Page 27 of The Games of Madmen

“What is it?” he demands under his breath, eyes darting all around searching for threats.

Dumdumdumdumdum.

“I just feel…I can’t fucking breathe.”

“No one can breathe in this temperature,” he says with a wink. “It’s fucking hotter than us here.”

“No, it’s something…else.”

He breaks from my hold to sling his arm over my shoulder. His breath is hot against my ear. “We’re fine. You’re fine. We’ll relax once we’re inside. It’s been a long journey.”

Dumdumdumdumdum.

I’m practically shaking by the time we check into our presidential suite. Before the door even closes, I shed out of my jacket and rip at the buttons on my dress shirt. They patter to the carpet at my feet, the shirt now ruined. The material sticks to my flesh and I want it off.

Dumdumdumdumdum.

There was a time when the cold bothered me.

Badly.

Now it’s what I crave.

I fucking miss it.

“Turn on the air,” I snarl, the heat driving me to the brink of madness.

Rodion is quiet as he adjusts the thermostat. I completely undress and rush to the shower. The water is cold the moment it hits my skin, making me moan in relief. While the icy water chills me to my bones, I wonder what the fuck is up with me.

Dumdumdumdumdum.

I’m cooler now, but my heart is racing out of control. After quickly washing the sweat from my body, I rinse off and tiea towel around my waist. Music is now playing in our suite, slightly relaxing me. I find Rodion sitting on the sofa with his now-bare feet kicked up on the table, sipping from a tumbler.

Another glass sits on the table waiting on me.

He’s thrown a pair of shorts on the bed, so I grab them and pull them on before joining him. Sitting next to him, I grab my glass and mimic his position. “We should buy some new shoes,” I say absently, nudging his foot with mine.

“Sure, right after you tell me what the fuck is up with you.”

I gulp down the shitty hotel vodka and grimace. “I don’t know.”

“Your half-ass answers don’t work with me,” he says gently—a tone he reserves foronlyme.

Letting out a heavy sigh, I tell him all I know. “My heart is racing. I have a sense of dread. Something about this place doesn’t sit right with me. Like it’s going to end badly, or something fucked up is going to happen.”

He sips his vodka and lets out a laugh. “Something fucked up for us is like unimaginable for most people. You really get a bad vibe from this place?”

“Not the hotel. The country. The state. I don’t know how to explain it. Like I said, I’m probably just jet lagged.”

Sliding a palm behind my neck, he rubs the tension away. A sappy love song comes on, making my heart thump harder in my chest. I don’t have to tell Rodion to change it, because he feels what I feel. We are the same. It gets switched to something else, but I’m already rattled.

“Your leg is bouncing, Z.”

“I’m irritable,” I confess.

“Hmmm, let’s go and find someone to play with. Viktor’s place isn’t far from here.”

Maybe that’s what I need.