“Did he find the car?” Violet asked, taking the other seat and positioning her arms behind so Kristoff could tie them just like he had done to mine.
“Yeah, we have maybe five minutes. When it comes to her,” his eyes darted towards me, “he’s like a fucking bloodhound. We could have just—”
Violet’s lips thinned, she stared at me, and if looks could kill, I would have been dead on the floor. “You know he wouldn’t let us be together, Kristoff. You know this is the only way.”
He hesitated just for a second, and I saw the questions on his face. He wasn’t sure. Kristoff was beginning to have doubts. If I could just talk, then I might be able to use that to my advantage, but with the gag in my mouth, it was impossible to do anything but a mumble.
“Shut up.” His hand lashed out, backhanding my face so my head rocked to the side. Tears rushed into my eyes.
“You won’t get to poison me against her bitch.”
“Kristoff,” Violet said softly. The perfect voice of reason. “We don’t have time for this.”
They kissed again, and then he placed a gag in her mouth, just in time as a door in the distance opened with a loud metallic clang.
“Showtime,” Kristoff whispered.
Alexei appeared in the doorway. Gun pressed against his thigh, his eyes swept around the room, landing on Violet first, and then me. I saw his lips part in a sigh of relief, but I didn’t know whether that was because he saw me or Violet.
Then his eyes found Kristoff, and the gun rose.
“Glad you could make it old friend.” Kristoff did not raise a weapon. He just stood there with his hands loose and relaxed at his side. “I was hoping you would join us in time for the fireworks.”
Against the hard wood of my chair, I stiffened. They wanted Alexei here. This was all a trap. But why? That was the part that didn’t make sense to me. If they wanted Alexei dead, they would have tried that, but Violet still needed him. Which meant—
Shit.
I struggled against the ropes. If I could just loosen one arm enough to yank down the gag, I could tell him about the files. I could warn him.
Alexei’s eyes darted to me, an unreadable look in them. It was almost like he was telling me to calm down, and my body responded and went still.
“Let the women go and me and you can sort this out between ourselves like men.” Alexei’s voice was completely neutral. If I hadn’t known him, I would have said they were friends.
Throwing back his head, Kristoff boomed out a laugh. “How aboutI compromise with you Alexei. You like a deal after all don’t you. I will let one of them go.” He held up one finger like Alexei was a child. “Make a choice Alexei. Which one of your lovers are you going to save.?”
Shit. My shoulders slumped. They didn’t want to kill Alexei yet. They wanted him to kill me. Because everyone knew he would always choose Violet.
“One lives and one dies, Alexei.” Two pistols appeared in Kristoff’s hand. One pointed at my head and the other at Violet. “Time to choose.”
Chapter Forty-Four
Alexei
“Time to choose.”
The words echoed around the sparse room, bouncing off the brick walls and echoing in my head. And even though I had guessed it would be something like this, it still rattled me more than it should have.
I had read that file. I knew the game Violet was playing, but there was still some small part of me that couldn’t bear anything happening to her. Even after everything he had done.
A cry sounded from my right and Violet’s begging tear filled eyes filled my vision for just a second. She looked so scared. So small and fragile.
Without meaning to my eyes darted over to Amy. A single tear slipped from her eyes, but her face was slack. Her shoulders slumped. It was like she already knew the outcome and had prepared herself for it.
“Alexei,” Kristoff’s voice snapped me back to reality, and I tore my eyes away from my wife’s face to stare at him hard. “I am not fucking around. Times a ticking and—”
“You want me to choose the woman I love?”
“That’s what I said, isn’t it?”
