Page 117 of Inked Adonis

“You’re a budding entrepreneur, aren’t you?” He stays slouched comfortably on the bench. Face calm, voice calmer. To anyone who walked by, it would look like two old friends catching up. “You could put it towards your little dog-walking venture.”

“You want to… invest in my business?”

“Dear God, no.” He laughs, cruel and sharp, and adjusts the strap of his watch. “I want nothing to do with your business. This is not an investment; it’s a gift.”

I cross my arms. “And what do you expect in return for this very generous ‘gift’?”

“I knew you were smart.” He winks at me, though all it does is make my stomach churn. “All you have to do to claim the gift is disappear. Take the money and leave.”

And there it is.

“You don’t want me with Samuil.”

“I don’t want you anywhere near my empire,” he corrects. “Really, I should’ve had you killed after your connection to the Andropovs was revealed. But money is less messy.”

My heart thuds painfully in my chest. I’m standing in a park, talking with my boyfriend’s father about my possible assassination.

I don’t know whether to laugh or throw up.

“I don’t want your money.”

The smile that smears across his lips reminds me so much of Ilya that my stomach lurches again. He stands, rising a full head taller than me.

“Perhaps I should be clearer. I could just as easily wipe away all traces of your existence and no one would remember your name but me, Nova Pierce. But I’m an old man; I’ve seen enough death, and if it’s not necessary, I prefer methods that don’t cause such a mess.” He saunters closer, hemming me in against the wide base of a tree.“Which is why I’m giving you the choice. The same one I gave Samuil’s mother: take the money and start your life fresh somewhere else… or deal with the consequences of refusing me.”

I’m not sure what comes over me just then. Maybe it’s the dogs barking. Maybe it’s the blissfully ignorant pedestrians meandering past this cold-blooded threat of murder.

Or maybe it’s that the sudden burst of sunlight that pierces through the gray clouds overhead makes Leonid Litvinov lookold and fragile enough that I could kick in his knee and be back in the penthouse before he could even call for help.

Whatever it is, I laugh.

Right in his fucking face.

“I can’t be bought.”

It’s the first time I see his mask crumble. He’s not a man who’s used to being laughed at.

“A million, then,” he snarls. “It’s my final offer. You won’t get better.”

“No deal.” I pull Rufus and Ruby after me. I really need to start visiting a different dog park.

“You’ll need to get better dogs, my dear,” Leonid calls after me even as I pretend I can’t hear him. “Those two mutts aren’t vicious enough to protect you from what’s coming.”

40

NOVA

This time, I go looking for Samuil the second I get back to the penthouse.

Let no one say Nova Pierce doesn’t learn her lessons.

“Samuil?” My voice echoes through marble halls that suddenly feel more like a mausoleum than a home. Rufus and Ruby trail behind me, their nails clicking against the floor. “Sam?”

My hands shake as I move through the house. Leonid was right: Sam was at the rink this morning. But he should be back by now. When he doesn’t answer, dark possibilities swirl in my brain.

Is he gone? Did the enemies he mentioned the other night come for him?

Is Leonid one of those enemies?

---