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18
EMMY
“So, spill.”
Ana slumped onto the couch in my room at the Peninsula.“What an ass fuck of a day.”
“Ass fucking can be quite pleasurable with the right guy.”
She raised one dark eyebrow.“Who?Black?”
Fuck, no.He’d split me in two.
“Alaric.But he’s taken now, so don’t get any ideas about ditching Quinn.”
Plus Alaric was a tiny bit scared of Ana, while Samuel Quinn had somehow managed to navigate the mysteries of her mind and fall in love with her.
Ana just snorted.“So you think this day was pleasurable?”
“Not pleasurable, exactly, but certainly stimulating.And speaking of pleasure… You and Darya?Was there something between you?”
“There was a period of…experimentation when we were younger, but we both prefer men.”
“And Vik?Is it true?”
“How am I meant to know?Zacharov told me nothing.”
“But you spent time with Vik?”
She shrugged.“Maybe it’s true.”
“Tell me about them.I realise you hate discussing your past, but I need to know, especially after today’s surprise with Darya.What if we run into another of your ex-colleagues?I’d rather be prepared next time.”
“It’s statistically unlikely.”
“Is it?If they’re working in the security industry in any capacity, it’s entirely possible we’ll cross paths at some point, and there’s a good chance we’ll be on opposing sides.You need to tell me more about them.”
Ana didn’t answer, just got up and walked to the minibar.I didn’t say a word as she added ice to a tumbler and poured two miniatures of vodka over the top.If she needed time, I’d give it to her.But not too much time because I was meant to be meeting Nico in the bar in twenty minutes.He’d left a note at the reception desk, inviting me to join him for that drink I’d suggested earlier, and I figured why not?
In the daytime, the doors in front of the balcony gave me a view of the sea, but tonight, Ana stared out at an inky sky.Rain lashed against the glass, the storm no doubt washing away any remaining evidence in the woods behind the Craft Cabin.The deputies should have searched earlier, but like so many public services, the Coos County Sheriff’s Department seemed to be understaffed and underfunded.
“There were ten of us to start with.One, Two, and Eight died early on in training, and then there were seven.Two girls—me and Dasha—and five boys.Viktor, Artem, Ilya, Radomir, and Pavel.Ilya was the oldest at sixteen.”
“How old is Vik?”
“A year and a half older than us.Three months older than Dasha.”
Which would make him thirty-five, assuming he was still alive.Old enough, experienced enough to be hellishly dangerous, and young enough to work for years if he chose to do so.
“Did you get along with him?”
Another shrug.“Vik was cold.Ice cold.And ruthless.”
“Cruel?”
Ana tilted her head to one side, pondering, then finally shook it.“Not cruel.Who was it that said we can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals?”
“I’m not sure.Some philosopher, probably.”