Page 58 of Cruel Promise

“Her body is gone,” I whisper. “Who took it? The police?”

“I haven’t heard anything. No police have shown up to ask me questions.”

“Then who?”

He opens his mouth to speak then shakes his head and grabs my shoulders. “I’m taking you back to your husband. He’ll pay me even more now for you.”

“You already got your money from him, and you wasted it. On what?” I notice the empty alcohol bottles everywhere. “Could you be even more of a cliché?”

Before I can react, he slaps me again. I jerk back, clutching my face. I wonder if I’ll bruise, and I wonder what Nikolai will do about it. Will he kill my father? Would he do it if I asked him to?

Do I even want my father dead?

“I’m taking you back,” he says, no emotion in his voice. He was always good about shutting down when he needed to. I was always envious of that. Still am. If I could just shut down my emotions, the world would be an easier place to handle.

“No. I won’t allow you to look like some hero to Nikolai. You won’t get another cent from him.”

He comes at me so fast that it’s barely a blink before he’s leaning over me, grabbing my shoulders, and forcing me toward the door.

Someone knocks. We both freeze.

Someone knocks again. “Charles, I know you’re in there.”

It’s not Nikolai. It’s another man. His voice is oddly familiar, but I can’t place it.

“Shit,” my father mutters. “Shit, shit, shit.” He lets me go and begins pacing around the room.

“What’s going on?” I ask.

He runs his hands over his hair and face. “Shit!”

“Charles,” the man on the other side speaks. “Let me in. You owe me. I’ve come to collect.”

This isn’t good. Not one bit.

My father finally walks over to the door and cracks it open. “Hi … Maxim. Uh, listen, now is not a good time. But if you came back tomorrow, I swear I’ll have the money for you and?—”

Maxim pushes the door open and steps inside. Two other men follow him. They’re all wearing biker jackets. The Knights is written on the back.

I instantly know where I recognize this man. He came to my wedding and threatened Nikolai.

Maxim is an intimidating figure, with his height, broad shoulders, and dark eyes. If I wasn’t so scared, I’d think he was handsome.

I ease back toward the nearest room—a bathroom—to seek cover but Maxim sees me and holds me in place with his intense gaze.

“Who is this?” he asks.

I let out a slow breath. He doesn’t recognize me. Nikolai did push me behind him when Maxim showed up at the church, so maybe he didn’t get a good look at me. My hood is still covering my hair and half my face.

“My daughter,” Father answers for me. “Listen, Maxim, I can get you the money, but?—”

Maxim holds up a hand. “Just shut the fuck up. You came into our clubhouse and gambled away tons of money. Yougambled so much of it away that, now, you owe us. You need to come work for us to pay it off.”

“And if I refuse?”

Maxim pulls out a gun, and the air in the room changes. “Then I’ll kill you. I don’t need weasel-y men causing issues. Now, pay me the money you owe us.”

The two men behind Maxim crack their knuckles at the same time. These men will hurt my father if he doesn’t pay up. That much is obvious.

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