“Excuse me,” he said, his voice low and urgent. “Are you Beatrice Lebedev?”
My heart raced. “Yes. Who are you?”
He glanced around nervously. “Someone who knows you shouldn’t be with Pavlov. Your brothers are looking for you.”
Hope surged through me. “Can you help me? Get a message to them?”
“Better,” he said. “I can get you out of here. Right now.”
I hesitated. This could be a trap, but I was already trapped with Arko, and this could be my only chance to escape.
“There’s a service exit near the bathrooms,” he said, gesturing subtly. “We can slip out before Pavlov notices.”
“Why are you helping me?” I asked, just to be sure of my decision.
“Let’s just say I owe your brother Caspian a favor,” he replied. “Will you come?”
I nodded, and he immediately took my arm, guiding me toward a door marked “Staff Only.” My heart hammered against my ribs as we pushed through it into a narrow hallway.
“This way,” he urged, pulling me toward another door that presumably led outside.
But as we neared it, his grip on my arm tightened painfully, and he hurried his steps, like he couldn’t get out of there fast enough.
“Ow!” I protested. “You’re hurting me.”
His expression changed to one so cold, I knew I had made a grave mistake. “Shut up and keep moving.”
A chill ran down my spine. “Who are you really?”
He shoved me roughly against the wall, his forearm across my throat. “Someone who knows an opportunity when he sees one. The Lebedevs and Pavlovs at each other’s throats? Perfect time for the Volkovs to make a move.”
I’d heard that name before. The Volkovs were a smaller organization, always looking to gain territory from the established families.
“My brothers will kill you,” I gasped, struggling against his hold. “Let me go.”
“Your brothers don’t know where you are, and they’ve been asking around everywhere,” he sneered. “I couldn’t believe my luck when I saw you enter tonight. Now, move.”
He dragged me down the alley, and panic surged through me. If he got me out of that door, I was as good as dead.
I brought my knee up hard between his legs. He doubled over with a grunt of pain, and I shoved past him, aiming for the door back to the restaurant. But he grabbed my ankle and sent me crashing to the floor.
“Bitch!” he snarled, standing to loom over me.
I scrambled backward, kicking out with my other foot. The stiletto heel caught him in the shin, and he howled. I used the moment to struggle to my feet, but he lunged, tackling me against the wall.
His hand squeezed around my neck. “Stop fighting, or I’ll snap your pretty neck right here.”
Black spots danced at the edges of my vision as I clawed at his fingers.
This was it.
I was going to die in some god damn alley, and no one would know where I went.
The panic was so loud in my ears, I felt like I was about to lose consciousness, but just then, I heard a gunshot. The man let go, and I fell to the ground, gasping for air.
When I looked up to see where the gunshot came from, I saw Arko moving toward us, his face terrifying from how angry he looked. The man turned to pull out his own gun, but Arko pulled the trigger first.
The man dropped dead in under a second.
