Page 92 of Koroleva

In a quick move, he grabbed me by the shirt, threateningly. I didn't move an inch, maybe that was what he needed, to vent.

"You made me betray her. She picked me up at my lowest point, when I hit rock bottom, and you..." He looked at me with contempt.

"Me, what?" I prodded.

"You, nothing," he spat irritably and turned to look out the window.

We were in the parking lot, standing guard. We weren't supposed to go into the party because Arasagasti might recognize me, after having offered him money at the port to join our side.

Doing so had its pros and cons.

On the pro side, we ruled out money as bait, and on the con side, I was stuck with a Russian who really got under my skin and couldn't stand my presence.

I turned on the radio. Andrey stretched out his arm and turned it off.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked, annoyed. He didn't flinch.

"And you? We're on guard," he scolded me as if I had done something wrong.

"So what? Does Koroleva not let you listen to music because it tames the beast?" I turned it on again, and he stopped it again.

"No distractions. We're working."

"Distractions? It's music, for God's sake!" Again, my finger twisting the knob.

"If the radio is on, we can't hear," he turned the knob again.

"Hear what? Our breathing? Or are you waiting to hear crickets mate? Because your conversation is notably absent." His brow furrowed.

"What's notably absent is your common sense. What you need to listen for isn't crickets or breaths, but any noise that's foreign to us and comes from outside. We don't know what's lurking out there." I let out a sigh.

"This isn't a Stephen King movie."

"No, we agree there, especially since Koroleva was nearly killed today." I leaned back in the seat, overwhelmed.

"Romeo didn't do it," I said by way of excuse.

"I'm sick of you defending him. I don't care if he didn't do that, he's been busy doing other things."

"You're prejudging him, and you're screwing it up. Both you and your boss."

"I don't care, that doesn't excuse what you've done." I shifted in my seat.

"Look, I'm not going to apologize for last night, because for me, it was the right thing to do."

"We're not going to agree, so you might as well drop it."

"You would have done the same."

"You have no fucking idea what I would or wouldn't have done. You don't know me," he complained.

"Maybe not much, but enough to let you fuck me last night, and I want you to know that wasn't planned. It wasn't a distraction to lower your guard, I did it because I wanted to, because I desired you." His perfectly angled face looked like polished granite.

"And you think I care?" He was no longer looking away but staring at me with hostility.

"Well, you should."

"Why?"

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