Page 56 of My Merciless Don

“CCTV.”

“Okay then, I’ll do that from here while I send someone to collect the phone.”

I huffed, “No need. You work on CCTV. I’ll bring the phone to you.”

“Bet.” George said and hung up.

Just as I had reached my apartment to grab my car keys, my phone buzzed. I dug it out, and saw a message from an unknown number. I frowned, wondering who the fuck would dare. But then I figured that if Audry going missing had something to do with me, then it must be a ransom note. I took a deep breath and then opened it.

I read the message once, and then again, feeling dyslexic with my inability to absorb the message.

Yegorov has her.

A feeling of déjà vu swept through me closely, followed by one of horror.

“This is not happening again.” I whispered, gritting my teeth. Surely whatever higher power existed could not be this cruel. I clicked over to the ring app and dialed my brother. “Is there any way you can confirm whether Yegorov has her?’

There was a loud surprised silence on the phone. “You know we always keep him under surveillance. Give me five minutes.”

I hung up, closed my eyes and took a deep breath before taking the opportunity to jump into the shower. I had my phone in there with me, in case Valerio called but I was out in two minutes. I changed into a black Prada suit - just in case I had to meet with Yegorov. It was important to look the part. Then I took my car keys and left the premises. I stopped at the corner café for coffee, though it tasted like ash in my mouth, and then began to head towards the compound, willing Valerio to call.

Finally, he did. “Talk to me,” I said.

“The streets are saying they might have her.”

“But you don’t know for sure?”

Valerio huffed and then said, “Sure enough.”

“Okay then. Good enough for me. Gather our men. This is war.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

AUDRY

Being a punching bag for a fat Russian was not on my bucket list. In fact, I could have happily gone my whole life without experiencing that. But here we were, one eye swollen shut, my ribs aching like one of them might be broken, and a worrying tingling in my left toes.

“Are you going to tell me what I want to know or not?” Yegorov said.

I looked blurrily up at him, “I'm sorry what? I wasn't paying attention. Come again.”

He growled in frustration, fisting his hand and lifting it like he was gonna box my ears. I blinked up at him with my good eye, and smiled. “You really do have a hair trigger temper. Have you tried therapy?”

He swung around, frustration apparent in the stiffness of his movements, and swept everything off his desk. He strolled around the desk and opened the drawer extracting a gun. He pointed it at me. “You want to die? Is that it?”

I shrugged as nonchalantly as I could, without moving my torso too much. “Do I have a choice in the matter?”

He gave me an evil grin. “There's always a choice. You could tell me what I want to know.”

I pretended to think about it, “Mmmh, no I actually can't. I guess you'll have to kill me.”

He walked right up to me and put the gun to my forehead. I leaned into it, looking him dead in the eye. We had a bit of a Mexican standoff, before he slowly smiled. “Or” he said tilting his head to the side, “I could give you to my dogs to fuck. I bet they would enjoy that.”

I shuddered swallowing down my fear. “No thanks, bestiality is not my kink.”

“Nobody asked you your preferences,” he said coldly.

I sighed deeply hoping against hope that he was bluffing. “That does not sound fun.”

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