Page 124 of Rapunzel Is Losing It

I almost believed him. The guards definitely believed him. They all chuckled. The guy in front of us raked his eyes over my naked legs before he stepped away from the door. Luka’s hand was steel around my arm as he pulled me through, hard and fast enough to make me stumble in these damn heels. If it hadn’t been for his grip, I would have face-planted on the gleaming wood floors in the VIP suite. This way, I could get a good look at the large windows on one end of the room, overlooking the arena, the bar lining the corner, and the bright and modern seating area on the other side of the room.

When I got to that seating area, my steps actually faltered and Luka groaned as he kept me upright.

“Silas.” The man slumped back over a chair looked almost nothing like Silas. Half his face was bloodied and swollen, his usually perfectly-styled hair hung limp, and even the camera on the floor had come apart in a thousand shards. If I hadn’t spent a whole week with him, I might not have recognized him.

Silas Whittaker groaned and blinked, clearly trying to focus on me.

“What are you doing here?” I hissed.

“Following the story.”

Fuck. I hadn’t planned on him being here. I hadn’t planned on him getting himself beaten up. For what story, exactly? This? Me? Victor?

“Explain yourself,” Piotr Yelchin didn’t bother with faux niceties this time as he pushed himself off the bar, rolling hiswrist to swirl ice cubes around in his drink. He was in a gray pinstripe suit and shiny grey leather shoes.

Another man stood at the bar - short gray hair and striking blue eyes - and I recognized him from countless videos. But Yury, Victor’s trainer, should have been with him. He should be preparing Victor for a fight, not sipping drinks with Petya.

Luka offered his father the same story he’d told the guards at the door.

Beyond the windows, the arena roared, illuminated by spotlights and phone cameras flashing. Two women were laying into each other in the octagon. When I tugged in that direction, Luka let me go. I flattened a palm against the glass panes. Even if the cold barely sank through my thick lace gloves, I could stillfeelthe arena. It trembled like a frenzied heartbeat. Wherever Victor was, wherever he was feeling this tremor coursing through the arena, I hoped Irina got to him. I needed her to get to him.

“Well, what the hell am I supposed to do with her, huh? You never think twice, do you? Fucking moron.”

I saw Luka’s eyes twitch in the reflection of the glass. I turned back around just as he pulled a gun from beneath his jacket. It was wrapped in a plastic bag.

“This has Vitya’s fingerprints all over it. We can make it look like a murder suicide. You already have the guy who’s been lurking around her house. Might as well throw him into the mix, too. Tragic love affair and all that.”

“Oh, that’s fucking great,” Silas chuckled, then groaned and readjusted his position. We had to get him to a hospital.

“Alright, maybe not such a moron.” Petya clicked his tongue and sipped his drink, regarding me over the rim of his glass. “You don’t want to run away screaming, Barbie?”

“I’m wearing heels too high to run and the fight is too loud for anyone to hear my screams.”

“Smart girl,” he chuckled.

“Smart enough to propose a deal.”

“A deal?” He laughed and sauntered over, swirling those damn ice cubes in his drink. “You’re in no position to offer me a deal.”

“If that’s what it takes to stay alive.” I swallowed and forced myself to meet his cold eyes. “Last I checked, you lost a supplier. Lev? The last man who threatened me and wound up dead.” I shot a glance at Luka that hopefully looked menacing enough. “He was one of the men who delivered you girls to work in your brothels, right? He said your othersuppliersweren’t half as good as him.”

“Did he?” Petya raised his brows at me.

That wasn’t enough. I needed confirmation. I needed him to say it. I glanced down at my big bow and all my ruffles, before popping my glossed lips at Petya. “Uh-huh, like, that’s literally what he said. He could have been, like, totally lying. I kinda don’t think so though.”

His icy eyes dropped to my mouth. Pink and pouty and perfectly underestimateable. “He did always bring in the prettiest girls.”

Yes. Exactly. I needed more of that.

“Well, if you’re looking for hookers…”

“Are you offering?”

“Very funny. Do you want some or not?”

I needed him to spell it out. Say it. If he just said the words, we’d have him.

“Alexei has been struggling to get good meat,” Petya said, and my stomach coiled tight at these girls being described as meat. “Do you have connections to Russia that I should know about, Miss Montgomery?”