“Is it true?” I ask. “Is Sasha connected?”
“Connected?”
A surge of anger runs through me. “I just almost got killed, and you’re seriously going to play dumb?”
A beat of silence. He’s clearly measuring his next words very, very carefully.
“I’m not in the habit of spreading rumors. If there’s anything you wish to know about Sasha, or Sasha’s business dealings, I suggest you ask him yourself. And if he gives you an answer you’re not happy with, or no answer at all, you should accept it and assume it’s for your own good.”
I snort, shaking my head. “So that’s my life now. People making decisions for me, telling me what I’m allowed to know.”
“That’s the way of the world. No one knows everything.”
I open my mouth to fire some invectives in his direction but end up keeping them to myself. Bogdan’s almost certainly paid for his silence and discretion. If he’s not going to talk, then there’s no sense in wasting my breath.
By the time we hit the Loop, my hands have stopped trembling. My heart’s still pounding, but the tempo is steadier, more focused. It’s not much longer before we pull into the parking garage beneath the AngelCorp Tower.
“You should get some rest,” he says. “You’re safe now. Go into one of the empty offices and relax, get some sleep.”
“Not happening,” I say. “The first draft of the merger is done. I’m going to give it one last read-through, and then I’m putting it on Sasha’s desk. Tell him that.”
“You can tell him yourself. He’s here now.”
We park, and as soon as the engine’s off, I unbuckle, grab my bag, and climb out before he can come around and open the door. I’m about to storm off, but something occurs to me.
I stick my head back inside. “Thanks for saving my life.”
“Don’t mention it,” he says, as if it’s no big deal at all, just another day at the office.
I nod and hurry across the polished concrete of the parking garage, my footfalls echoing through the big, open space. Moments later, I’m in the elevator alone, catching a glimpse of myself in the mirrored walls of the car.
God, I look like a mess. I’m in an oversized University of Chicago sweatshirt, dirt and dust smeared across it and my face from when Bogdan pulled me out of the way. And there’s a small smear of a bruise on my hand from where I landed.
I lean against the back wall and slump down a little. I can’t believe I’m going to go into the office like this after what just happened. My pocket buzzes, and it’s a text from Angie—Let me know if you need anything.
I heart her reply, then smooth my hair for lack of anything else to do, and mutter under my breath, “Welcome to the new normal.”
Somewhere upstairs, Sasha’s waiting. And I don’t know whether he’s my shield or the reason I need one.
CHAPTER 10
GABBY
Hours later…
The office is quieter than usual—the late-afternoon lull, when everyone’s checked out and ready to go but no one wants to risk getting caught as the first one out the door.
The air hums with soft keystrokes and the occasional low whir of the printer, and I’m still buzzed off the residual adrenaline from the assassination attempt.
I haven’t seen Sasha since my near-death experience. He’d texted me, telling me he’d see me later and that’s it. Truth be told, I’m not sure whether Iwantto see him or not. Part of me is a little pissed that I’m now evidently part of whatever insane world he occupies.
Not to mention, all I’ve wanted to do all day is finish the damn merger proposal, and it’s finally ready.
I’m standing in front of one of the printers, eagerly watching it spit out each individual page. It’s glorious. Twomonths of hard work finally ready for me to hold in my hands and set proudly on Sasha’s desk.
As I watch it print, something occurs to me. Isthisthe reason I was almost killed? Does someone not want this merger to happen?
There’s a metricassloadof money at stake here, and if something were to happen to me, everything would get pushed back at least a couple of months. That’d be more than enough time for someone to make moves that would break up the merger before it happened.
