Page 13 of Victor's Lethal Desire
I glance over at Bogdan's corpse, and that damn split-second distraction is all she needs.
Her hips buck violently, throwing my weight off-center, and her knee drives up hard into my healing stab wound.
Pain detonates through my ribs, and I gasp, unable to hide it, and fall slightly to the side.
She rips her wrists free, rolls out from under me, and springs to her feet in one fluid motion.
By the time I look up, she's on the desk.
She grabs the hard drive, vaults onto the windowsill, and lifts the window open.
She pauses, one leg sticking out, and looks back at me.
Her lips curve into a smirk. She brushes her hair behind her ear and wipes her mouth with the back of her hand, as if brushing off the encounter.
"Better luck next time, pretty boy."
Then she's gone.
I sit on the floor, surrounded by scattered papers, clutching my side.
My heart beats rapidly in my chest.
At least Bogdan is dead for what he did, but now, there's no denying it.
The cold, calculating politician is gone.
She played me. Dare I say she fucking seduced me, and now, without question, she beat me.
Again.
I press my palm against my side, breathing hard as I stare at the empty window.
Next time, she won't get away that easily.
I push myself to my feet. A second later, I laugh and shake my head.
This just got a hell of a lot more interesting.
6
DANIKA
My shoes hit the ground outside Bogdan's window hard.
I roll with the impact, absorbing the shock through my legs, then I'm up and sprinting, clutching the hard drive in my right hand.
The cool night stings my cheeks, and a few strands of loose hair fall over my face. I push them out of my eyes and keep running.
Adrenaline pumps through my veins, drowning out the ache in my side where Victor's shoulder connected when he tackled me. My lungs burn as I push harder, trying my best to dart between the shadows of the quiet residential neighborhood.
I don't look back as I run, not yet. I need more distance just in case.
My hand grips the hard drive tight, the plastic edges digging into my palm. The main reason why I came here in the first place, and for Bogdan, of course.
I round the corner at the end of the block, my pulse hammering in my ears. Only then do I risk a glance over my shoulder.
At first, my eyes play tricks, turning overgrown bushes and long shadows into him, but I blink and they all come into focus as the things they are.
