Page 63 of Arseni

He cannot kill me, but he can put her head up on a pole if he chooses.There aren’t any rules against killing a witness.In fact, there is absolutely no way the Bratva will just let me set her free.If Vitaly gets a whiff of this idiocy, I’m dead.

But Nikita… He’s a psychopath who needs me.At the very least, he needs me not to open my mouth about what I know.There’s a trade to be made here.If I can just figure out how to do it without getting Margot and myself killed…

Rule against killing me or not, Nikita wouldn’t just risk me blabbing about what I know.I can’t betray him.I can’t turn my back on him.Even if I did walk away from him, I wouldn’t know where to go.

So I need him to agree with this without the overt threat we both know I could throw.And that is gonna take some time.

I take too long to answer.Margot inhales a sharp breath like she thinks I was bullshitting her, all my credibility sucked away in a gust of air.I can’t blame her.

“Even if you let me go, I still wouldn’t escape him.”

I stare at her for a moment, her chin lowered, her grasp around the towel tight.It takes me a second to figure out she isn’t talking about Nikita.

“If you gave me your stalker’s name, I could take care of him before the night is over.”

She shakes her head without a moment’s thought.“It isn’t that simple.”

“Of course it’s that simple.I’ll get a video confession of him planting the photos in your house.You can be free of him forever...I just have to know who he is.”

Again, she shakes her head.If tonight hadn’t created such a cloud of guilt inside of me, I’d probably get irritated with her.Maybe even snarky.

Instead, I just stare.

“I want to tell you,” she whispers, turning her face slightly toward me while still looking at the ground.“But I can’t.He’s more dangerous than you’re imagining.”

“Have you not figured out by now thatI’mdangerous?”

“It’s different.”

“How is it different?”

“You’re not crazy,” she grinds out like it somehow matters.Like I don’t already live every day of my life dealing with a fucking lunatic.I roll my eyes but push to sit up.I’m not going to press her about it.In fact, I’m glad to be finished talking about him.

Then Margot speaks.

“He’s law enforcement.”

I perk up, the heel of my palms sinking into the memory foam.

“High up,” she squeaks.“Really high up… He’d destroy you, and if that didn’t settle him, he’d have you killed by your own people.”

My head tilts as I think.The high pitch of her voice gives me the impression that she’s lying.That she just doesn’t want me to pry again.But I can’t quite tell.

“He can’t, Margot.He’ll be dead.”

“He’ll find a way.”

Leaning back against the headboard, I can’t help but laugh, even without finding anything funny.She sounds delusional, like she thinks the guy is supernatural.“Okay, so what?What does it matter if I’m dead?”

“It matters.”

My lips fall.“Why?”

She doesn’t answer...She doesn’t have to.

I look away when she gets harder to stare at.Even now, even after everything, she still cares what happens to me.And even now, after everything, she still thinks she’s a rotten person.A predator.A monster.

Like me.She hates herself the way I should.