Page 111 of Alik

He huffs and turns on his heel, wandering a few steps while tucking his hands in his pockets. He stares at the wall while he thinks for a full minute. Eventually, his chest lifts with a breath before he lets it out on a deep sigh.

“That leader of yours will be the death of you all. I hope you know that.”

I don’t respond.

He’s right. It’s inevitable that Nikita will run us into the ground with his tyranny. Too many of us die at his hands, too much of it depends on his moods. He’s a ruthless, cruel dictator.

It’s unfortunate that the alternative, Vitaly, is worse.Wasworse. He’s no longer an option.

“I want the tape of Olive delivered to my apartment by the end of the day. All copies.”

Cormac’s jaw is clenched, but he nods. Without another word, he heads for the ladder. Finn looks after him, but I can see the excitement flashing on his face as his feet move toward me even as he watches his boss. He just can’t help but gloat.

When he turns to me, he grins. “You don’t know how badly I wanted to tell you. I’m the one who found the tape.” He chuckles but keeps it quiet. As if Cormac doesn’t know what Finn’s doing.“I had to search her gangbanger ex’s place for our supply when he died. I found a camera set up in the bedroom, and I thought for sure it was just a sex tape, but…” He shakes his head. “He’s fucking your girl, right? And then, in the middle of it, she climbs on top and starts talking about herself in third person and about how he’s wronged her. When he pushes her off, he starts railing on her, and I think he’s gonna knock the bitch out, but she pulls a knife from beneath a pillow and?—”

“I get it.”

“It was one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen.” He laughs.

“Finn!” Cormac calls.

Finn slaps my arm and winks. “Good luck, friend.” He skips off and scales the ladder, leaving me alone.

I close my eyes and let out a breath. Two problems down. One to go. If all goes well…

Nikita should be out by tonight.

28

OLIVE

ONE MONTH LATER

“You ready?” Dad asks, his hand on the driver door as he pulls the keys from the ignition.

Two men dressed in sweatpants pass a crack pipe by the dumpsters behind my apartment building, and when they spot me looking, they wander out of sight. But it isn’t them I’m looking at anyway. I’m not looking at anything.

“It’s safe, honey,” he says, putting a gentle hand on my arm. “I’ll be with you the entire time.”

Safe.

As if Alik would ever hurt me. As if he evercould.

My throat grows thick. I look at Dad with a pinched smile and nod before opening my door and climbing out of his Buick.

It’s been a month since I touched Alik’s face but only hours since I saw him in my dreams. He’s always there, every night when I go to sleep, he’s waiting for me, sometimes in a wolf suit, sometimes in his black jeans and black jacket, and sometimes he’s wearing nothing at all.

Occasionally, I dream of his hand around my neck. He’s squeezing the life from me while his eyes, once soft and caring, are cold and ruthless.

I mouth words to him while I lay on the floor in the same spot I found Mrs. Barkley’s bloodstain, not fighting, my muscles perfectly relaxed.

It’s okay.

I forgive you.

And then I wake up. Dream Alik never manages to kill me, hard as he tries. Dream Olive never seems to care, much as she should.

And real-life Olive? Let’s just say I’ve taken a lot of naps the last month in hopes of seeing his image. Because despite everything, despite all of it, I know real-life Alik.

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