Page 110 of Tarnished Tyrant (Zhukova Bratva 1)

I turn and find Nikolai moving towards me, dripping with his usual ease and confidence. He’s in a pair of dark green chinos and a plain white pocket tee. Somehow, he looks better in this casual outfit than even the tux he was wearing last night. It makes him seem so… normal. But in the best, most unattainable way.

He moves towards me. I don’t move a muscle. I’m sure he’s about to fire me, and I have no interest in walking to my own execution. So I wait for him to stop in front of me.

“I was expecting a call from the driver that you were resisting,” he says with no small amount of amusement.

"Would he have forced me into the car if I'd refused?"

Nikolai shrugs. "Once you saw Elise was in the backseat, I assume that wouldn’t be necessary."

"Which reminds me," I snap, jabbing a finger in his direction. "Stop kidnapping my sister "

"It's hard to call it kidnapping when she comes so willingly. If you're worried about me taking her, maybe you should tell her who I am. What I do.”

"Is this a trap? You trying to trick me into spilling your secrets so you can kill me for talking?"

He smirks. "I guess you'll have to wait and find out."

The sight of his mouth tipped up at the corner, his eyes shimmering with dirty promises, is enough to make my face flush. No wonder Nikolai is some world-class criminal. The man could steal your wallet and then convince you with a smile that you gave it to him willingly.

He’s dangerous.

“I probably won’t have to wait long,” I say, gesturing at the plane.

“Why is that?”

I raise my brows. “Um… because you’re sending me home, right? I mean, you fired Roger. And I worked for Roger, so—”

“I told you I’d take care of you.”

“And you did.” I give him a sarcastic clap. “You were great last night. Thanks for saving me from Roger and, you know, yeah, thank you. But now—”

The car door slams closed behind me. I turn around as Elise pads towards us. For the first time, I notice she’s wearing a new pair of white sneakers.

I frown. “Where did you get those?”

“You left them for me on the counter, didn’t you?” she asks.

No. No, I definitely did not. Where would I have found the time or money to go pick up a pair of white leather sneakers?

I’m about to say as much when Elise turns to Nikolai, offering up a surprisingly warm smile. “What are we doing here?”

Suddenly, panic flares in my chest. I should have told her the truth. It would have been less embarrassing to explain all of this in the car instead of in front of Nikolai.

Nikolai opens his mouth to say something, but I lunge forward and cut him off.

“I’m done working here,” I blurt out. “I… I finished up last night. So we’re done.”

Elise frowns. “You said you had a few more days of work left.”

“I was wrong. I’m done. So now, we’re going—”

“To Iceland,” Nikolai interrupts. “In fifteen minutes. We should board.”

I spin around, my mouth hanging open. “Towhere?”

“I told you I’d give you the details once we got here,” he says.

“You did?”

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