Page 78 of Twisted Proposal

I ordered Ivan to break down the door if he had to and find her. Watching the camera feed, I saw him walk into every room, open every closet, and check both bathrooms before he called me back.

"She's gone."

CHAPTER25

VIKTORIA

This was perhaps the stupidest thing I had ever done, or the smartest. I wasn't sure.

Either way, I needed to keep my head down and make sure no one saw me. I needed to be invisible. Not even another face in the crowd, just a nameless, faceless person who left someone's mind as soon as they left their sight.

Thankfully, with it being such a chilly night, everyone around me had their heads down, covered with a hat or a hood. The baseball cap I wore not only kept my hair hidden but cast my face in shadow. No one looked at me twice.

It didn't stop me from jumping at every little sound, or my heart from racing like a caged animal whenever someone walked in my direction. Not even passing the turnstiles with my ticket crushed in my sweaty fist helped calm my nerves.

Getting out of the apartment building was surprisingly easy.

I waited a few hours to make sure Artem was gone, or at the very least far from my apartment, and then I searched for train times. There was a late night, ten pm train from Union Station to the William H. Gray station in Philadelphia.

Perfect.

I knew Ivan was down at the front desk, but I thought he would be it.

I should've known better. Artem was smarter than that.

He had stationed another one of his men in my hallway, who was sound asleep. He snored loud enough to wake the dead. I had no idea how I didn't hear it in the apartment.

I crept away from him, each step feeling like I was walking a tightrope.

I guessed money bought you thick walls. A luxury I wouldn't have again for some time if my plan worked. God, I needed this to work. If I didn't get out now, I never would.

Instead of creeping past the sleeping guard to the elevator and heading down to the lobby and praying that Ivan was also passed out, I took a calculated risk.

Artem wasn't stupid, but that didn't mean he thought of everything. At the end of the hall was an emergency exit and a freight elevator. Perfect for moving in furniture and appliances, and for moving out young women looking to make a quick escape.

We were so close to DC I doubted I was the only girl to sneak out the back like this, but I would bet I was the only one running away from the promise of a life of luxury even if that luxury was bought with violence.

There was no one in the loading area.

Just the dumpsters, and one orange cat sleeping on a piece of cardboard, waiting for a rat to scurry by. Still, I stayed in the shadows, pressing my body to the cold brick, pausing to avoid bringing attention to myself in case anyone was around.

I was sure Ivan, or the sound sleeper, would come for me. It was only a matter of time, but I had to be sure no one was around who could rat me out.

Maybe Ivan was checking the camera feeds in my apartment. Maybe there was an alarm on the back door or in the stairwell. My mouth was dry as cotton as I waited, my heart threatening to burst through my ribs, sure I would be caught.

I imagined Artem's face when he found me. Those icy gray eyes turning to steel. That jaw clenching as he fought to contain his rage. The way his fingers would dig into my arms as he dragged me back to my gilded prison.

No one came.

The only living being who knew I had left was the cat who glared at me with one open eye, mad at me for disturbing his nap. Or maybe just wary of people. This close to a campus filled with so many entitled douchebags, there was no telling what this stray had endured.

"Trust me, kitty. I get it," I whispered. Suddenly feeling like a stray myself.

I didn't have a family, and like this little kitty, I didn't want to be anyone's pet, but sometimes that meant being at the mercy of assholes who thought their money and security made them more important. They saw themselves as above me, like the professor who mocked me because he could.

Why did powerful people need to inflict such cruelty on those of us without power?

Maybe when all of this was over, when I was no longer looking over my shoulder, I would get a warm apartment somewhere. Something small, but safe. Maybe then I could get a cat to share my life with. A cat that could come and go as they pleased but knew there was always a safe, warm place for them. No strings attached.