Page 30 of Saved By the SEAL

24

MICHELLE

“You got it, you crazy bitch!” Katya laughs as soon as she sees me. “Wow, and you fuck quickly too. Well done.”

I decide not to bother telling her the crappy details of how I ended up with these papers and to just go forward with it. Of course, deep down, this leads me to worry about future jobs where this might be expected of me, but I’m not worrying on the future. I’m trying my damn hardest to keep myself focusing on moving forward, one step at a time.

“Come on, then. Alexander is getting impatient out there. Let’s go and give him the good news already. Keep those papers tight to your chest. We don’t want anyone catching hold of them before we get outside. We don’t know who else is down there.”

My heart begins hammering in my chest once more. The nerves grip onto me yet again. I’mreallynot cut out for this life at all. Why can’t everyone see that I shouldn’t have been dragged into this from the start? I’mnota seductress or a spy.

We just about make it through the bar without anyone stopping us, which is probably because of Katya and her terrifying demeanor. If I were another patron in the bar, I wouldn’t want to approach her either. Especially as she has a tight hold of me and she’s dragging me to the other side of the room without letting go. She’s clearly on a mission and won’t be halted.

“There he is.” Katya points to the van. “Come on, I can’t wait to show him that this is finally done.”

She drags me some more, pulling me hard toward the van. I would love to take this as my chance to run away before Alexander can get me again, but Katya is refusing to let that happen. She’s a smart cookie. She knows what she’s doing.

“Here, Alexander.” She slings me toward him and he pushes me into the van instantly. They arenottaking any chances.

“Is it all done?” He wraps his arms tightly around Katya and gives her a tight, powerful kiss. Urgh, I’m instantly disgusted. I didnotknow that this was going on, which only leaves me in even more of a mess. I’m stuck with these assholes and I can’t get out. “Did you get this done, you crazy bitch? Ooh, I’m going to do some terrible things to you…”

They kiss some more in a horrible, inappropriate way. My God, it’s as if they don’t realize that they’re in public, or perhaps they don’t give a shit. They are far too involved with one another to care about the rest of the world. I turn away. I can’t see what’s happening, but that doesn’t mean I can’t hear them dry humping, almost stripping each other.

“Come on, then.” Alexander slaps Katya on the ass. “Let’s get back so we can continue. We still have lots to do.”

As soon as they strap themselves in the front of the car, Alexander twists himself around and snatches the documents from me. He’s practically giving me a paper cut with his violence. I let out a wail of pain, but this only makes Alexander laugh.

“Oh, fucking hell, Michelle, you really are useless, aren’t you?” I don’t need to see the eye roll to know that it’s there. “I don’t knowhowyou managed to get this shit done. That’s why I sent Katya in there after you, to finish shit off. But while you’ve done this, I don’t believe you’ve done enough. I don’t think you’ve made it up to me at all. I might have to kill you anyway.”

“But… but my father,” I rasp back as a cold sensation settles in the pit of my stomach. “You promised…”

“Oh, your dad will be alright. I won’t kill him. He’ll want you dead, anyway. I mean, when he knows how much trouble you caused me by running away, he’ll want you dead. He won’t care about the loss of life. He has a lot to make up for, and if it involves your being bumped off to make things better for himself? Your dad has a good survival instinct.”

I part my lips, about to argue back about this, but I force myself to stop at the very last second. There’s no point in getting into a fight with Alexander when it comes to my family because he thinks that he knows everything and everyone better than me. I don’t think my dad would want me dead, at least I hope he wouldn’t, even to save himself, but sometimes, these things are out of our control. Instead, I lean back in my seat and try not to rise to the bait. Alexander probably wants me to freak out so he has an excuse to get physical with me. I can almost see the violence dancing behind his eyes, wanting to be set free.

“Everyone else will want you dead too,” he continues to probe, much to Katya’s delight. She laughs like this is the funniest shitthat she has ever heard. Honestly, she and Alexander deserve one another. I can see it now. “Because you’llneverbe able to be trusted again. Ever. I can’t always have my lovely lady watching you while you do stuff, can I? Sometimes, I need you out there getting information on your own. You can’t get a babysitter every single time. But with you… I don’t know…”

His words sting because it means I’ve hurt Buck for no real reason. It isn’t even to help myself. If I’m going to be killed anyway, then what was the point of all of it? I could have just died and been done with it. I kinda wish that I were the one the bullet hit and Jordan was still alive. He didn’t deserve to die like that, just for helping me…

“Come on then, Michelle, let’s get you inside.” The van pulls up to Alexander’s home once more as Katya turns to face me with an expression as smug as her voice. “Get you all locked away in a room so me and my man can have a nice night.”

“Can’t I just go back home? I don’t need to stay here. I’ve done what’s been asked of me and I’m not going anywhere.”

“You don’t want to go back there or you’ll have to sleep in the room with your dead boyfriend. That’s where I killed him.”

I’m stunned into silence. Holy shit, Jordan was at the apartment, obviously looking for me, and that’s where he was shot. I want to puke, I want to cry, I want to run the fuck away and go to see him. Not dead, though, I suppose. I wouldn’t want to see that. I would like nothing more than to be back in his arms once more, for things to just be normal.

“You have to stay here,” Alexander agrees. “I need to keep my eye on you at all times. You’re going nowhere.”

They unlock the van and take me inside the house. I expect them to take me to a bedroom to lock me in or something where I can just finally fucking sleep and put this to the back of my mind to never think of it again. But instead, they take me into the living room and Alexander tells me to sit on the couch. I basically have to just sit back and watch the pair of them drink while I’m in this goddamn uncomfortable outfit. I would love nothing more than to get out of it somewhere alone.

“What are we going to do with this one, then?” Katya finally asks as she manages to peel herself away from her boyfriend for just a second. “Because I don’t really want her sitting watching us like that while we hook up. It’s creepy as fuck.”

“You want me to slice her throat right now?” I snap my eyes over to Alexander to see if he’s serious. “I’ll do it.”

“You think that will go down well?” Katya cocks an eyebrow. “Of course I want her dead, but I don’t want you in trouble.”

“Well, how about if we just say she ran off and we don’t know what happened to her?” Katya runs her fingers through Alexander’s hair as if it isn’t completely gross and disgusting. “Would that go down better? So you won’t get in the shit?”

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