“I am. Your father asked me to leave. I think this is the last time we’ll be hanging out.”
Her smile drops. “What? Why? Did he say something to you?”
“Sash—”
“Because he didn’t mean it. He never means it. He just has to look tough sometimes, that’s all. Really, he’s one of the greatest guys in the world once you get a chance to get to know him.”
“It’s nothing like that. He, I mean,wejust decided that it’s time to call it quits. That’s all. It happens in relationships.”
She almost looks like she’s going to cry. Then she opens the door and steps out, a determined look on her face. “Let me talk to him. He’ll listen to me.”
“No.” I take her hands and say, “There’s nothing you can do about this, okay? It’s already done. Just do me a favor and be good to your dad. Okay? From here on out. No more sneaking into strip clubs and skipping school.”
Her big brown eyes get all watery. “This isn’t fair. My dad… he hasn’t been with somebody in so long and he really needs somebody. I know he has the whole big Russian tough guy act, but he’s really a lot lonelier than you think. You can’t break up.”
She’s so sweet. I rest a hand on her shoulder and say, “It’s fine, Sasha. It really is. You just… just do what I said, okay? Be good for your father.”
I pull her into a hug and she starts to sob. It’s only been a short time that we’ve even had a chance to get to know one another. How can we have bonded so much, so quickly?
A thump and a yell come from downstairs. We both break the hug to look toward the second floor landing. “What was that?” she asks.
“I don’t know.” A bigger sound of commotion follows. Grunts and scuffling. The sound of punches landing. “Stay here.”
I walk toward the landing and I’m stopped as soon as I look down the stairs. Two men stand in the living room, one with his arm around the other’s neck, squeezing as he flails. The man being subdued, I recognize. It’s one of Roman’s men.
I also quickly realize that I know the other man as well. His face is contorted as he struggles with the man. The long blond hair on top of the shaved sides has fallen into his face. Most of his tattoos are covered with the T-shirt he’s wearing, but he’s heavily tatted up. He looks like he’s got healing bruises over one side of his face, but even from here, I can see the scar over one of his eyes.
The guy from the coffee shop. The one I was going to call in for an interview. Sergei Durov. What the hell… ?
He grunts loudly and twists his body. The air is split with the loud sound of the man’s neck as Sergei’s arm twists under his chin. Suddenly, he goes limp, his eyes rolling up. Sergei holds him for a few seconds before letting the lifeless body fall from his arms.
Oh… no.
He looks up and his eyes lock with mine. A slow, menacing smile crosses his face.
I turn and run. Sasha’s standing in the hallway, her eyes wide.
“What’s happening?” she asks.
I take her by the hands. From the sound of his bounding footsteps, he’ll be up here any second. I grab Sasha and pull her into her bedroom, closing the door. “We need to hide.”
“Ember? What’s going on?”
I look around the clutter of the girl’s room. Under the bed? In the bathroom? I see her crowded closet door with clothes spilling out onto the floor. I grab her by the wrist and dart for it.
“Come on,” I say. We get into the closet and hide behind the wall of clothes hanging before us. I barely have enough time to get the door closed before I hear Sasha’s bedroom door crash open.
In the fractured lighting coming from the slits in her closet doors, I look to Sasha and put my finger to my lips. With shaky eyes, she nods in understanding.
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t come in for an interview, Ember,” I hear him say. My name on his voice sends a chill up my spine. “It was unavoidable. I would have preferred all this to be more civilized.”
I can hear him moving around the room, looking for us. Shit. Maybe we should have jumped out the window.
“You’re not making this any easier on yourself,” I hear him say. “When I find you…”
He doesn’t finish the sentence. The door slides open violently and he pushes the clothing to one side, revealing us. “There you are.”
I push him, but it’s like pushing against a wall. He grabs me by my shoulders and throws me out of the closet. I hit the floor hard, nearly banging my head against the carpet. I turn just in time to see him dragging Sasha out of the closet. Sasha screams and struggles as he holds her by the wrists.
