Page 29 of Refrain

“I…” Deep down, maybe I knew all along that coming here would be a waste of time. A dead end.

But, for the second time today, perhaps Ivan doesn’t know everything.

“I will give you one last piece of advice,” he tells me, jabbing a single finger in my direction. “Leave town. Forget your name.Forgetthe Petrovs.”

“You think I haven’t tried?”

“Maybe you haven’t,” he says. “Not hard enough, anyway.”

I’m halfway to the door when Ivan calls out.

“Wait.” He lumbers closer and takes the gun from me, tossing it back onto the counter. “I’ll have my men get rid of that. And as for your name…forget what I said. For your father’s sake, never forget who you are. You areOlenova.”

He raises his fist, and I contort my fingers to form one in return. Our knuckles meet for one brief moment.

“Go,” he says, drawing back. “I’ll make a phone call. Just stay the hell out of sight, understood?”

“Thank you!” I push the door open and scramble out, but Domi’s not where I left her.Damn.Whirling around, I spot a dark-haired blur disappearing around a nearby building, and I race to catch up.

“What are you doing?” I snarl the moment I draw even with her in a narrow alley. My hand snags her shoulder, yanking her to a stop. “I told you to stay there—”

“Yeah,” she hisses, wrenching out of my grip. “So that you can deliver me to them on a platter? I know whose place that was. You’re one of them!”

“Wait. Just slow down.” I direct the plea more to my body than to her. I need my pulse to slow. My thoughts to stop spinning. I need to forget his fucking face.

A face that won’t look so pretty once Piotr’s men are through with him. Ivan may call off the thugs for now, but the reprieve may come too late.

“Forget it. Keep moving.” I release Domi’s wrist and shove her forward. “I’ll catch up.”

There’s only one shortcut back to the precinct. How many blocks have we covered already? Ten? Twenty?

He’s already dead. If I’m lucky, they left his body on the road at least. Something for the rats to savor.

“No!” Bony fingers clutch at my shoulder. “They’ll—”

A sudden sound draws both of our attention. Footsteps. I watch in a frozen, morbid fascination as a body unfurls itself from the top of a fire escape clinging to a decrepit building up ahead.

With the fluidity of a gymnast, the figure jumps and lands mere feet away from us, one hand pressed against the pavement to steady their landing.

It’s a man. Tall. Slim. Familiar. I exhale as blue eyes meet mine through a fringe of dark hair.

“Miss me?” He’s smiling. Of all things, it’s the strangest occurrence of today. Unlike his amused smirks, this grin looks…

Real.

“Let’s go.” Domi’s still tugging on my arm, though she slows for Espisido to catch up. She must be used to this little trick of his. “Go!Go.”

I don’t know why I submit to being pulled along by the wrist as Espisido takes the lead, drawing his hood low once again. Maybe I’m still delirious.

Watching him, I swear the dark sleeves of his jacket flutter out beside him as he moves. Almost like wings. But even angels aren’t invincible. He’s limping, favoring his right leg, though his expression never wavers.

And he never stops smiling.

CHAPTER TEN

ESPI

Yellow follows us into a diner.She stands guard as I shove Domi into a booth but doesn’t take a seat for herself. Too many heads swivel in our direction, so I shift farther down, opening a space beside me.

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