Page 125

This was a good first step.

I would get back to the penthouse and Pavel would see that I was in one piece, and I could start talking to him about letting me have my own computer, or tablet. Just something basic where I could continue the work the girls needed me to do.

I wanted to be productive; surely Pavel could understand that, and we could make some arrangement.

The second I stepped out of the building, ready to head to the Range Rover and back to the penthouse where I had every intention of showing my husband how grateful I was for his trust, the peace I was feeling shattered.

Red and blue lights started flashing, sirens blared, and people froze in the middle of the sidewalk.

Police.

They were everywhere.

The street was suddenly swarming with officers, theirpresence suffocating as they moved like a single unit closer and closer.

Step by step, they were caging me in.

Pavel's guards reacted instantly.

I was pulled against one's back, the others circling me, forming a wall of muscle, guns, and anger.

The tension escalated in seconds. One of Pavel's men drew his weapon, and immediately three police officers had their guns trained on him.

"Put down your weapon," one of the cops yelled.

That was it. I would never be let out of the penthouse again.

One of the men yelled something back in Russian.

"Not bloody likely," one of the others translated. "You have your weapon drawn on our charge."

The sound of safeties clicking off echoed around us. This was about to become a massacre.

If I didn't do something fast, it was going to end poorly.

Then, if I survived, I'd never be allowed out of the bedroom.

Hell, this might push Pavel so far back he'd make me wear that hood again.

People screamed around us.

Someone actually yelled that Russia was invading.

As the pedestrians scrambled for cover, I peeked out between two of the men's shoulders.

I could see more than a few people were hiding behind planters and turned-over tables, holding up their phones to record.

TikTok was going to love this.

A man in a bulletproof vest, gun drawn and held with two hands straight out, stepped forward.

"Alina Russo. We need you to come with us."

My stomach dropped.

This couldn't get any worse.

How did they know my name?