Page 47 of Arseni

“It’s done.”

Nikita lifts his coffee cup while eyeing me with what looks like annoyance.It must be about Margot, and I want to ask what happened but know better.

“Any witnesses?”

He takes a drink after watching my head shake.When he sets the coffee down, he rolls his neck.“Good.I don’t ever want you to leave a witness again.Do you understand?”

“Yes sir… Is there a problem with the whore?”

He points to a newspaper lying in front of a chair crookedly pulled out.“Yeah.She’s atrociously boring and comes with baggage.”

I sit down in the chair, scooting it straight, and look over an article about Margot.The creases in my brow deepen the further I read.

“What the fuck?”

“Don’t get excited,” Nikita says, leaning back in his chair.“The cunt is innocent.”

I shake my head while skimming where it says the woman suspected of acquiring child pornography is evading the police.They don’t even think she’s been taken.They think she’s on the run.

That should be perfect for me.It should make me laugh.But humor never comes.

I turn to Nikita.“How do you know?”

He glares.She’s really put him in a foul mood.“How do younotknow?”

I don’t answer him, but I vividly remember her begging me to return money to a ‘stalker.’She freely claimed she was paying him off for information he had on her.When she wouldn’t tell me what it was, I grew disinterested.But ifthisis what she was hiding… Now I understand.

“I offered her sanctuary here, and she practically spit it back in my face,” Nikita says.“No one with this kind of deviant taste could resist that.”

“Resist what?”I ask, my voice oddly weak.“What were you going to do,provideher with the shit?”

Nikita raises a brow.“Did I just find your line?”

I rub a hand over my jaw and inhale a slow breath instead of answering.I don’t know why I’m annoyed with him.I don’t even think he’s serious.The guy gets off on tugging out every sliver of vulnerability he can from a person, so it shouldn’t surprise me that he’d take his chance with Margot.I’mnotsurprised.Just … annoyed.

I stand from the table, folding the newspaper under my arm.Before I can take a step, my phone goes off.I don’t have to look to know who it is.Luka gave himself a special ringer two years ago, which is just a series of porn star moans.

I strip my cell from my pocket and hit ignore while Nikita boils beside me.

“Who is it?”he asks, his voice deceptively calm.

“Fox.He found the guy who trashed my place.”I turn the phone on vibrate and slide it back into my pocket.

“Again?”

Again…?

Shit.

I close my eyes at the memory of telling him about Fox’s newly deceased enemy.It was brief, just an off-handed remark when Nikita asked yesterday.His tone was so bland, I knew he didn’t care.But he obviously remembered.

“Now you’relyingto me about Luka calling?”

I face him with a sigh.“I haven’t been answering.”

Don’t be so fucking paranoid.

“Uh huh.”Nikita lazily lifts a hand.“And I suppose you want me to just trust that?”