Page 90 of Frozen Heart

She hugged me back but without much strength and when I moved back, she looked pale and skittish. “You okay?” I asked.

She nodded quickly. “Just tired.”

I gave her another hug, then turned to Radimir, who was standing in the doorway. His phone bleeped with another message: the war was going our way, but he was still needed. “Go,” I told him. “Everything’s fine here, I’ll help Jen for a few hours: you know where I am if you need me.” Radimir looked uncertain. “Leave someone here to guard the place, if you’re worried,” I told him.

He grudgingly nodded but insisted on leavingfourof Konstantin’s heavily-armed men in a car right outside the store. I made a mental note to take some coffee out to them. Radimir pulled me to him and kissed me. “Be careful,”he told me. His hands stubbornly gripped my shoulders, unwilling to let me go.

I nodded meekly. “You too.” I looked towards the door. “Go,” I said softly. “I’ll be fine.”

He sighed and released me. When I watched him drive away, there was an ache in my chest: it was the first time we’d been apart since we left for New York.

“Okay,” I said, turning to Jen. “Tell me what’s been happening.”

“A delivery came,” she said, and pointed. “It’s in the back.”

I followed her into the back room. “I can unpack it,” I told her. “You sit down, eat one of those pastries and get some coffee inside you, you look?—”

I stopped in shock. Jen had moved aside, and I could see Baba sitting in an armchair. “What?—”

The door slammed closed behind me and I spun around.

“Hello, Mrs. Aristov,” said Spartak Nazarov.

62

BRONWYN

I froze,staring, while my stomach plummeted. Spartak had a gun pointed right at me but it washim,the huge, muscled mass of him, so close, that terrified me. His hands looked as if they could crush my neck like a soda can.

“I’msorry!”croaked Jen. Now I knew why she’d looked so pale. “Baba came to visit, she was going to surprise you. Then he walked in. He said he’d kill her, if I let you know he was here!”

I nodded quickly. “It’s okay. You didn’t do anything wrong.” I looked between Jen and Baba. “Are you both okay?”

“Don’t worry about me,” said Baba. Her voice was weak, but she was glaring at Spartak, her eyes diamond-hard.

Spartak motioned with his gun. “Take out your phone,” he told me. “Unlock it and give it to your friend.” I did it and passed it to Jen, my hands shaking. “When we’re gone, call Radimir,” Spartak told Jen. “Tell him to call me. He has my number.”

Oh Jesus.I was so scared I thought I was going to throw up. Spartak knew he was going to lose the war, and this was his last-ditch attempt to turn things around. He was going to use me as bait and kill Radimir when he came to rescue me.

Spartak pushed me towards the rear door that led out to the alley. My mind was spinning.Run?He was right behind me.Scream, and hope the men at the front of the store hear me?Spartak could kill all three of us before they reached us.Fight?I had the switchblade Radimir gave me, but it was no match for a gun.

I opened the rear door. A car was parked in the alley, with two of Spartak’s men keeping watch. Spartak opened the trunk and then gestured to it mockingly.

I looked around frantically but there was no one passing by the alley, no one looking out of a window. No one to see what was happening.Fuck! What should I do?

Spartak leaned close. “In,” he rasped, his lips almost touching my ear. “Now.”

Heart racing, I climbed into the trunk. He smirked, staring at my thighs where my skirt had ridden up. I tugged it down, shuddering.

The trunk slammed shut, trapping me in a black, airless box. Then the engine started, and we roared away.

63

RADIMIR

I gotthe call when I was in a meeting with a city councilman. Bronwyn’s number, but it was her friend’s voice.“He took her! Come to the bookstore, quick!”

I didn’t have to ask whohewas. I stood up and walked out of the meeting, leaving the councilman staring. I was only a block away and the traffic was barely moving: it would be quicker on foot. The instant the elevator hit the lobby, I ran.

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