Page 28 of Ruby Menace

“Why would I lie to you milaya?” Zoya shrugs.

I glare at her. I know her well enough to tell when she’s up to something. And a flicker in her eyes is enough to tell me that she’s behind Tiana’s disappearance.

Blyad!

The bitch is up to something. But I don’t have time to deal with her manipulative bullshit right now.

“Dima, get a team together,” I bark. “We need to find Tiana.”

“I don’t understand what the big fuss is,” Zoya interjects. “She’s a big girl. I am sure she can take care of herself.”

Not against fucking Petrov, she can’t.

“Shut up!” I pause and give her a look that speaks more than a thousand words. She blinks back at me through long lashes, her expression pure innocence. Classic Zoya. She’s behind this, that much is clear.

“You stay here. I aim daggers at her with my eyes. “We will talk about this when I get back.”

Before she can say anything, I turn to face Dima. “Get two of the men to keep an eye on her,” I glance over to where Zoya is standing. “Make sure they follow her everywhere, even if she’s taking a shit. I want to know her every move. Do not let her out of sight. Do you understand?”

“Got it, Boss.” Dima nods. “What do you want to do about Tiana?”

I feel adrenaline surge. “Get everyone else to start scouring the place in a three mile radius. Look for anything out of the ordinary. She can’t be far.”

My men scramble to follow Dima’s orders while I head to the back office to see what might have been caught on the security cameras. There’s a guy at the controls, skimming through footage when I arrive. He turns to look at me over his shoulder.

“Pakhan, I found something! She left this way. About half an hour ago.” He points at the screen. “There’s a camera over the service access.”

I check the security footage and see her slipping out a side door that leads to an alley. It connects the back entrance of the restaurant with the main door.

Blyad!

What the fuck is she thinking? She’s supposed to know by now that she’s not safe out there. I have to find her before someone else does.

With Dima in tow, I charge through the restaurant to the kitchen and out through the service gate. Once outside, I run into the alley she disappeared down. It’s dark. Shadowed. Plenty of places to hide in if you’re a woman on the run… or if you’re a motherfucker hoping to catch one.

“Look for anything, no matter how small!” I bark at my men spreading out behind me. I’m already scanning the area, searching for any kind of clue that could tell me where she went from here. It doesn’t take long before I see signs of a struggle. An overturned trash can, skid marks on the ground. I sprint closer, running my eyes over the scene.

Then I see it.

A fine spray of blood splattering the sidewalk. Not much, but enough. A single drop of Tiana’s blood is a drop too much. My heart drops into my stomach. She was taken.

Blyad!

I spin around as if she might appear from any direction.

“Tiana!” I roar her name, scanning the empty alley for any indication of which way they went, but I already know it’s useless. The blood on the sidewalk already started to clot which means it’s been there for at least ten minutes.

“Pizdets Nahui Blyat!” I rake both hands through my hair.

How did anyone even know to take her from here? We kept the whole fucking restaurant locked down for tonight’s event. We have security everywhere so that shit like this can’t happen.

I continue to fume, but I already know the answer to my dilemma.

It was an inside job, dolboyob.

Someone who knew about tonight’s event sold us out. There is no other explanation. And I know exactly who that someone is. She gave herself away the moment I looked into her eyes.

Fucking Zoya.

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