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I reply in fluent Spanish, “You don’t have to threaten violence. It doesn’t impress me.”

The moment he hears the Spanish come from my mouth so confidently, his demeanor changes. I thought he looked angry before. But now, he looks murderous. The cogs in his mind tick away as all the times I grinned at him while he believed he had the upper hand. Then his gaze flits to Owen, and back to me, and realization dawns.

“You told your man where to find Owen,” he says.

“I did,” I admit. “But that was only so I could take him. And use him for my own benefit.”

Owen looks confused as we speak in Spanish.

“You played me for a fool,” Rafael snaps, shaking in anger. I was right about him. He’s like my ex. His big, oh-so impressive ego is wounded by being taken to task by a lowly hostess.

“You’re a man,” I tell him in Spanish. “You like to talk. You like to brag. You like to insult women. I know all of that already.” I switch to English. “What I need to know is… is that all you are, Rafael? A thug? A bully? Or do you have the manpower to back it up? Nikolai Volkov is a dangerous man. A real kingpin. If we sell to you – and right now, it’s a big if – will you be able to handle Nikolai? He will want revenge.”

This is pushing Rafael over the edge. His eyes glaze over. His rage has turned icy. He leans forward and fixes me with a deathly stare.

“I will burn the little prince’s club to the fucking ground like I’ve burned a dozen gangs before. Like I chased out the Sokolov brothers.” He points a finger at Owen, a sadistic smile on his face. “Like I ragdolled his slut sister until she started whining too much, so I tossed her to the pigs and let them eat her bones. Can I handle him?” He slams his hand on the table, spilling a coffee mug. “Who the fuck are you talking to, you stupid girl?”

My heart beats wildly. Is this enough?

Owen is glaring at me to stop. He knows Rafael better than I do. But if he’s admitted this in such a grotesque manner, maybe more pushing will get him over the edge.

“You want me to be impressed that you can abuse women?” I say in disgust. “That’s nothing special. That’s nothing new. That’s just you proving yourself to be like every other man.”

Other tables are looking at us now. I can feel gazes turning. Somebody mutters about causing a scene. It’s Rafael more than us, the way he’s sitting, visibly trembling. I even somehow underestimated just how furious he would be with me for standing up to him.

“I’m trying to do business here,” I go on. “And you’re just getting emotional about it.” That gets him even more riled up. “Do you have the men to stand against the Volkov’s?”

“You stupid little bitch,” he growls.

“How professional of you…” I say sarcastically, egging him on.

“You vicious slut,” he goes on. “Do you have any idea who you’re talking to? I’ll kill you both like swatting flies, take the drive, burn all the fucking evidence, and then fuck you until you cry my name, bitch!”

“I’m confused,” I say. “Are you going to fuck me before or after you kill me?”

Owen goes pale. I grin at Rafael.

The waitress is walking over as if she’s going to ask us to be quieter. Rafael snaps completely before she can reach us.

He moves like people do in dreams, slow but inevitable. Disbelief steals vital milliseconds from me as he grabs his coffee mug and swings it around in a wide arc toward my head. I raise my hand just in time to partially block myself, but he still makes heavy impact.

I scream as the force sends me out of the booth, slamming into the floor.

Rafael is on me, roaring in a mixture of Spanish and English. He sits on me and raises his hand as if to hit me. One of his men grabs him. “Boss, boss⁠—”

Rafael throws him away. “Get your fucking hands off me!”

He turns to me and raises his fist.

I try to move, to yell, to do something. But it’s like I’m frozen, pinned beneath his weight, his silver tooth glinting and blinding me as he sneers down at me.

CHAPTER 28

NIKOLAI

I’ve never moved so fast in my life. Out of the electronics store, across the street, and now I’m kicking open the diner door and rushing toward the fucking lunatic. My blood is on fire. I saw him hit her with the coffee cup. Christ. Has she got a concussion?

I wrap my arm around him and drag him away, turning and throwing him across the room. He slams into the counter and lands in a heap. His men try to come at me, but then Anton and Dmitry step cleanly into their path, and they know the goddamn score.