Krish was still almost certain that had been Cobra, not Alexei, who had tried to choke him out, but it didn’t really matter right now. “I don’t love that you’re the bait.”
Sejal adjusted the towel she’d wrapped around her head. “I seem to have a face that makes people want to kidnap me. Let’s use it to our advantage.”
“But are you going to be okay? If they put a pillowcase over your head, or something?” He thought of how panicked Sejal hadbeen that first night in her apartment. Her trauma didn’t need to be exacerbated any more than it already had been on this trip.
“You’re talking about my kidnapping PTSD? I think so.” Her smile was wry. “I’ve been convinced that actual therapy would be a good thing for me to try, but in the meantime, I’m trying to look at this whole experience as a haphazard form of exposure therapy.”
“You don’t think they’re dumb enough to break into our room because they fear a trap, but you think they’re dumb enough to believe that you’re wandering around a hallway getting ice alone when they’re after us?”
Her smile was shark-like. “Yeah. ’Cause they think I’m dumb.”
It was a twisted logic, but one that kind of made sense. Krish exhaled, and spoke into his phone. “Cary, you ready?”
“Yes, sir,” came the guard’s reply.
Krish put the phone in his pocket without turning it off. He grabbed his gun and turned the safety off. He hoped he didn’t have to use it, partially because he didn’t actually want to hurt anyone, but mostly because he didn’t have a silencer, and the last thing they wanted was the cops descending on them.
Sejal paused with her hand on the doorknob. “Remember. Go for Alexei if possible. Viktor won’t risk him getting hurt.”
“Yup.” Krish followed her out the door. Like most hotels in this city, the floors were huge. He ducked behind a corner near the room Cary had identified as Alexei’s while Sejal sailed past it, whistling.
While she was briefly out of view, the door opened silently. Viktor’s head poked out, then back in. It was a quick peek, but long enough for Krish to see that there were scratches all over Viktor’s face and his hand was bandaged.
Good. Hope you feel every single bruise and cut from that car.
Krish tucked himself farther into the shadows and checked in on his heartbeat and pulse. Calm. Steady. He might be in over his head, but he was real motivated to keep treading water. The alternative, letting these assholes win, wasn’t tenable.You got this.
When Sejal walked by again, sure enough, the door opened, and Viktor emerged. He caught up to Sejal and slung his arm around her neck, hauling her up short. The ice bucket tumbled to the floor. She stopped struggling and hung limply in Viktor’s arms when the villain pressed a gun against her temple. “Nice to see you, Sejal,” he said, loud enough for Krish to hear, and started dragging her back to the room.
She had told him to neutralize Alexei first, but Krish couldn’t risk her safety in anyone’s hands but his own. He pulled the phone out of his pocket and hissed into it. “Cary, get the door and the man inside.” Without waiting for confirmation, he bolted out of his hiding spot. Behind him, he could hear the thud of Alexei’s room door slamming open. Cary would hold Alexei in place until they could get there.
Viktor froze when Krish placed his gun against his back, right between his shoulder blades. “FBI. Raise your hands, nice and slow,” Krish said in a low voice, trying his best not to sound like he was on a bad drama.
Viktor’s hands slowly went up, releasing Sejal, and Krish took the gun from his right hand, made sure the safety was on, and tucked it into his waistband.
Sejal spun around, her hand massaging her throat. “You okay?” Krish asked gruffly. That wasn’t what he wanted to ask. He wanted to press kisses all over her throat.
But that would not be a very badass-FBI thing to do, so he refrained.
“I’m fine,” she assured him. The towel had been knocked off her head and her hair was mussed, but she did look fine. Exposure therapy, indeed.
There was a light in her eyes as it moved over Viktor. Satisfaction. “You’re getting predictable, Viktor. Can’t resist assaulting a person fetching ice, eh?”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
Krish couldn’t see Viktor’s face, but Sejal frowned. It cleared quickly, though. “Let’s rejoin Alexei and get this chat over with, shall we?”
It was dark in the room, a lamp lit near the couch. A brown-haired man, who Krish presumed to be Alexei, backed up, hands up, eyes wide. Cary stood in front of him, hand steady on his weapon.
Viktor went to stand next to his employer and faced Krish. Viktor didn’t look surprised to see him. “You,” he spat.
“Me.”
“You tried to kill me in that car.”
“I wouldn’t have killed you,” Krish said, glacier smooth. “I merely wanted to incapacitate you.”
“You destroyed my vehicle.”
