Page 38 of Cruel Bet

***

For the next few days, I’m grateful that Nikolai has been away on business, and I haven’t seen him. I can’t face him or the conversation that we need to have. I don’t even know what I want to say to him yet. Perhaps he feels the same and that’s why he’s been gone.

I’m sitting staring at my uneaten breakfast, feeling too nauseous to eat, when Kimiko comes into the kitchen.

“Morning, I just wanted to let you know that you’re gonna have to amuse yourself today. Endo, Dimitri, and I have business in the city with Nikolai and won’t be back until later, but the rest of the guards will be here to protect you, a couple of extras have been brought in from the city, too. They’ll be outside patrolling the grounds and won’t come inside unless you need help. Just press this button and someone will come running,” she says, handing me a small device.

“Okay, anything I need to be worried about?” I ask, feeling a little concerned by the extra precautions and her tone.

“Nope, just routine stuff. Nothing to be worried about,” she says, though I can tell from her eyes she’s not being truthful.

I don’t push the matter.

A day of solitude is exactly what I need. Time to think.

***

Having spent the day sitting in the library, trying and failing to organize my thoughts or focus on anything other than what I am going to do, I wake, bleary and confused in the same chair I always sit in. I must have dozed off. I’ve no idea what time it is, but I know it has to be mid-afternoon if the position of the sun and my rumbling stomach are anything to go by. After getting up and fixing myself a sandwich, I decide to nip upstairs to change into a bathing suit and take a swim. Perhaps that will help me clear my head.

I head into the walk-in wardrobe, picking out a simple one-piece and changing into it, throwing a kaftan over the top. At that moment, I hear my bedroom door opening and someone quietly coming inside. Nikolai is the only person who ever waltzes into my room without knocking and he’s the last person I want to see this now.

“Nikolai, what have I said about knocking,” I grumble frustratedly as I walk out.

To my bewilderment, the bedroom door is open, but there’s no one in the room that I can see. I walk over to the door, peering into the corridor. The house is silent. There’s no one there. Nikolai and the others aren’t back yet. I must have been imagining things. Though I’m sure I closed my door.

I sense, rather than hear someone creeping up behind me and turn around just in time to see a large beast of a man behind me. I don’t recognize him, but he’s wearing the same uniform as the other guards, so I assume he’s one of the extras helping out today. I’m about to tell him off for scaring me and demand to know why he’s here when I realize that he’s holding a thin cord, wrapped around each hand and pulled tight—a garrot. It registers that this man isn’t here to protect me. He wants to harm me.

I curse myself for leaving the panic button in the walk-in, where it’s out of reach. I briefly contemplate trying to run and grab it but figure my best chance of survival is if I can get out of the room and outrun him. We both move at the same time. I start to turn to run out the door behind me as he steps forward, and grabs hold of my wrist. I spin around, slapping him hard across the face. He doesn’t even flinch. He slaps me back hard with the back of his hand and I taste blood.

I don’t have time to react before the next blow. It doesn’t make full contact, but the punch is enough to knock me to the floor and it feels as though something might have broken. Dazed but still able to move, I try to get up. Another punch. This one lands fully, and I feel my nose crunch. Pain explodes through my head, and I see stars. I’m amazed I’m still conscious.

My attacker climbs on top of me, pinning me in place with his legs. I scream and thrash around, fighting and kicking my legs but he’s so much bigger and stronger than me. He wraps his meaty hands around my throat and starts to squeeze. Desperately, I claw at his arms, drawing blood.

“This would be so much easier for us both if you stopped struggling,” he says in a matter-of-fact tone.

I ignore him, thrashing around and screaming. My hands gain purchase on something on his belt and I pull it out, praying it’s a gun. It’s not, it’s his comms unit. I push the button and try to cry out.

“Help!”

But the pressure of his hands on my neck means it barely comes out as more than a whisper. If he notices what I’ve done, it doesn’t deter him. He’s either confident no one will hear me or that if they do, it will be too late anyway.

He squeezes tighter, completely cutting off my airway. I gasp for breath, unable to think of anything other than the desperate need to survive. My vision swims and my attempts to fight him off become weaker as I begin to lose consciousness. This can’t be how it ends.

“Your father sends his regards, princess,” the man whispers into my ear.

These are the last words I hear before everything goes black.

Chapter 23

Nikolai

Today’s meeting seems never-ending. I’m distracted and impatient to get home to Arianna. I hate that I had to leave her behind and that Endo, Dimitri, and Kimiko were all needed here. As much as I trust my men to follow orders and make sure no one goes inside, I don’t like the thought of leaving her alone in the house.

I’m also pissed that Castro has been brought into the project. I knew his involvement might be necessary and agreed to it, but that was before I found out that the snake had married the fake Arianna. Allying with my enemy is tantamount to declaring war as far as I’m concerned, if the fucker thinks he can get away with it he’s got another thing coming. He’ll find out he’s not untouchable soon enough. Though, I have to bide my time and find the right way to take him out without antagonizing the others. For now, he lives.

The slimy fuck even had the gall to bring along his new bride with him. Something I protested against, but Garcia and Castro shut down. She’s little more than a slave, unlikely to pose a threat or tell anyone, and she’s sat staring at the floor without saying a word the whole time. But still, her presence unnerves me. Having to pretend she’s Arianna, that I don’t know who she really is, is something I could do without.

We’re interrupted by a knock on the door and my secretary comes in. I feel a flash of irritation, I told her no interruptions. But the look on her face tells me that it’s something urgent.

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