Page 8 of Debt to the Mafia King

Would he take what he wanted and leave me unsatisfied?

There was only one way to find out, and it would make all my problems go away.

But could I really do it?

Sighing, I reached for my phone.

“What’s happened? Why aren’t you asleep, Leah?” Dion answered after the first ring, which was surprising because we weren’t meant to have our phones on us at work.

“Nothing’s wrong.” I lied.

“But you decided to call when you should be asleep.” Dion knew me well. Sometimes, I thought he might know me better than I knew myself. We both had dark secrets in our past, things we were trying to move away from and forget. He just did it better than I did.

“Tell me what’s wrong, Leah,” he said softly, and in the background I could hear the sound of the bell over the door tinkle and a deep voice ask for gas.

A deep Russian voice.

My heart slammed into my throat, and I made a choking noise. It couldn’t be right? Viktor wouldn’t go back? What reason would he have?

There was more than one Russian in this neighbourhood. Hell, there were more than a hundred.

And every single one of them probably had ties to Viktor, a small mocking voice said in my head.

“Well, that was strange.” I could almost see Dion shake his head through the phone. I didn’t answer. “Leah, are you there?”

“I’m here.” My voice shook, and this time I couldn’t hide it.

“Leah, love.” Dion’s voice dropped down a few octaves, almost like he was whispering so that he wouldn’t be overheard. “What’s going on? Did something happen?” It dropped even lower. “Did you see the car again?”

Lie. A quiet voice said, and it strangely sounded like Viktor’s. Lie,otherwise I’ll have to go after him as well, and you wouldn’t want that, would you?

I could almost see the mocking cock of his head as he said it, the way a knowing smile played across his lips.

Even in my imagination, he was a domineering asshole.

“No.” I cleared my throat and lied, and just like that, I made my decision. I couldn’t put the people I cared about in danger, and I couldn’t pay Viktor back. The only thing I had of worth was my body.

Would I break something inside me to sell myself like that? Yes, but what other choice did I have?

I knew what Dion would say, he would tell me to go to the police, but I couldn’t do that either.

My hands were well and truly tied.

“No,” I said stronger than before. “Nothing happened. I think I just freaked myself out for no reason. You’re right, Dion,” I sighed. “I’ve been working too hard, and I don’t think I’ve dealt with Alek’s death.”

Silence met my words.

“I think— I think his accident—”

“Wasn’t an accident at all,” Dion cut in. And I sucked in a hissing breath.

“What do you mean? Of course, it was an accident.” I frowned. Why did my voice sound so defensive?

“He got hit by a car, Dion.”

“But the driver didn’t stop. I’ve been thinking about it for a while, Leah, and then when you said about the dude from earlier—”

My lips twitched. What would Viktor think about being called a dude?