Page 52 of The Payback

I tilt my head back, staring up at the ceiling as I slow my breathing and will my cock to stand down. What the fuck was all of that? How does she twist me up so much, changing me into someone I don’t fucking recognise anymore? I’m no longer the Nicholas Stephenson she once knew, nor am I the Nikita Lenkov I was supposed to be now. I’m no one, crushed between two identities and left in the dust.

I count to ten, and when I hear Dimitri’s shoes on the hard floor, I lower my head and turn to him.

“All good?” I ask.

Dimitri runs his hand through his dark-blond hair like when we were kids. “Fuck no. We have a problem, and you have a choice to make. Stay or go. But if you stay, you’re all in, Nik. I mean it. No double-agent bullshit anymore where you report my shit to Sergei.”

I look past him at Ellie, who shields Anya from something in the foyer and directs her attention to the terrace. Without needing a moment to think about it, I know my answer. I let her get away once and refuse to do it again.

“I’m in.”

CHAPTERTWENTY

Eleanor

The soundof the lift doors opening pulls me out of this bizarre standoff with Nik. My body has betrayed me yet again, but as soon as that littledingrings through the penthouse, my mind jumps back in the driver’s seat, and I tear myself away from Nik’s dark gaze.

He has no reservations about Dimitri finding me pressed against him with my panties soaked in evidence of my release. But I do.

Maybe he doesn’t know Dimitri as well as I’ve come to know the man in the last week. Maybe he just doesn’t fucking care. But the last thing I want today is more bloodshed. We just survived a drive-by shooting. Fuck, how long ago was that? It feels like mere minutes ago and an eternity, all at the same time.

With hurried footsteps, I leave the kitchen, feeling Nik’s disappointment behind me. He can act as pissed as he wants. He’s the one who threw that night in my face a few minutes ago. I wonder if he would be as flippant if he knew of the result from that night.

And I’m not talking about the diamond.

I turn towards the foyer as I head for Anya on the couch, and what I see has me doing a double-take.

Dimitri is hauling a bloodied and beaten body from the lift, leaving a smear along the tile as he hauls the unconscious man into our home.

“Anya, look outside!” I call, pointing towards the massive windows. She can’t quite see the body from her vantage point, but she will if Dimitri drags the man much farther.

The little girl follows my instructions, and I whisper-shout to Dimitri, “What the fuck?”

He lifts his head, and nothing about the man staring back at me is recognisable. His blond hair is dirty and dishevelled, his suit shredded across the chest, and one sleeve hanging precariously by a few threads.

But worse than that, his face is devoid of all emotion. Like every thought has been sucked out and replaced with one thing.

Vengeance.

Dimitri drops the unconscious and broken man’s arms, turns towards the kitchen, and walks in with purposeful strides. His shoes click across the floor, and I keep Anya facing the windows with an arm around her. Everything with Nik is forgotten as I hear their conversation through the open doors.

“All good?” Nik asks.

“Fuck no. We have a problem, and you have a choice to make. Stay or go. But if you stay, you’re all in, Nik. I mean it. No double-agent bullshit anymore where you report my shit to Sergei.”

Nik peers over Dimitri’s shoulder at me, and even though I should focus on making sure Anya is shielded, I can’t help how my eyes bore into his, waiting to see if he has any redeemability left within him.

“I’m in.”

The words resound around me, and part of me is relieved. The other part is terrified as fuck, because how easy is it to say the words and not follow through? Nik knows that better than anyone.

Dimitri turns to me, charging through the kitchen, and stops short when he looks from me to Anya, as if only now remembering she’s here. “Sabre. Call who you need to but get her out of here. Now.”

I nod and gently pull Anya up from the couch. Catching her attention, I mime closing my eyes, and she copies without question. I lead her up the stairs and thank the heavens that she keeps her eyes shut as we pass the crime scene of a foyer. “Move him somewhere else. Anywhere else. And clean this up so I can get her out of here.”

Dimitri agrees, and with his hands under the man’s armpits and Nik carrying the feet, they move the guy to the office area and out of sight.

It takes but a few minutes to get Agent Kim on the phone and tell him I have the additional pickup for him I’d mentioned that morning. I insist he brings a female agent who speaks Russian, if possible, and he says they’ve got a few and will be in the parking garage soon.

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