Chapter 28 Episode 28
1600 Words
This week, whatever may happen, is nothing more than a peekbehind the curtain. A look into an alternate reality where Idon’t scrape to get by at a shitty job with an even shittier boss.A look into feeling wanted and desired instead of forgottenand discarded.
But at the end of this week, I’ll be on a flight back home.
And I’ll never see Nikolai Zhukova again.
“Keep eating. I’ll be back,” he says, dropping his napkin onthe table and standing up.
I wave him away, trying to push away the disappointmentgnawing at my insides. “Yeah, yeah. I’m used to eating alone,anyway.”
Nikolai’s usually graceful gait falters as he walks away fromthe table. Quickly, he recovers and heads towards the kitchen.
And as the kitchen door swings closed, I realize why.
He’d spoken to me in Russian.
I saw the dark-clad man through the restaurant’s front window.
And just like that, I remembered why I’m here.
It’s been too easy to be distracted by her. By how careless sheis with the private details of her life, letting juicy little tidbitsslip past her perfect lips before she even realizes what she’sconfessing.
Like the fact that I’m the first man to f**k her in years.
That shouldn’t make a difference to me. I’m not some vampireon the prowl for virgins. But knowing that I’m the only one inrecent history to make her feel that way… it does something tome.
The problem is, I told Arslan I’d take out two birds with onestone.
And the other bird just appeared outside.
Not only is Giorgos’s spy wearing dark clothes, he’s alsowearing a hood despite the fact it’s a balmy evening. Either hisboss didn’t pass on my warning that I’d kill the next spy I saw,or this i***t has a death wish.
One I’m happy to oblige.
“Prodolzhay yest’. Ya vernus’,” I growl, standing up andmoving around the table.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m used to eating alone, anyway,” Belle replies.
There’s a half-second delay between her response and myrealization.
She answered me. She answered me.
It could be a coincidence. I’m clearly leaving the table, andshe doesn’t need to know Russian to jump to the logicalconclusion that I said I’ll be back.
But I’m not stupid enough to believe that.
I just want to hear it from her directly. By any meansnecessary. Hell, I’d take pleasure in wringing the truth out ofher with my own two hands. Maybe I’ll pull the same trick Idid on the plane and follow her into the bathroom. I’ll pressher against the wall and f**k her until she is half-mad,muttering filthy promises in Russian in her ear all the while.I’ll take her to the edge of release and then make her beg for itin my native tongue, simply for the sheer thrill of hearingwords meant for me and me alone. The last words she’ll eversay.
I’ll do what it takes to get the answers out of her—eventually.
But I made Giorgos a promise, and right now, I have to keep it.
I sweep into the kitchen and nod at the head chef. Oleg and Ihave an understanding. I don’t kill him for overcharging mefrom time to time, and he keeps his mouth shut about thebusiness I conduct here.
I wasn’t lying when I told Belle I never bring women to thisplace. It’s purely for business. She is the lone exception.
I weave through the busy kitchen and walk down the narrowcorridor that leads to the back door. On my way, I pull out myphone and send a text to Arslan.
Be ready. I’m at The Russian Room.
He’ll know what it means. Be close, but don’t be seen. Beprepared for anything. I’m sure he’s already lurking nearbysomewhere.
I step through the back door, the humid evening washing overme, and am about to head down the alley until I see a figureleaning against the brick wall having a smoke.
It’s the man. The spy.
I back into the hallway again, quietly pulling the door closedas I plan. The man can’t be allowed to see me coming. He’llmake a scene. Scream, yell, beg for his life. If I want this to beclean, I can’t be spotted—
I spin around and find Belle standing behind me. Her hazeleyes are wide and worried. “What are you doing?”
“What are you doing?” I counter. “I told you to stay at thetable.”
“You said something in Russian,” she says, chewing on herlower lip. “I didn’t understand you.”
If I wasn’t in the middle of something, I’d applaud herperformance. Truly, it’s Oscar-worthy.
