Page 91 of City of Salvation

Soft hands drew my attention away for a brief second. “I’ll wrap this for you,” the girl said, already at work. When I looked back at Nikki, her nostrils were flared, and I swore she was envisioning five different ways to castrate me.

Looks like you’re not so “unfeeling” after all.

I ticked a brow at her.

If she wanted to play games, we could play, and she’d be my god damned prize.

CHAPTER 38

NIKKI

YOU KNOW, SOMETIMES, YOU JUST NEED TO BE A BITCH

I knewI was being a bitch, and that this was all my fault, but that didn’t mean I was capable of behaving rationally. Yes, I ran away like a total coward, but why the fuck was there a woman touching him tenderly with a stupid fucking smile on her face.

I never claimed to be a bigger person. Naturally, the only appropriate response to my jealousy was to creep closer to Andrei. He didn’t seem to notice me, too busy barking out orders to his men as we all took a seat for this meeting from hell.

I bit the inside of my cheek, torn between where to sit. Maybe I’d stand in the background and hope everyone forgot I was here.

Yeah right. You’re the whole fucking reason they had to come here.

Tingles ran up my spine, my nipples tightening behind the lace at the top of my dress. I didn’t need to look to know who it was that now stood beside me. I bit my inner cheek as he leaned down to whisper in my ear.

“You’re sitting next to me, spitfire. Right where I cankeep an eye on you since you clearly can’t be trusted.” Regret turned in my gut at his word choice, but he didn’t give me long to dwell on them as he pulled me down onto the bench.

Smack dab in the middle between him and Andrei.

I wanted to ask God what I’d done to deserve this, but there was likely a long fucking list to answer that question. Goosebumps popped up along my legs, a stark contrast to the burn of Dex’s leg pressed to mine. Any closer and I’d be in his lap. I attempted to scooch over, but his hand clamped down on my bare thigh, his pinky brushing the edge of where my dress had ridden up.

The blood pumping in my ears drowned out the small talk that was going on amongst the group as everyone pretended we weren’t waiting on pins and needles to hash out what the fuck was going on. The music was muted up in the balcony thanks to the thick bulletproof windows. Sound was pumped in through speakers, allowing Andrei to control the volume during his meetings.

“Well, why don’t we get to the fucking point, shall we?” Dex called out, cutting through the chatter at the table, his hand still gripped onto my thigh. There was a beat of silence before Andrei barked out a laugh, leaning forward to look over at Dex. I’d never wanted to be swallowed up by an inanimate object like I did at that moment—if only the bench could’ve opened up and allowed me to crawl away.

“I like you,” Andrei said.

Dex grunted. “Yeah, well, I don’t like you.”

Andrei’s grin only grew wider at the retort, his blue eyes sparkling. Scarletta thankfully stepped in before the moment could escalate.

“Let’s cut the bullshit and you can tell us why we’re here,” she demanded, not a hint of fear in her tone.

Andrei raised a brow, but otherwise didn’t react to thecommand, asking for a drink in Russian before speaking. Bastard always did like doing things his way. “Yuri Sokolov is making his way to New York, and we need to kill him,” he said bluntly.

Scarletta glanced at Caleb, having a silent conversation between them. They probably hadn’t anticipated Andrei being so open. Or admitting that he wanted to murder the current Bratva leader.

Andrei leaned forward, drumming on the top of the table. “Listen, I don’t really want to waste time with bullshit smoke and mirrors. Here’s how it is. I’ve been trying to kill the bastard for a long time. I tried once before, but it was unfortunatelyunsuccessful.” I felt his eyes on me, but I didn’t return the glance, too distracted by the way Dex’s hand was creeping farther and farther toward the center of my thighs, drawing torturous circles along my skin.

“Yeah, let’s start there, actually,” Dex said. “How the hell did the Ruska Roma infiltrate a wedding that didn’t even disclose the location? ” His attention shifted to me. “And how did you wind up missing? Did they kidnap you?” he asked, his eyes searching.

Andrei let out a low whistle. “Damn, Tasha, you really didn’t tell anyone a damn thing about you.” He pulled the joint tucked behind his ears and lit it, gesturing to me with his hand. “Well, I think it’s time for you to have a come to Jesus moment, not that I believe in the fucker, but the saying works well, no?”

My lids fluttered closed as I took a centering breath. There was no more running. No more secrets.

“No one kidnapped me that day,” I said, opening my eyes back up and staring up at Dex, pleading with him to understand. I’d have to go back to the beginning.

“I never had a mother, not in the maternal sense. Myfather hired a surrogate to birth him a child. While most might have wanted a son, my father was a selfish bastard, and he wanted the power for himself. Not an heir. His goal was to have a bargaining chip—” I’d never said any of this aloud before, and the admission was like a knife to the heart all over again. Dex’s hand stilled before he gave a comforting squeeze.

“A girl,” he said, finishing the sentence for me.

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