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With one final glance behind me, my hand trembling on the handle, I inhaled sharply and pulled the door open.

I waited for a yell, a guard telling me to get back inside, or threatening me. There was nothing.

Only a dingy, off-white hallway, with no natural light, no art, and no signs of life.

Every nerve in my body screamed at me to run.

I was free—for now.

Taking one last breath, I gripped the handle, pulled the door closed behind me, and stepped into the cold hallway.

I didn't know where I was going—only that I had to run.

CHAPTER 21

ALINA

This was probably the stupidest, most reckless thing I had ever done.

But I didn't have a choice.

The entire time I was in the elevator, I was sure that I was going to hit the bottom floor and the doors would open to reveal Pavel standing there waiting for me. He would have a sadistic grin on his face, the hood in one hand and his belt in the other.

The elevator landed on the ground floor.

There was an excruciatingly long pause before the doors slid open.

My breath locked in my lungs as I squinted, my eyes half-closed.

The breath I'd been holding rushed out of me in a whoosh.

He wasn't there.

No one was.

I crept down the back halls, and I didn't see a single soul until I passed an office where a manager was givingthe cleaning staff a lecture about tight corners when making beds.

He berated them about the importance of ninety-degree angles, and it sounded like everyone was too terrified of the man with the thick Russian accent to look away. For a moment, I wondered if the cleaning staff knew what kind of men were in this hotel?

The staff at the offices were never told, but we still knew.

Thanks to my stolen socks, I was able to creep past the door with no one noticing. It wasn't until I slipped out by the loading dock that I realized I had nowhere to go.

I was out. Completely free, with pockets stuffed with more money than I knew what to do with and nowhere to go. There were no close friends I could turn to, no boyfriends or confidants.

The only person I had was my grandmother, and I couldn't bring this to her nursing home doorstep.

With nowhere else to turn and worried that Pavel was going to find me at any moment, I went to the only place I could think of.

My apartment.

I walked several blocks, through the winding maze of DC streets, keeping my head down and avoiding people's gazes. I couldn't risk making eye contact. What if someone stopped me and asked if I needed help? Or worse, what if they stopped me and mugged me, finding Pavel's cash?

People had died on these streets for far less.

I considered stopping for food, but there was no way I was going to flash that kind of money in this neighborhood.The nicer places where it would be safe would never let me in without shoes, and they all had CCTV, anyway.

It was probably best if I wasn't on camera.