Page 84 of Devious Obsession
Filling another cone of water, I plop down in the desk chair. Rust covers a small portion of the metal arms, and the leather is cracked and sharp against my ass, but it’s still better than the floor.
My head hurts, but getting backhanded across the temple will do that, so I’m not too worried about it. And whatever drug Janis injected me with seems to have worn off for the most part already.
Obviously, he didn’t want me dead.
Can’t make a deal with a corpse as your only leverage, I suppose.
I spin in the chair like I used to when I was a little girl and the boys would take me into our father’s office to play. They’d put me in his chair and spin me until I was so dizzy, I couldn’t walk straight when I got up.
Deciding my head is in bad enough shape already, I stop the movement and get back up.
“They’re here!” a man yells from outside the office.
I hurry to the single window and make an opening in the blinds. Seven men dressed in dark suits stand outside the office. They’re all carrying guns. Huge ones. No handguns for these guys. These things come with shoulder straps and big magazines.
From the other side of the warehouse, Janis walks into view. He has no weapon. Probably confident all the heavy arms these assholes are holding will be enough to protect him.
What a fucking moron.
Aside from the fact that my brothers no doubt already planned his death from the moment they realized who took me, there’s Artem.
And if he has anything to say about it, Janis isn’t going to get a little bullet to his head. He’s going to spend a lot of time atoning for his sins.
I used to hate this part of my family. Violence never really solves anything. It just creates another reason for vengeance from someone else, and it turns into a cycle of bloodshed and death.
A door rolls open outside of my view. Metal creaks as it rolls open like a garage door. Several of the men standing near the office look at each other. I can’t get a good look at their expressions, but if they have any working brain cells, they’re regretting their life decisions.
Artem stands with my brothers flanking his sides. There’s a look of calm on their expressions, but I know the truth. Beneath their facade is chaos ready to erupt.
Janis stands in front of my brothers and Artem, his hands flexing at his sides, and he rolls his shoulders back like he’s trying to expand himself. If he was facing a bear in the woods, maybe making himself look bigger might help. But these aren’t bears.
These are Volkovs.
Much worse.
“Where is she?” Alexander speaks first, his eyes never leaving Janis.
“She’s safe,” Janis says.
I’m over this. Whatever game they are all playing, the chest thumping, the drama of it all. I just want to go home.
I knock on the window.
Artem sees me first. Our gazes lock, and I give a small wave with a smile. His body relaxes. The death glare still fills his eyes. To anyone else, it looks like nothing’s shifted inside him, but I know this man. The tension softens inside him when he sees that I’m not hurt.
Now he can focus on the task at hand.
Janis’s head snaps to me, his lips thinning as he presses them together. Did he think I was going to be a good little captive?
“She’s fine, like I said.” Janis tries to turn the tables, make it look like he has power here.
“You’re lucky, then,” Ivan speaks up. “We’ll only break half of your bones before we let you die.”
I’ve heard Ivan when he’s angry, and that voice has nothing on this tone. A shiver runs down my spine, and for a second I feel bad for Janis.
“No one’s breaking anything.” Janis shakes his head. “Unless you want her to be returned to you in pieces.”
He makes a motion of his hand, and the men surrounding the office move aside. Artem’s body goes stiff again.
