Page 37

When I woke up, I thought I was in bed at home briefly, but then the pounding headache brought it all back. That and the fact I couldn’t move my arms or legs, tightly bound as I lay on my side, with the scratchy bedspread rubbing against my aching cheek.

When the light snapped on in the motel room, the shock of seeing Rurik Kuzmin looking at me like a cobra hypnotizing its prey had indeed paralyzed me for a split second. I tried to shriek, but my throat was constricted, and I could barely whisper a warning to Zoey.

I tried to tell her to run, to save herself. There was no way she could understand what this man was capable of. The very monster that Dima had saved me from had somehow caught up with me, ready to take me from the rival he could never seem to best. I was the winning trophy, and it hit me hard that I might be facing the end of my life.

Talk about losing your freedom.

Zoey was frozen, either in shock or fear or both, and her hands gripped my arms tight enough to hurt as she was rooted to the floor behind me. Before I could shove her out, drag her away to the car, and a last attempt to get away, Rurik was on me.

His fist lashed out, and my mouth filled with the coppery taste of my own blood. Pain burst as my lip split, and it was followed by another quick blow to the side of my head. A ring on his finger gashed through my scalp, and the room spun as I staggered backward. Where was Zoey? Did she finally realize how bad things were and manage to get away while he was occupied with me?

Another blow to the same spot had me falling to the floor. Training from long ago kicked in, and I pulled my arms over my head while kicking at his ankle, hoping to knock him down. I kicked again, triumphant through the pain as his knee bent awkwardly, giving me a second to scramble back to my feet.

Or try to, anyway. I was grabbing at the desk to pull myself up, attempting to shake off the dizziness from the first two punches to the head. With a sneer, he lunged at me, taking me back to the ground. The force of the concrete under the musty carpeting and the weight of his body sent all the oxygen gusting out of my lungs. As I finally managed to suck in a breath, a hand thrust a damp rag over my mouth. A sweet smell filled my nostrils, and I gagged, but then everything faded away.

And now I was tied up, my head throbbing, and my husband’s worst enemy gazed at me from a chair only two feet away. I got a sick ripple down my spine thinking he might have been staring at me while I was unconscious, what he might have done when I couldn’t defend myself.

Not that I could even move now, except to twist my head away to avoid those cruel eyes.

“Where’s Zoey?” I croaked, wondering if she managed to get away. Maybe Rurik didn’t care about her.

He snickered as if my question was a funny joke. Then it hit me. Zoey was the one who brought me here. It had only taken her a couple minutes in the front office. Was she really checking in or getting a key that had been left for her? All that time, I thought I had been playing my new friend. Had she been the one pulling the strings?

But how? Why? It was all so confusing, with my head still pounding and the creepy feeling of Rurik’s gaze boring through me. I gathered my waning courage and turned back to see him studying me. Pushing aside the revulsion his cold eyes and sick smile filled me with, I tried to give him a dark stare. He only laughed.

“You’re going to pay for this,” I said, my voice coming out much weaker than I would have liked.

“Look at you acting all brave,” he taunted. “Why don’t you try to get yourself out of those ropes? I’ll video your struggle and send it to Dimitry.”

I had been about to do just that in the hope that he wasn’t any good at tying knots, but when he made good on his threat and aimed his phone at me, I lay still, not about to give him the satisfaction.

“What do you want?” I asked.

“I’m only cashing in on your father’s debt, and getting some much-deserved revenge along with it.”

Oh God, my father never paid him. Dima was right all along to be worried. I hoisted myself to a sitting position and glared at him, at the same time bracing myself for another blow.

He raised his phone and smiled. “Good girl, he’ll love how hard you tried to save yourself.”

I ignored that, because it was too scary to dwell on. Instead, I concentrated on the nonsense he spewed. “What revenge are you talking about? The only time the Fokins ever came after you was in retaliation.”

Was I defending Dima? Yes, I was. Anyone was better than that lowlife, but Dima was worth thousands of men like Rurik, no matter that he was a Bratva king and had some shady dealings.

“It’s cute, and a bit sad that you think that’s true,” he answered, his eyes losing the slightest bit of light in them as he stared at me, unblinking.

He really was like a snake. “I can’t wait to watch Dima rip your throat out,” I spat.

Maybe I shouldn’t have gone so far, because if I had thought he looked scary before, his face would have turned downright terrifying.

“Well, he’d have to find me to be able to do that, wouldn’t he?” he asked, voice eerily calm. “If I could keep my little sister hidden for eight years, I can keep you out of sight just as easily. Dimitry will never find you once we get to our final destination. If you behave, I might keep you alive. I’m sure you’re good at some things.” His soulless eyes trailed up and down the length of me. “I’m sure I can find a use for you. And if you don’t behave, I’ll send your body parts one at a time to your husband, until there’s nothing left of you.”

To keep from throwing up from the sheer horror of his very real threats, I opened my mouth to scream at the top of my lungs. That wiped the smile off his face, and he jumped forward, wrapping his hands around my throat and squeezing until everything went dark again.