Page 178

Something’s wrong.
I try to keep calm. Rational. Maybe Damien doesn’t want me in the city. Maybe Roman’s under orders to take me somewhere safer, more remote. But why not the estate?
I glance sideways. Roman’s jaw is tight, his hands still on the wheel, knuckles white. He hasn’t said a word in half an hour.
I clear my throat. “So…where exactly are we going?”
No answer.
“Roman?”
Nothing.
I shift in my seat. “I swear to God, if you’re taking me back to Damien’s?—”
“We’re not going to the estate.”
His voice is clipped. Final.
I blink. “Okay. Then where?—?”
The car jerks slightly as it pulls off the highway onto a narrow road that disappears into thick trees. Gravel crunches under the tires. There’s nothing around. No lights. No buildings. Just woods and an eerie kind of silence.
And then Roman slows to a stop.
Middle of nowhere.
“What are we doing?” I ask, pulse already picking up.
“Get out.”
I laugh, but it comes out nervous. “What?”
Roman turns toward me, eyes cold. Unfamiliar. And that’s when I see it—the gleam of metal in his lap.
A gun.
I freeze.
“Out. Now.”
I don’t move. “Roman?—”
He snatches the phone from my hand and removes the SIM card before I can even process what’s happening.
I stare at it. At him.
“What the hell are you doing?”
His smile is cruel. Foreign. “You’re just too gullible, Sasha.”
My body goes cold all at once.
“You think Damien’s the only one who’s been keeping tabs on you? Jesus.” He chuckles, low and bitter. “You really are just a pretty little thing with no clue what you’ve walked into.”
I’m out of the car before I even realize it. He yanks the door open wider, gun visible now, and I step back instinctively, my boots crunching on gravel.
The wind rustles through the trees. My breath comes in shallow bursts.