It’s risky but it’s my only shot.
I wait until no one’s looking, then quietly push my chair back and slip down the hall. My heart’s in my throat as I find one of the side corridors that leads toward the back of the house. Sure enough, one of the service doors is cracked open for ventilation, left unattended.
A tiny sliver of cold air leaks through the gap and kisses my skin, stinging my cheeks, and for a second I hesitate.
Butonlya second.
Because then I bolt.
The door groans against its hinges as I shove it open and spill out into the frigid air, the sudden drop in temperature hitting me hard. My sweater does nothing against the wind. It cuts through me cruelly, making my teeth chatter, but I don’t care.
I keep running.
My feet sink into the snow with every step, ankles soaked through in seconds. The yard stretches longer than I realized,the back road beyond the iron fence looking miles away despite being maybe thirty yards ahead.
I’m halfway across the yard when I hear shouting behind me. I risk a glance back over my shoulder and my stomach drops—two of Maksim’s guards.
Big ones.
“Shit,” I breathe and push harder, legs screaming as I sprint for the fence.
Climbing it takes the wind out of me, but my adrenaline is working hard, pushing me past my limits when I hear them gaining on me, boots pounding behind me like thunder on the snow-packed earth.
I hurl myself over the top of it and into the street beyond, straight into the path of an oncoming car slowly making its way past the estate. Tires screech, brakes squeal, and the driver leans on the horn as I slam my hands against the hood.
The second the car stops, I dart to the side and yank the door open to the back and throw myself inside.
“Drive!” I shout, breathless. “Go! Go, go, go!”
The driver stares at me in shock, babbling something in Russian, but when he glances up and sees two huge men climbing the fence after me, he gets the message. The car lurches forward so fast, I almost slam into the seat in front of me.
Through the rear window, I watch the guards shrinking into the distance, their faces still shouting threats I can’t hear over the pounding of my own pulse.
Holy shit, I did it.
My fingers tremble in my lap, soaked with cold, numb at the tips. As relieved as I am, a deep dread settles in my stomach, making the shaking in my hands worse. Because now that I’m moving, now that I’m in this car and the guards are no longer in sight, another thought creeps in… cold and insidious.
I just fled from a man who doesn’t tolerate disrespect.
And this is one of the most disrespectful things I’ve ever done.
Those words echo in my skull like a warning siren, looping over and over with each heartbeat that punches against my ribcage while I try to collect my breath.
I did the one thing he probably never predicted I’d do. The one thing people in his world don’tgetto do unless they are welcoming the kiss of death.
But I have no choice.
Getting away from Maksim means saving my life. I already have a target on my back from whoever pulled my information before I came here. Spending more time with his Bratva, more time withhim,means that target only grows bigger by the day.
There isn’t a lot in my life I have to live for, but damn if I’m going to go down without a fight.
The driver drops me off a few minutes later on a busy street and speeds away, probably figuring that whatever trouble I’m in, he wants no part of it. Fine with me, I don’t need him. Now, I just need distance.
The snow’s falling heavier now, melting as soon as it hits my overheated skin. As long as I can make it back to Sergei’s and grab my things, I can be gone. I don’t care where as long as it’s nowhere near here. Anywhere is better than staying here,trapped under the thumb of a damn Bratva, even with the apparent target on my back.
What I didn’t think about, and what I realize almost immediately after I walk a block, is that Maksim’s reach doesn’t just stop at his front gates. He’s got this city wired directly to him, invisible and inescapable. All it takes is one phone call, and I might as well have a neon sign over my head flashingPROPERTY OF MAKSIM ANTONOV. RETURN IMMEDIATELY.
I’m not even two blocks from where the driver left me when it happens.
