23
Lucas
Yulia’s eyes are enormous as she stares at me, her slender wrist caught in my grasp. She looks like I just tore her heart out, and something resembling regret cools the burning fog of rage surrounding me.
Releasing her wrist, I say in a calmer tone, “Yulia, that’s not what I—”
“Why don’t you just do it right now?” she interrupts, her gaze unflinching as she steps back. “Go ahead, kill me. You will anyway. When I’m no longer such a ‘hot lay,’ right?”
“No, of course not.” My anger returns, only this time it’s directed at myself. “I told you—you’re safe with me.”
“Not if your boss wants me dead.” Her upper lip curls. “Isn’t that what you just told me?”
“That’s not what I meant.” I curse myself ten ways to Sunday. Esguerra seemed as good of an excuse as any to stop her from ple
