Page 89 of Perilous

“You’re going to listen to me, Annika,” he says. “There is nothing I’m about to say that’s a lie. If you argue or you fight back, I’ll just kill you.”

I hate that I trust him. I hate that I believe him. I hate that if he wanted to actually kill me, I would just let him.

His right hand touches my throat.

“Know this, doll,” he says. “My job is to protect you. You are my claimed. I. Will. Kill. For. You.”

I gasp a shuddering breath.

And I ask him for more of the vodka before he starts talking.

ChapterTwenty-Seven

PERILOUS

I have allthe proof needed. But I’m not here to offer Annika a fucking presentation on her life. She either trusts me enough to appreciate my words or she faces death. It’s really that simple. There are no fucking games here.

I watch Annika drink. Her sweet, soft lips touching the bottle of vodka. Her eyes never leaving mine. She’s got this look in her eyes. I have to look away but I don’t.

Fuck.

Her lipspopoff the bottle and she hands it back to me. I watch her writhe as the vodka works its way into her stomach.

“I’m ready,” she whispers. “I swear to you,Perilous. I. Am. Ready.”

“Your father is broke,” I say.

That’s confession number one.

“Broke,” Annika says, not questioning, just repeating.

“Broke,” I say. “He’s lost everything. You’re a finance person. You’ve studied it. He’s fucking broke. Worthless. He tied up chunks of assets into bad investments and used fake valuations to get loans from certain banks. When those banks dried up, he went elsewhere. He’s been dealing with some really shady people.”

Her eyes blink fast. She’s fighting that instinctive urge to question me. I shove her mouth full with her panties, so even if she wanted to, she can’t now.

“Everything is imploding around him right now,” I continue. “That’s why he’s such a fucking mess. Maybe. Or maybe it’s the rest of the shit I have to tell you.”

I gently stroke Annika’s jawline.

“Do you understand me?” I ask.

I pull the panties out of her mouth.

“Yes,” she whispers.

“Repeat it to me, doll.”

“My father… is broke…?”

My right hand slaps her face. “Did you just question me?”

“No. Perilous, no. My father is broke. My father is fucking broke! He has no money. He’s worth nothing!”

“That’s right,” I say. She looks me right in the eyes. “It’s been coming for a while. He’s been running with different sets of financials. Like a gambler at a casino trying to count cards, waiting for that one big payoff to justify everything else. Except in his case there is no payoff. Nothing is coming. Everything he thought he had built is done. It’s like a dead deer carcass on the side of the road…”

“The vultures are circling,” Annika whispers. “Everyone is waiting to pick him apart. Liquidate what is there, buy the rest for nothing, leverage the debt, control everything.”

“You’re as smart as you are beautiful,” I say. Her cheeks turn red. “But there’s one asset that could have bought him some more time. Do you know what that is?”

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