Page 74 of Til Death Do Us Part (Kornilov Bratva Duet 2)

“I’m going out to see a friend down the street.” If they tell Viktor about it later, I’ll already be home and safe, so it won’t matter.

One of the guards, a stout man with a bald head, sighs and slides off a stool. “Fine, but give me a second. I need to find my shoes.”

“Don’t bother. I’ll be right back.”

He narrows his eyes and frowns. “Someone has to go with you. You aren’t supposed to leave alone.”

“My husband knows where I am going and told me I could go alone,” I snap, pulling my face into a deeply offended scowl. I want this man to feel foolish for questioning me at all. “Do you suddenly outrank your leader?”

The guard’s mouth opens and closes several times, and I know I’ve got him.

“By all means, feel free to go upstairs and question him,” I say, leaning back against the wall, arms crossed over my chest like I’m bored. “I’ll wait, but I should warn you, he is tired and in a very bad mood.”

The man looks towards the stairs as though he is considering it before he reluctantly shakes his head. “Sorry I doubted you.”

I raise a brow until he lowers his face in shame. Bratva queens are not to be trifled with.

Only once he is good and shamed do I march through the front door and into the night.

* * *

I seethe nail salon from a block away, but I don’t see Hannah until I’m standing in front of the alley next to the building. She is leaning against the brick wall with her arms wrapped around her middle. She isn’t dressed for the cold night, and I can tell she is shivering.

“Hannah?”

She starts and turns around, and that is when I realize she isn’t shivering, but sobbing.

Fat tears roll down her cheeks, smearing her mascara, and her entire body is trembling.

“What happened?” I ask, rushing forward to wrap her in a hug. “Whatever is going on, we can fix this, okay?”

I’ll let Hannah live with me for years if she needs to. I’ll drive her to AA or NA meetings. I’ll do whatever I can to help her the way she helped me and Theo all those years ago. She may feel like the debt between us has been paid, but I’m not sure I’ll ever feel that way.

“No, you can’t,” Hannah sobs into my shoulder. Her arms are hanging limply at her sides. “I ruined everything for you, and I’m so sorry.”

I step back and rub warmth into her shoulders with my hands. “Nothing is ruined. I’m fine. We can go back to the apartment and talk about this. Everything is fine.”

Hannah pulls away from my touch and shakes her head. “I didn’t find you with the Find-my-Phone app, Molly. Someone told me where you lived.”

I blink, confused. “Someone?”

Hannah’s lower lip pouts out, and her chin wobbles. “Fedor.”

My heart sinks in my chest and it feels like time has slowed. Like the world has stopped spinning. Everything I thought was true, suddenly isn’t.

Hannah knows Fedor. Fedor told her where I lived. She lied to me.

As fear grips my mind, the same thought thumps through me like a heartbeat: She lied to me. She lied to me. She lied to me.

“I didn’t want to help him, but he threatened me, Molly. He told me I had to or else he’d kill my family.”

“What about my family?” I ask weakly, my voice barely audible.

Hannah swipes at her eyes and takes a step towards me, but I wave my hand, keeping her at a distance.

“I know,” she sobs. “I told him where you guys were and when you left the house. I felt like shit the whole time, and I tried to get you to leave, but you wouldn’t do it. I tried to get you to leave Viktor, but—”

“Am I supposed to thank you?” I spit. “You’ve been lying to me this entire time. Spying on me.”

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