I only hesitated for a moment.
He hadn’t been unfocused enough for me to slip something into his drink, and his eyes had hardened when I tried to silently offer him a sip of mine.
Unfortunately, the only one who was weakened from the poison I’d slipped into my own drink was me. Thankfully, this was one that I’d developed a tolerance to.
Still the last thing I should do was follow him out into the night.
But I’d seen the hard-on, and manic energy growing in his eyes the longer we sat together. I couldn’t take the chance he’d stalk off to Gemma’s if I left him now.
I’d once been the girl who’d had no one to save her when she needed them. I refused to let Gemma experience the same fate.
So I reluctantly broke my rule about second locations, and followed behind him. Already planning how I’d fix the drinks when we got to his place and knock him out before he could touch me.
Suddenly, his grip tightened on my wrist, and he wrenched me into a dark alley.
“Wait,” I said.
Igor wrapped his hand around my throat.
“Shut the fuck up,” he said, glaring down at me.
I tried to reach for a small vial with a microneedle I always kept in the pockets of my outfits. Generally, I avoided this tactic since it was hard to accurately pierce a target’s clothing to deliver the dosage.
And if you got caught…
That never ended well.
His hand tightened around my throat. I didn’t exactly have a choice now.
I reached for my pocket, but his free hand caught my wrist and slammed it above me.
“Now why is Alisa Solovyova trying to get close to me?” he said with a smile that froze my body.
My heart thudded in my chest. Igor knew who I was even though I’d worn a wig, and makeup to conceal myself. Had he been following me?
