I start marching toward the door, fully aware I’m about to get snatched like a misbehaving toddler and dumped back in bed, but I keep moving.
Niko lifts me with one hand like I weigh nothing.
"You’re squashing my boobs!" I shout.
He drops me like I burned him, and I slip past, sneakers squeaking as I bolt through the open door toward the stairs.
"f**k this," Niko growls in Russian, and the chase is on.
I make it two steps before his hand clamps around my wrist. I yank, he pulls.
"It hurts!" I bark. "You’re going to leave bruises. Aleksei won’t like that."
His jaw tightens. Grinding his teeth, he lets go. Then he pulls out his phone. I take a cautious step back, but he lifts a finger like a warning shot.
"Don’t test your luck, Claire," he says, hard as stone, his eyes glinting.
I r
