Page 47 of Darkest Game

Nico smirks. “We just got here. Got a tip that you were at this motel. Elaine Finnigan was keen enough to tell us. She got lucky when the car you stole still had the phone of the man it belonged to in it and she was able to track the car for us to here.”

“To kill me?” I ask. “Because if you kill me, then you’ll never get Irina.”

“Where is she?” Mikhail growls.

“Oh. Elaine just took her. To have her be ganged raped and killed. I can get her back if you let me go.”

Nico scoffs. “We don’t fucking believe you, Liam. We found Elaine. She told us that you killed her husband and stole Irina. Thatyouwanted to rape her.”

“And you believe her word over mine?”

“Yes,” Mikhail says flatly. “The woman was in clear distress when we found her. And word going around is that you did, in fact, kill Jack. So I’m inclined to believe her.”

Fuck, fuck, fuck. This is not good. Irina is going to be tortured by Elaine and these two fuckers are going to kill me before I get the chance to save her.

“Fine. Check the motel. Tell me if you see Irina. Because she’s not here. And when you find out she’s not here, you’re going to wonder where she is and only I know so killing me won’t get you anywhere.”

“Check the room,” Mikhail orders.

Nico rolls his eyes. “I’m not a dog for you to bark at.” But he goes inside the motel anyway and checks the room. After a moment, he comes back out. “The fucker is right. Irina isn’t in there.”

“Then go to the front desk and ask them if he checked out multiple rooms. He could be hiding her in another room.”

“I want to threaten Liam. Why don’t you go do it?”

Mikhail huffs. “Because I have a gun on him. You go do it.”

With a grumble, Nico heads to the front office.

“I don’t have Irina,” I grit out. “Elaine took her. She’s fucking insane. You don’t know the full story.”

“I know that you took Irina from my own house, right under my nose. I know that you killed Jack Finnigan. I know that you took Irina on the run just to torture me and Nico.”

“Neither of you actually care about her? Do you?”

“I love my wife and Nico loves his wife. We’re doing this for them. They’re the ones being tortured by their sister being missing. Think about that, Liam. Think about how you’re hurting innocent women just for your own game.”

“It was Jack’s game. He was the one who told me to steal your wife and Nico’s wife. Irina just happened to be there and was easier to take. But I didn’t ask for this.”

“Bullshit.” He slams his hand against the top of the car. The sound makes me flinch and I’m not proud of that. “You kidnapped Natalya and Sasha once before for fun.”

“True. And I almost died because of it. It’s why I had no desire to do it again. I know you have no reason to believe me, Mikhail. But Irina is in danger right now. Keeping me hostage here isn’t going to help.”

“Like you care about her. You kidnapped her.”

“I…” I have no response because I know in my gut that I care about Irina. Even though I’ve only known her a short time, I do know that I want to protect her. That I want to see her safe. Even if she is a Russian. That doesn’t matter anymore.

“She’s my wife,” is all I can say.

Mikhail scoffs. “She’s not your wife. You forced her to marry you.”

“And you didn’t force your own wife?”

“Natalya came to me willingly.”

“And Sasha? Did she go to Nico willingly?”

Mikhail hesitates. “That’s not important.”