“Are you kidding me? I can’t see out the window, but I was dark when I woke up and now I can see the shadows getting higher, which means the sun is sinking, and I need to pee!”
“Shut up!” Alexei strides forward and whips his hand out, striking me hard across the face. My head snaps to the side and hot pain explodes across my ear from the impact.
Gritting my teeth, I clench my thighs together then slowly lick my lower lip. As I lift my head, I narrow my eyes and glare at Alexei. “Hit me again and you’ll be cleaning up the mess.”
His lips purse. “Tell me about Ruslan.”
“Huh?”
“Did I hit you so hard that you can’t understand English? Tell me aboutRuslan.” Alexei begins pacing back and forth in front of me.
“Take me to the bathroom and I’ll tell you anything.”
He hesitates momentarily. “Tell me and I’ll take you.”
If I were stronger, I’d argue that we were at an impasse, but the possibility of making it to the bathroom is alluring enough to make me shrug. “I don’t know anything about him.”
“Yes, you do,” he snaps. “You’ve spent months with the Suit. You must know all about them.” He stops walking and leans down, grabbing both my shoulders. “No one’s ever spent that long with them. You must know everything.”
My teeth clack as he shakes me back and forth. “I… I barely know anything.”
“Tell me!” Alexei roars suddenly, making me flinch, and a lump begins forming in my throat.
“I don’t know! I was their prisoner, okay? Ruslan kidnapped me from the hospital and held me in some place.”
“What place?”
He doesn’t know where the base is, does he? Ruslan mentioned how secretive they were. I shrug. “I have no idea. The windows were high and they never let me out. Any time we left, they’d blindfold or drug me, so I have no clue. Something all you Mafia fucks have in common, it seems.”
Alexei’s fingers dig painfully into my shoulders for a moment, then he releases me and steps away while rubbing his jaw. It’s faint, but there’s a flicker of uncertainty in his eyes.
Is he… scared?
The Suit must be the reason I’m still alive, but I can’t quite work out why. It’s not like I’m a member. “So can you take me now?”
“Is it true there are only five members? There aren’t any secret ones?”
I shrug. “I only ever saw five, but they’re always calling people. Who knows? Look, can you just?—”
“You must know something.” He spins back around to face me, eyes flashing with anger. “You know their weaknesses. You know their schedules. You must have eavesdropped on them and learned things, things you don’t even know that you know.”
“Why do you care so much?” I snap as my bladder burns and I shift in my seat. “I’m just a pawn for both of you, right? I’m just something to use and shunt back and forth across the board for whatever plan you have, and frankly, I don’t care what you want or what they want, but please just take me to the damn bathroom!” My voice rises until I’m yelling, hunching over as my core contracts and I’m seconds away from losing my battle.
Alexei, for some reason, finally relents. He snorts in amusement while untying the rope around my wrists and ankles. He grabs my arm and hauls me upward, but I’m unable to stand straight and follow him while hobbling.
“Fucking fine,” he mutters as he drags me out of the room and into a well-lit corridor with carpeted floors and blue decorated walls. It resembles a fancy office and is alarmingly warm compared to the odd, empty room Alexei was keeping me in.
He drags me down the corridor, past several closed doors and around the bend where the bathroom comes into view. As soon as he releases me, I sprint inside, but the door catches on his bulk as he remains in the way.
“I don’t trust you,” he mutters.
“Don’t care,” I gasp as I throw myself into the stall with seconds to spare.
Relieving myself helps clear my thoughts. Alexei’s questions about the Suit must mean something. Since I’m alive, he must need me as a bargaining chip, but would that even work against the Suit? Ruslan, maybe, but I don’t know the others well enough.
Is this really how it’s going to end? He’ll work me down until he learns something that he can use to save his own pathetic life, and then he’ll get away with everything.
Bastard.
