Page 187 of Cashmere Ruin

“You really suck at lying, you know that?”

“Petra.”

“No!” she insists. “Whatever happens, we’re family. I’m not going to abandon my family.”

I should tell her that she’s wrong. That we aren’t family, not in any way that matters. She isn’t my real wife; she isn’t my brother’s girlfriend; and to that child inside of her, I’m no one.

So why can’t I do it?

“Take them,” Vlad commands.

We don’t resist. We can’t—if I fight, he’ll shoot her; if she fights, he’ll shoot me. It’s a catch-22, and for the first time in my life, I’m forced to let the enemy put me in cuffs willingly.

But there’s another reason I let it happen. Another reason I let some nameless minion of Vlad’s bash my head in with the grip of their gun, painting my vision with black, dancing spots.

If they’re not killing us, they can only be taking us to them.And wherevertheyare…

That’s where my family will be.

56

APRIL

“… the hell were they thinking?!”

My ears perk up at the sound of shouting in the tunnel.

“… really need to relax, Yuri. It’s no…”

I recognize the voices: Yuri and Carmine, arguing about—well, something.

“… wrong! Why even offer the three-day deal if we weren’t going to honor…”

Deal?I wasn’t trying to listen in, but sue me: now, I’m interested.

“… getting what we want now instead of later… not a bad outcome, is it? Besides…”

Man, someone should really teach the home team a thing or two about acoustics. If they don’t want the sound to carry, they shouldn’t be having secret meetings in a freaking tunnel of all places.

Without hesitation, I press myself closer to the bars.

“I gave him my word,” Yuri growls. “Now, I need to know: did Vlad go rogue or did you?”

“Does that matter?” Carmine asks.

“Yes. Because then I’d have to worry.”

“About what?”

“How much your word is really worth.”

Damn.Hope Carmine’s got aloe vera on hand, because that was one hell of a burn.

But when he speaks next, his voice is ice: cold, smooth, and dangerously sharp. “Are we going to have a problem, Yuri?”

“You tell me. Did you break the deal or not?”

Fear seeps back into my heart. Not for myself, or even for my daughter: forYuri.

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