Page 50 of Darkest Deeds

He stops and glances over his shoulder. “I have shit to do, Ava.”

“I get it, but I’d like to get dressed too. Can’t you cut this off now?” I hold up my bound wrists like an offering.

“I told you, no clothes.”

“And this?” I raise my arms higher.

“It stays.”

His words hit hard. The connection when we talked last night felt real. I could sense the outer layer of his wall start to crack, but sometime during the night it iced over, reverting him into the man who almost choked me to death.

“But after last night…” Clearing the emotion from my voice, I start over. “We slept in the same bed, and I didn’t go anywhere. Doesn’t that count for something?”

“Nothing happened last night, Ava. I came down your throat. You can’t tell me that doesn’t happen to you on a regular basis.”

I flinch, his words as painful as if he’d slapped me.

A shadow crosses Niko’s face, but before either of us can say a word, he stomps out of the room, slamming the door behind him. I’m still in shock when I hear voices on the other side of the door. I don’t know if it’s out of curiosity, survival, or outright sadism, but I crawl out of bed stark naked and tiptoe to the door. Softly pressing my ear against it, I make out each of their voices.

“I thought you hated her,” Mikhail says, his tone slightly accusatory.

“I do.”

“If that’s how you treat your enemies, remind me to never piss you off.”

Niko growls, his patience paper thin. “Suck my dick.”

Mikhail laughs. “My point exactly.”

“I got this, Mik.”

“You have nothing. Sergei is expecting you to deliver what is left of that girl’s body to him. When you cannot do it, he will come after you. That is if Arthur does not have your head for it first.”

What?

My heart pummels my chest. Niko talked to my father and didn’t tell me? I don’t have time for that to hurt as much as it should because it feeds into a more terrifying thought.

Niko promised him my dead body.

“Who says I can’t give it to him?”

I bite my arm to keep from screaming.

“What the hell is in your head, Nikolai?”

“Things that are going to haunt me for the rest of my life, Mik.” Niko shuffles around, and I think he’s moving toward the front door when I hear him change directions.

Shit, shit, shit!

Screw tiptoeing, I run like the prey I am and jump back on the bed, quickly sliding underneath the sheet just as the door opens. “Forget something?” I croak.

“Yeah, to warn you that Mik is going to stay here with you for a while.”

“Where are you going?”

“Not that I owe you an explanation, but I have a job to do. Contrary to what you might think, it doesn’t revolve around you.”

“You talked to Arthur?”

---