That was timing.
Lev passed back a sealed bottle of water. “She fainted?”
“She hasn’t eaten. She hasn’t slept. Men dressed her for purchase and trapped her in a room with animals.” I kept my thumb at the inside of her wrist and felt the fragile beat there. “She needs heat, water, and quiet.”
Lev’s eyes met mine in the mirror.
I looked down at Nadia.
“No one touches her,” I said. “Not a doctor, not staff, not security, unless I tell her first and she hears why.”
Lev gave one sharp nod and turned back to the windshield.
The SUV slipped between two taxis, then into the shadow of a side street where my second car waited at the curb. No headlights. No door open. My men knew better than to make a display after I had already torn one apart.
Nadia’s fingers twitched against my shirt.
Her lashes lifted halfway.
She stared at me without focus for one breath, then another. The panic came back before her strength did. Her hand pushed weakly at my chest.
“Don’t,” she whispered.
I stilled.
“You’re in my car,” I said. “Gennady is behind us. He isn’t touching you.”
Her lips parted. No sound came out.
I held the water where she could see it. “You fainted. I’m going to help you sit up enough to drink. That is all.”
Her eyes moved from the bottle to my face.
Fear sat in them, dark and furious.
Good.
She was awake enough to fight me.
I shifted her slowly, keeping my hand behind her shoulder rather than on her throat or waist. Nadia’s head lolled once, andshe swallowed hard. I opened the water and held it close enough for her to take if she wanted.
She stared at my hand.
Then she took the bottle herself.
Her fingers shook around the plastic. I kept my hand nearby without closing it over hers.
She drank one small mouthful and coughed.
“That’s enough for now,” I said.
“I didn’t ask you.”
“No, you didn’t.”
Her eyes sharpened.
Nadia Yelchin was not a prize. Not a frightened body wrapped in my coat. Half-conscious, furious, and still willing to cut me with whatever strength she had left.
