Page 115 of Emperor of Havoc

I don’t flinch, don’t move. My mind races, planning my next move.

“Killing me won’t solve anything,” I say calmly, meeting her gaze. “Would Kolya approve of you murdering his brand new son-in-law?”

Her grip on the gun tightens, her eyes blazing. “At the moment, all signs point toyes,” she snarls. “Now where thefuckis Katarina?”

Her words slam into me like a freight train.

“What?”

“Where is she?!” Nina shouts, her voice cracking.

My stomach plummets. I take a slow step forward, my hands raised in a gesture of appeal. “Nina, I?—”

A shadow moves behind her. We’re no longer alone.

Kolya levels a merciless stare at me, his gray eyes brimming with cold fury, silvered hair pulled back and averysharp looking katana in his hand.

“Well done, Nina,” he growls quietly.

My jaw sets. “Where the fuck is Kat?—”

“That’s what I'd like to know,” Kolya says icily.

He rests the tip of his sword against my jugular with the practiced ease of a surgeon.

“Where thefuckis my daughter,” he whispers venomously.

“Idon’t know,” I snarl. “If she’s missing, we need to?—”

Two other armed men suddenly appear, guns drawn.

“Take him to the room,” Kolya growls as he lowers the blade. His men grab me, yanking my arms behind my back and cuffing them, Nina’s gun still trained on my face.

“You’re making a mistake,” I growl at Kolya.

He smiles coldly. “Well, by the time I’m done with you, Takeshi, we’ll know for certain, won't we. Along with every fucking secret you’ve ever had.”

36

KATARINA

The darkness is suffocating.

The air smells of dust and something faintly sweet, like dead, drying flowers in a vase.

When my eyes finally open, the soft glow of the single lamp on a side table barely penetrates the gloom.

I blink, my head throbbing as my vision adjusts, taking in my surroundings.

I’m in an old-fashioned living room—huge to the point of being cavernous, like something out of a Gilded Age home. Vast shelves full of dusty leather-bound books fill the walls, the air thick with cobwebs. Gray sheets drape over everything, including the couch I’m lying on, everything ghostly in the dim light.

Silence surrounds me, thick and disorienting.

I scramble shakily off the couch, my mind screaming at me to move. I realize I’m barefoot when my toes touch the cold, uneven floorboards. But I don’t dwell on that.

All I can think about ishim.

The man who took me. Who emerged from the night and?—

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