But if she came all the way back here to try to prove to me thatshe had no clue what I meant when I left the table, then she’snot quite a genius.
“Well, now, I’m speaking English,” I bark. “And you need toget the f**k out of here.”
The meek expression on her face shifts at once intoindignation. She crosses her arms. “Forgive me if I sound toomuch like my sister, but you aren’t the f*****g boss of me.”
I grind my teeth just as my phone buzzes with a text fromArslan.
Greek saw me and ducked into the alley behind. Back door.
“What?” Belle asks. “What is going—”
I have seconds. Maybe less. There’s no time to explain.There’s barely time to think.
I grab Belle and force her into the storage closet just behindher. She shrieks, but the kitchen is loud and bustling. No one
“Nikolai!” she fights, swatting at my hands. “What are you—”
I slam the door closed and hold it with my foot as I grab adining chair with a busted leg from the pile next to the trashcan. I wedge it tightly under the door handle.
There’s no time to be sure the makeshift lock will hold. Themoment the chair is in place, I spin and step into the alley.
Just like Arslan said, the man is heading my way.
When the heavy metal door opens, he stumbles away from it.“Whoa. Watch out—”
I jab him in the jaw before he can finish.
He curses and stumbles back, but stays on his feet. He’s too faraway to land a punch, so I kick his knee in.
The kick isn’t solid, so the bone doesn’t snap, but he stillscreams.
A firetruck is wailing down the street behind us, so it’spossible no one heard him. But I’m going to make damn surehe never makes another sound.
I slide my knife out of my pocket, extend the blade, andplunge it into the man’s neck.
He opens his mouth to scream, but it’s too late. I drag theblade through his throat, severing tendons and arteries in onejagged swoop. His vocal chords are shredded. By the time Ipull my knife free, he’s already going limp.
Thirty seconds later, he’s quiet and still on the pavement.
“Well, that was a f*****g mess,” a familiar voice says. I turnand see Arslan stomping towards me. “You could have givenme a heads up about the body. I almost brought mymotorcycle.”
“You could have sat him in your lap. It would’ve been cute,” Isay.
He narrows his eyes. “You can joke because you don’t have todispose of a body tonight. Christ, I’m gonna be up forever
digging a grave for this sorry bastard.”
“I thought you lived for this shit.”
“I said I liked the killing,” he clarifies. “The clean-up sucks.”
“I would’ve asked Misha to deal with it, but you were rightthere in my office. Seemed more convenient.”
He scoffs. “This is punishment for visiting my best friend atwork?”
“I told you to stop dropping in unannounced. Serves youright.”
“You’re a cruel man, Nikolai Zhukova,” he sighs.
He tosses me a towel and I wipe my hands off. The man wasangled so most of his blood spray washed up on the wallinstead of my clothes, but there’s no way to avoid getting yourhands dirty when you’re dealing with a fountain of a neckwound.
“Where am I burying him?”
“Dumping him on Giorgos’s doorstep ought to do,” I say.“Saves you the digging.”
Arslan sighs. “That’s poetic, but a bit risky. You have a plan toget me out of prison when I get caught hand-delivering abody?”
He chuckles. “Yeah, you’re right. I’ll handle it. And you betterget back to your date.”
“Fuck.” I glance back and am almost surprised Belle isn’tstanding in the doorway. The woman has a sneaky way ofslipping under my defenses, in more ways than one.
“Uh-oh. Date not going well?”
“Not a date,” I snap. “And considering she’s trapped in acloset right now, I’d say it isn’t going super well, no.”
“Trapped in a—?” Arslan holds up his hands and shakes hishead. “You know what? I don’t have time for this. I have abody to transport.”
“Good. I don’t have time to explain,” I say. I wave him off andturn back towards the door.
Just as I pull it open, Arslan calls out to me. “If anyone canlock a woman in a closet and still end the night getting laid,it’s you,” he calls.
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
I shake my head and step inside.
- Writer
