Page 173 of Deceptive Vows

I’ll know what to do when Aleksander returns once more.

Sophia looks at me, and her brows knit together.

“You look like shit,” she states.

“So do you,” I throw back.

“Little bitch.” She reaches into her bag and pulls out a syringe. Holding it up, she smiles. “Want some poison, too? I’ll stab you the way I stabbed your guard.”

“Fuck you. You know you can’t take me down.”

“I can’t, but I can get the guards to hold you down. I can give you just enough poison to paralyze your limbs so you can’t move while they rape you.” She laughs, as if that could ever be funny. “I would be careful with my words if I were you. You’re only alive because Ivan wishes it so. That doesn’t mean I can’t destroy you.”

I can’t believe I’m talking to the same person who helped me pick out my wedding dress and talked to me about my hopes for my career.

That was a façade of shit I need to forget.

This is who she is, and she just showed me something I can use against her.

The poison.

The door handle turns, and Aleksander walks in.

“The men are here. It’s time to head down to the meeting room,” he says to her, walking to where she’s sitting.

She answers back in Russian, and the two continue talking in Russian. When he glances at me, I know she said something about me.

I don’t give a fuck what she said. What I’m looking for is a window of opportunity.

He’s here with the gun I have to take from him, and she has the poison.

I have to get to her to get to him, and I have to be ready to seize the moment. If I’m taken down to the meeting room, with Ivan and all his guards, the chance will slip away from me. So, I must keep my eyes opennow.

The chance comes when she gets up out of the chair and walks toward the bathroom door.

Aleksander picks up the TV remote and switches the channel. So he’s not paying attention when I leap off the bed and push myself through the air to reach her.

And neither is she.

Sophia doesn’t look at me until it’s too late. By then, I’ve already knocked her to the floor and grabbed her bag. She squirms to get away from me while I reach into the bag for the syringe that contains the poison.

I grab it and hold it to her neck just as Aleksander rushes toward me.

“I’ll do it if you come any closer. I will do it,” I cry, uncapping the needle. All I would need to do is push once for the needle to pop into the side of her neck, releasing the poison, and kill her.

Aleksander looks terrified.

“Don’t be a fool. Get her,” Sophia cries, and Aleksander comes at me, something I didn’t expect him to do.

At the loss of hope, I do the only thing I can and decide to push the pump on the syringe expecting he’ll stop.

He doesn’t. Sophia screams as I push the entire contents into her neck, and when Aleksander reaches me, I slam into him. He’s built like a wall, so he doesn’t go down. He grabs me, securing his arms around my upper body so I can’t get away.

I kick him and try to wriggle free of his hold.

He squeezes tighter, which is when I feel his gun in his left pocket. I grab it, but because of the position he’s holding me in, when I cock the hammer and fire the bullet, it goes straight in his foot.

It’s enough for him to release me, though, and I fire one more shot straight in his face.