Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 66833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 334(@200wpm)___ 267(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 334(@200wpm)___ 267(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
It’s as much a threat to me as it is a promise to her.
“Yes, you will,” I say coolly. “As long as you and Konstantin behave.”
He turns and leaves. Ruslan walks out after him, leaving us alone with the dead body.
I need to know what happened, but first, I need to get Alina out of here, far away from all the blood and death. Her face is a pale shade of green as she turns to stare at the corpse, so I don’t waste time asking her any questions. Unceremoniously, I pick her up and carry her out of the room and down the stairs to the hostel lobby, and then out to the alley, where I message our men to come and get us in a car.
I can’t have anyone see us while she’s in this state, not with the fresh body we’ve left behind.
“Wait,” Alina says shakily as the car I ordered pulls up to the alley’s entrance. “Birgit. I have to tell her…”
Fuck. I stop and carefully lower Alina to her feet. “Who’s Birgit?”
If there was a witness—
“Just a girl,” Alina says, and her lower lip wobbles as she stares up at me. “She helped me when I was feeling sick.”
“Was she there?” I ask softly.
Alina’s answering stare is blank. She must still be in shock.
I soften my tone further, speaking as if to a small child. “When the bad man died, was she there?”
Comprehension flares in her gaze, followed by fear. “No! No, she was nowhere near. I just want to let her know that I’m leaving; otherwise, she’ll worry and wonder. Alexei…” She grabs my hand with both of hers and squeezes with surprising strength. Her jade eyes are dark in her pale face. “Don’t hurt her. Promise me you won’t hurt her.”
I sigh. “Alinyonok…”
“Promise me!”
How evil does she think I am? “I won’t hurt her.”
Not unless I find out she hurt Alina or was somehow responsible for the dead man being in her room. But I keep those qualifiers to myself.
Alina relaxes a tiny bit and releases my hand. “Okay. Let me go leave her a note then.”
She moves to walk around me, but I step to the side to block her way. She’s clearly not thinking straight.
“That’s not a good idea,” I say as gently as I can.
Her eyes narrow, then widen. “Oh. Of course. I just—”
“I’m sure your brother’s team will do a good job of cleaning up the scene, but it’s still best if there are no traces of your presence there,” I say, pulling her into my embrace as she begins to visibly shake again. Softly, I add into her hair, “You can contact Birgit later, once everything settles down.” Or preferably, never. Either way, I’ll need to do a deep dive on this Birgit’s background, just in case.
Keeping Alina pressed against me, I guide her into the back seat of the car, where I pull her onto my lap and let her bury her face in my shoulder while I stroke her hair, feeling her trembling slowly subside.
I have a million questions, but I allow myself to ask only one. “Was there anyone else besides Birgit who helped you or stayed with you?” I keep my tone light and conversational, as if it doesn’t matter.
“No.” Alina’s answer is swift as she raises her head. Her face is wet with tears, but her gaze is clear and direct. And more than a little fearful. “Alexei, there was no one else. And definitely no witnesses to…” She swallows audibly. “To what I did.”
She seems more with it now, less shock-y, so I decide to risk a couple more questions. “Who was he?” I ask carefully. “What was he doing there?”
The sooner I learn what happened, the better our odds of covering up the scene.
She swallows again, her slim throat working as she moves off me to sit on the seat. “I don’t know for sure, but I think he might be—” Her voice breaks. “That is, might’ve been the hostel owner’s son. I’d never seen him before, but I’d heard his voice downstairs a few times. Birgit said he doesn’t bother the girls usually, not unless they flirt with him, but—”
“He decided to bother you.” It takes all my self-control to keep my voice steady as white-hot rage scorches my chest. I’d suspected something like that to be the case, but to hear her confirm it… “Did he hurt you?” Despite my best efforts, my voice tightens. “Alinyonok, if he—”
“No. He didn’t even lay a finger on me.” Her eyes take on a haunted look. “I killed him before he could do anything. He was in the room when I woke up, and then he started saying some pervy shit. Pavel’s training kicked in, and I just… acted. I didn’t even try to scare him off, or talk to him, or—”