Page 33 of Broken Sins (Volkov Bratva 3)

One corner of his lips twitches upwards in a facsimile of a smile. His eyes don’t change with it. They stay placid and undisturbed. “Funny you should ask,” he says smoothly. “You have a guest.”

I blink. I don’t have any idea what he means by that.

Leo stares at me for a moment longer before he turns his attention to the thick eye-hook by my feet that is keeping me locked to this table.

He retrieves a key from a string around his neck and leans forward to free the heavy-duty lock. It lets the chain loose, but he is quick to reattach it so that my ankles are still bound together by a few feet of thick metal links.

He circles around to do the same to my hands and I realize instantly—this is a chance to escape.

Time slows down. I have to pick my moment right. There will be a split second where my hand is free. If I time everything perfectly, I can swing it around and hit him in the face with the loose chain. With any luck, I’ll knock him out for long enough to figure out my next move.

I hold my breath and wait.

The chain shifts subtly on the table as he engages the lock and frees it.

Three, two, one …

“If you are thinking of trying to escape, I would caution against it.”

I freeze. He sounds so calm. Am I that obvious? What about this man lets him see right through me without any apparent effort? I feel, if anything, even nakeder than before. All the fight whistles out of me, and my muscles go slack.

I can sense Leo smiling, maybe even laughing under his breath, as he finishes undoing the locks and cuffing my hands together in front of me.

“Sit up,” he tells me. His hand presses against the middle of my back as he helps me into an upright position. My head is swimming. I’m aware of his touch and his scent. He was the one wearing cologne the night I was arrested, whenever that was. It invades my nostrils now, overwhelming me. Shifting positions after so much time spent supine and being drugged, his smell, the lights, the fear, the nausea—all of it catches up to me at once and I start to fall over.

Leo catches me. His grip is strong and reassuring.

I look into his eyes. “I’m dizzy,” I tell him.

“Breathe.”

I take his advice and close my eyes to inhale. The cold air rushes into my lungs. I sit there for a moment, trying to calm my beating heart. Leo arranges the blanket around me like a cloak. I’m grateful for its warmth, though I’m still left wondering why he cares if I’m comfortable. And who is this “guest” he is talking about? Is my father here?

I open my eyes when I feel the vertigo recede a little.

“Better?”

“Yes,” I answer timidly.

“Then come with me. Your guest is waiting.” He offers a hand to help me off the table. I take it, squeezing his fingers, and struggle to my feet. We start to walk—slowly, since the chain around my ankles is forcing me to take smaller steps than I normally would.

He leads me to a door I hadn’t seen before. Unlocking that with another key from a string looped around his neck, he opens it for me and helps me through.

A corridor awaits within. It, too, is lit by gas lamps. This passageway feels small and cramped, like the walls are going to cave it at any moment.

“This way,” he says, leading me again.

We go down the hall maybe halfway before he turns to another door. This one is already open, as if it was waiting for me.

He jerks his head, telling me to go in. I raise an eyebrow, hoping for something more from him, but he just waits for me to follow his instructions.

So I go in.

He shuts the door behind me and locks it. His feet retreat just a few steps away, then stop, so I know he is still in the corridor. Waiting for something, or standing guard, perhaps.

My eyes slowly adjust to the dim light within. There is a gas lamp set above me, just out of reach. When I can see, I do a slow spin to look at the room he has let me into.

It is cramped and square, a little bit wider than my wingspan in each direction if I were able to extend my arms. Three walls are stone, like the rest of the corridor, but the fourth wall is made of a dense wood, with a mesh screen set in the middle of it. It looks like a confessional booth in a Catholic church, weirdly enough.

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