Page 31 of Flames of Ruin

I catch Daniil’s men side-eyeing each other as they trail behind us.

Two muscular Bratva members walk Miranda and me down a long, dimly lit hallway. The butterflies in my stomach are flitting around up to my throat and the only reason I feel somewhat relieved since I can still hear the footsteps of Daniil’s guards behind us. I’m almost certain the only reason they haven’t put bullets in our heads is because members of their brotherhood accompany us.

We come to a stop at a door with a crooked sign that reads management. Opening it, they usher us inside where we come face to face with Dimitri. Surprisingly, he is alone.

His hands are clasped together in front of him.

He smiles as he says, “Well, ladies. Have a seat.”

“I’d rather stand,” I say defiantly as I cross my arms across my chest.

Dismissing my comment, Dimitri motions toward the chairs in front of his desk, and I can feel a firm hand on my shoulder pressing me down into the chair.

Reluctantly, I sit down.

“Funny. My men have never seen you in my casino until tonight. First timers and caught cheating?”

“Rookie mistake.” I smirk as I lean over, flaunting my breasts, that are fighting the fabric of the dress. I lay my clutch down on the desk while waiting for him to respond, hoping the packet sniffer is close enough to Dimitri’s laptop to retrieve the information we need.

“Yes, well, we do not tolerate cheating here. I don’t care how beautiful the clientele is.” He grins.

Looking past us, he speaks in Russian to Daniil’s men behind us.

After a moment, Dimitri nods. “My men don’t have the best judgment when they’re not thinking with their brains.”

He stands up, motioning for us to follow suit. I grab my clutch off the wooden desk as he rounds the corner. Placing his hand under my elbow, he grips it tightly, guiding me back out the door.

Before he lets me go, he yanks me closer to him and whispers in the ear with the bug in it, his tone sinister. “I remember you from Raven’s. I never forget a pretty face. Tell Draco ‘Hi’ for me.” He pauses. “We will see each other again, and this time, he won’t stop me.”

***

Exiting the back of the building, we hurriedly make our way to the cars parked in a line down the dark alley. Daniil’s men swiftly get us into our respective cars, shutting the doors behind us.

“I won’t know if we have what we need until we get back to Vanguard, but at least I’m not dead.” I shrug, trying to chuckle. Drake’s face is a mix of anger and worry.

“I wouldn’t be so confident just yet. Dimitri isn’t stupid and he will not react well to us trying to pull one over on him.”

The words barely escape his lips when gunfire erupts outside the car. Drake lunges forward to shield me with his body as bullets rain down against the side of the armored vehicle.

“Climb to the backseat and get down!” He shouts as he grabs his gun from his holster. “Do NOT leave this car until I come back, do you understand?!”

Growing impatient at my hesitance, he practically throws me over the center console into the backseat. I have to catch myself with my hands or else I’d land face first into the leather seat.

Anywhere else, being manhandled like that would’ve been hot.

“Drake! You can’t leave me here!” I scream, scrambling to reach him, gripping at his suit jacket as he goes to exit the driver’s side door.

My mind races and my heart beats frantically at the thought of being trapped inside this car with gunfire surrounding me outside.

As Drake slams the door shut, I can hear Miranda screaming in my earpiece in the other car. Ripping the wire out of my ear, I clasp my hands over my head to drown out the surrounding noise. I can hear the cracking of different guns, the groans and thuds from bodies as they drop to the ground, and smell the gunpowder infiltrating the cabin of the car.

What feels like eternity is really only ten minutes at most. The gunfire ceases and I hear the sounds of cars peeling out and driving off. Then a heavy deafening silence rains down around the car until I hear the crunching of the gravel as footsteps slowly approach the door.

A wave of anxiety washes over me. My body shakes uncontrollably from the nerves and adrenaline.

As if it will protect me, I keep my arms folded over my head as the footsteps grow closer.

The door rips open, and I hear his voice.

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