Page 25 of Dance of Devils
Kill ’em with kindness.
She glances at me once more before she leaves the room. I start to follow, but Zak moves in front of me, blocking my way.
“The fuck was going on in here?”
I shake my head, not meeting his eyes. Zak is a big, beefy guy who looks like he lives at the gym and eats creatine and steroids for breakfast, lunch and dinner. He wears his long hair in a tight man-bun,lovesit when his job includes hitting people, and has this utterly psychotic tribal tattoo around his right eye and down one side of his face.
He might be head of security, which in theory includes protecting the dancers. But honestly, he scares the shit out of me.
“Nothing,” I mumble. “Just talking schedule with Lou.”
He grunts.
“You and me should go out sometime.”
Not in a million fucking years, buddy-boy.
“Yeah...” I murmur. “Sounds…like fun?”
I chance a furtive look at his terrifying face.
Fucking hell, that tattoo isinsane,and extremely scary.
Zak grins. “Yeah? When?”
Fuck.
“Soon,” I smile a wilted smile at him. “Listen, I gotta go get changed for my shift.”
“Don’t keep me waiting,” he calls after me. “Or I’ll have to come find ya!”
Horror, shame, hatred, fear, and everything in between ripples up my spine and settles in my chest.
Why thefuckare all men like this?
Well…notallmen, I think, heat pooling low in my core.
“You’re in my home. You were attacked. I brought you here to take care of you.”
“Who were the men who attacked you?”
“Try to be safer in future, Ms. Ellis.”
“Thank you, sir…”
6
KIR
“I haven’t seenyou in here in a while.”
I look up from where I’m sitting at Magda’s desk and smile as she steps into…well…heroffice.
I own the Mercury theater, and as of recently, when I took over the other shareholders’ positions, the Zakharova ballet company itself. But this office is still, unequivocally, Magda’s space.
“I apologize,” I clear my throat as I stand. “I should have called?—”
“Please, Kir.” She smirks and rolls her eyes, like she sees right through my charm.
