Page 58 of Hell Hath No Fury

She takes the phone and looks at the screen, her face twisting in a slight grimace as she takes a closer look. “Do you think he’s mad?”

“I mean,” I say hesitantly, “you did knock him silly and then lock him in a panic room.”

She hands the phone back to me and waves her hand. “I barely touched him.”

Frowning, I bring the phone closer to my face as I zoom in on the image of Darius flipping the bird. Then I turn it back to her. “Pretty sure that goose egg on the side of his head proves otherwise.”

She squints at the picture, her lips pursing together. “Well, maybe he better learn that I do what I want, and threatening me won’t get him anywhere good.”

I sigh and shake my head, knowing I have no room to lecture on handling any type of personal relationship, never mind one as complicated as hers. Then again, Darius’s middle finger was likely his injured pride talking and not real animosity toward Antoinette.

“Trouble in paradise?” Dmitri asks almost nonchalantly, but I see the intense interest in his eyes as he pretends not to stare at Antoinette and fails.

She slowly turns her eyes on him, glaring as she grits out angrily. “That is none of your fucking business.”

He tries to lift his hands, forgetting they’re cuffed to the arms of his chair, and then shrugs instead. “Just trying to help.”

“Is this guy for fucking real, Lils?” Mickey asks, his head slumped in his hand but his attention focused on Dmitri, who’s acting like he’s on a surprise vacation.

“Sadly, yes.”

“Want me to teach him a lesson?”

I smile at Mickey fondly. “Not yet, but thank you.”

Mickey scowls at Dmitri, then goes back to watching whatever he has going on the screen in front of him. Dmitri doesn’t look at all bothered as he examines the cuffs around his wrists. “Don’t get any ideas. There isn’t really anywhere for you to go other than out the fucking door.”

“I have no interest in testing out my wings today. No worries there.”

“You’ll never take us all either.”

He gives me a dirty look. “Why would I even try?”

“Because you’re a fucking criminal.”

“Perhaps, but I’m not a stupid criminal.”

“That is up for debate,” Antoinette mutters beside me.

He turns his attention to her, raising his brows as he retorts, “No need to be mean.”

Antoinette gapes at him, her hands fisting at her sides. Nudging her with my elbow, I lean in and whisper, “He’s baiting you.”

She turns her glare to me. “Yeah, I fucking know that.”

I level her with a patient look, fully aware this entire situation must be a huge mindfuck for her. It’s one thing to have to work through trauma on your own or with the assistance of loved ones or professionals. It’s an entirely different beast to have to work through it with the piece of shit in the room with you. Antoinette is a hyper-rational person, but that kind of pressure would get to anyone.

“All I’m saying,” Dmitri begins calmly as if we’re in the middle of a friendly discussion, “is that these restraints are completely unnecessary.”

“Oh, good fucking lord,” I mutter, wishing I’d thought to gag the motherfucker and put him in the baggage hold. “Do we have a gag around here? Or anything we can use as a gag?”

“I’m sure I can find something,” Mickey replies, already glancing around the plane’s interior.

“We have more questions to ask him, so maybe get that out of the way first?” Antoinette adds.

Dmitri sighs heavily, and my urge to toss him out of the plane increases. “Is there a particular reason you’re being intentionally antagonistic?”

He frowns and shakes his head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m being completely honest here. My word is good.”

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