What the fuck is going on?
Blinking against the dim lights high overhead, a warehouse slowly comes into focus around me. They aren't street lamps. It's a ceiling.
I move so that I'm sitting up, my legs bent in front of me, and my back leaning against a cold corrugated wall.
"Where am I?" I mutter, looking around the warehouse, trying to see who is talking.
"Hello, hello. The great and all-powerfulBardil… welcome to the party. It's been a while," the voice teases. Whoever it is is standing just out of sight. His voice is gratingly familiar, but my head is still spinning in pain. I lean forward and push my hands against my face.Focus, Bardil. Focus. Where are you? Where is Nikita?
"Where am I?" I demand with more force, slowly finding my strength as the confusion dissipates.
I've been kidnapped. That much is clear. That means the car crash wasn't an accident.
Now that I'm more alert, I'm trying to figure out where Nikita is. I don't see her here, and my heart is desperately hoping that they left her in the car. If they did, then someone would come and help her. Fuck. I hope so. I hope they were only after me.
A figure walks into the light with a cold smile spread across his face.
My heart constricts at the sight of him.
"Sokolov?" I growl. The man who betrayed me and tricked me into hosting an auction I thought was for weapons!
"In the flesh," he bows his chin.
"How did you find me?" I snarl.
"I admit, it wasn't easy. We've been hunting you down for a while. You bailed on the party and disappeared. You offended me, Bardil," he says, not sounding offended at all. I've come to understand that this man has no emotions. That he is a true psychopath.
I scoff. "You lied about how you planned to help me make money to pay you back. You never told me we'd be auctioningpeople!" I snarl.
"Tsk, tsk. Money is money," he shrugs.
"How did you find me, Alex?" I demand. Alex Sokolov is a dangerous man. Someone I should never have borrowed money from. I learned that the hard way. A stupid mistake that cost me more than I dare to admit.
He sighs and drags a chair across the floor. Its legs grate against the cement until he stops right in front of me and sits down, folding his arms and watching me with thoughtful contemplation.
"You know, I had to pull a lot of moves to cover my tracks and pin everything on you," he muses. "But luckily, that Abashin contacted me and gave me the perfect chance to side with them to hunt you down. Sure, it was temporary, but it was enough. Until you vanished."
"Is there no level you won't stoop to?" I grunt. "Do morals not exist in your world?"
He laughs. "Morals are for the weak. They are meaningless. People with morals get destroyed by people who are willing to do whatever it takes."
"No, Alex. Doing horrible things to get what you want is what destroys you," I argue.
His eyes flare. Anger clouds his expression.
"I want my money, Bardil. I want everything you owe me."
"Your money is blood money," I argue. "I owe you nothing after what you did."
"Oh, to the contrary. I've doubled your debt, and I plan to take it from you in any way I deem necessary," he muses.
My heart sinks.Please, please don't let them have Nikita.
At this point, the only thing I can do is distract him. The longer I keep his attention on me, the longer his attention isn't on her. And the more time I have to try and figure something out.
"So, how did you eventually find me?" I say, dropping my attitude and trying to sound more reasonable.
If he thinks I'm scared, he'll underestimate me. He's already arrogant enough to underestimate me, but whatever else I can do to help him along that assumption is in my favor.
