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“Why didn’t you at least text her? Like I said, she was close to dumping you.”
“First of all, like I said, your roommate is fucking annoying as hell. I wanted a fucking night away from her, so I just fucking ignored her ten million messages because she was driving me crazy. I hated playing that simpering douchebag Drew and wanted the night off, so I went out and got drunk. Second of all, I knew she’d forgive me if I made up something stupid. I knew I wasn’t going to be around that much longer, so it didn’t matter.”
God, what he was saying actually made sense. He was irritated at being Drew and knew Laney would let it slide if he blew her off. And he was right.
“In fact, I’m throwing this thing out the window so she can’t call me anymore,” he griped, as he opened the window and threw the phone into oncoming traffic.
I gasped in horror, my hands covering my mouth, as I watched all hope of rescue get crushed under the tires of oncoming traffic.
Orlov frowned at me. “It’s just a phone. I got another one,” he said, as if I was distraught over the destruction of his property as opposed to my last lifeline getting literally tossed out the window. Oh my god, this was a nightmare.
“We’re here,” he said with satisfaction as he pulled into the small parking lot of the dilapidated hotel.
I jolted in shock. I had been so fixated on the phone that I failed to notice that we were pulling up to the hotel.
Oh god. The hotel.
I had to run, I had to get away. Surely, in an area as busy as this, I could get away and Orlov wouldn’t do anything crazy. As soon as he stopped, I ripped open the door, but before I could get out, I felt a hand hook into the back of my pants and yank me back inside.
Wrapping both arms around me, Orlov pulled me against his body, his face uncomfortably close to mine. “Where are you going, Emmy? You don’t know which room we’re in.”
Orlov was a hard read. Sometimes it seemed like he believed I truly wanted to be with him, and other times it seemed like he was fully aware that I considered myself a kidnap victim. This ambiguity made it difficult to know how to respond to him.
“Uh, I just wanted to stretch my legs,” I whispered into his menacing features.
He looked at me doubtfully. “I’d feel better if you let me open the door for you. That’s how a real boyfriend does it, right?” he said in that creepy conversational way.
“Uh, yes?” I replied because what else could I say. That was obviously the answer he was looking for, even if it wasn’t the one I wanted to give.
His eyes lit with pleasure at my coerced response. “That’s right.” Again, he was so confusing. It was as if he sailed in and out of reality.
His dark eyes zeroed in on my mouth, and I knew this time there was going to be no reprieve. He leaned in and kissed me, shoving his tongue down my throat as he held me tight. I reflexively recoiled, jerking my head back to break the unwanted contact.
He frowned briefly, then his expression cleared. “You don’t have much experience, huh? I’ve been watching you for a long time. Did you like all the flowers I’ve sent you? I went to every one of your concerts. I love classical music and when I found out you were an accomplished musician, I knew you were the one. I knew it in the limo when Yuri grabbed you, but after, when I heard you play, I knew it for certain.” His eyes were bright with certainty as they stared intently in mine, as if daring me to disagree. There was no way I was going to do that.
He lifted his hand and stroked it down my cheek. “I kept track of you. I know you haven’t had any boyfriends. I like that. I’m going to teach you everything I like,” he said, his expression now filled with sinister lust. I could only imagine what a psychopath like Orlov was into. “I can’t wait to get into that room, tie you down, gag you and bust that cherry. It’s going to be so fucking sweet,” he practically purred.
Oh god, oh god, oh god.
“I’m going to get out of this car, and you are going to stay there until I open the door, right?”
I nodded, my vocal cords tied into one solid mass at this point.
He went to open the door, but turned back and grabbed me by the chin, his eyes going from heated to stone cold in an instant. “You don’t want to fucking test me on this, Emmy. Just understand that I will have no problem killing anyone that tries to take you away from me. You’re mine now. You even attempt to talk to someone, I will shoot them without even thinking about it. I don’t give a shit about the cops—they won’t ever find me. They won’t find us.”
I nodded my head, my brain scrambling to think of a plan of escape that didn’t get anyone killed. I guess he had dipped into the reality where I was a kidnap victim—actual reality.
I had a sickening suspicion my placations weren’t going to work much longer.
Chapter 34
Ivan
Will and I had devolved into silence, both of us keeping our eyes peeled as we scanned Cicero Avenue for a black, late model Camaro.
Of course, Orlov was driving such a douchey car.
Anya was still on the phone, telling us the car was just ahead of us, but we had yet to see it. I wanted to mow over the cars in front of me, gritting my teeth in agonized frustration as I slowed down yet again.