Page 6 of Beautifully Ruined

Ivan shoots him in the head.

I shake my head. “Two words. Anger management.”

The gun points at my head.

“Why shouldn’t I shoot you dead and have your girl carved up?”

“If you kill me, then the entire police force and the FBI will be here. They’ll know who took the money. You. You’ll be stripped of your diplomatic immunity because I don’t think Moscow likes stupid messes.”

He narrowed his eyes.

I shrug. “I need to manually disable it. So, you need me alive. And the only way I’ll do that is if you let Vi go. Now.”

Fury and hate darken Andronski’s gaze. “Do not mess with me.”

“Or what? You’ll kill me? Tell me, Ivan. Will you do that before or after the cops and FBI arrive to arrest your corrupt ass?”

Chapter Two

VIOLET

“Arethey feeding you the samefromagesandwiches as me, and the importedaqua?” My attempt at a joke falls flat, even to my own ears.

I’m aware of how pathetic I sound, but I desperately want to ask the girl I’ve dubbed Jean if she’s been fed enough, given enough water.

Not for me and my own personal future, but for hers.

Eight months in here is unfathomable, heartbreaking, and she seems to think she’s being sold into human trafficking.

Sex work. It has to be.

Part of me balks, rears back from it. That part whispers she’s wrong, she’s crazy, they wouldn’t keep her for so long, but… Maybe they do. With some.

Maybe they sell to the highest bidder.

Though eight months must mean she’s unhealthy, not looking her best.

Then again, some men just want a girl who’ll do all the depraved things. Slap a dress on her, some make up, and if she’s pretty, thin, sparkly like a new gift, then he’s happy.

My stomach turns.

Like a fantasy turned nightmare.

For a few minutes, I question my needs and desires, my dark side.

But this kind of future the girl faces?

Being locked away and at someone’s mercy, never knowing when the next move might come?

I don’t want that.

No one wants that.

No woman. No girl. Just the depraved men who don’t care about the girl they use. All they get off on is power.

Power to own, to buy, to use and abuse.

This is the wrong kind of dirty because the victim has no control. No power.