Page 24 of Niko's Printsessa

I turn away and wave her to join me, “Come with me.”

I can feel her eyeroll but she follows, her curiosity getting the best of her. When I texted Tali to pack Becca’s clothes, she mentioned her painting supplies.

I open the door to her temporary studio and she gasps.

“How did you?”

“Your traitor, Tali.”

She smiles but it’s quickly replaced with a glare and she furrows her eyebrows at me. She gestures haughtily towards the easels. “I know what you’re doing, and it won’t work.”

“What?”

“Keeping me here, entertained. You’re trying to placate me.”

“You don’t want to paint?”

“Of course I do. But I don’t want it held over me as some sort of power trip.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Because your middle name is power. You’re ruthless, especially when you don’t get your way.”

I smirk, “Takes one.”

“Right,” she scoffs, “like I ever hold any power. I’m merely a chess piece.”

“Regardless of what you might think, I don’t want you miserable.”

She bites her lip as she eyes her supplies, and I want to devour her.

“Don’t expect a thank you, and none of this changes the fact that you kidnapped me.”

Before I have a chance to retort, a text chimes on my phone. “It’s from Andrei, he wants us both to call him.”

I put him on speaker and he barks, “Becca, who the fuck did you piss off?”

“Hello to you too, Cousin.” She retorts.

“There was a bomb planted at the distillery.”

Her mouth gapes open.

I ask, “Any injuries?”

“No. It was amateur in nature. Hidden in an unused outside shed. It was meant to scare, not destroy.”

“You promise Anya is okay?”

“Promise. Alek ordered her home and Isaak is keeping an eye on her for the time being.”

“So, he’s proficient in computers and hacking, but bombs not so much.”

“Or, he wanted us to think that, and this was merely a tactic.”

Becca finds her voice, “Three threats in two days? He’s getting desperate. You’d think he’d take his time, enjoy my misery, my fear. It doesn’t make sense.”

“She’s right.”

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