Page 41 of Victor's Lethal Desire
I shake my head, annoyed at myself.
Stop it.
He's playing you. Just like you're playing him.
Except I don't really want to kill him.
The thought slips in before I can block it.
I should want to kill him, I guess. After all, he is a threat to Ivan, to the Bratva, to everything I've built my life around. But when I imagine putting a bullet in that smug, handsome face, my stomach twists.
Not because I couldn't. Maybe it's because I haven't been asked to yet. So, in the meantime, silly thoughts can force their way into my head.
Like the reckless part of me that wonders what it would be like if we weren't on opposite sides. If we met at a bar in Prague, if he bought me a drink, if I let him take me back to his hotel room and...
I mentally slap myself.
What the hell is wrong with you?
I don't care what he thinks. I don't care if he finds me attractive or if he enjoyed our dance or if he's thinking about me right now while he's out there handling guards.
Except apparently I do, and that's a problem.
My breath catches as reality crashes back in.
Shit, what if he doesn't come back?
What if this was his plan all along? Lock me in a box, deal with the guards, get the tablet, and leave me trapped until the next shift finds me?
God, how can I be so... The dumbwaiter comes to a sharp stop, shaking for a moment before settling.
Okay, I'm at the top.
I press my ear against the metal door, straining to hear anything. Footsteps, voices, gunshots, anything.
Nothing. Just silence.
My pulse spikes, and I shift, pressing my shoulder against the door to test it.
Locked.
Great.
I shouldn't have agreed to this. I had a plan. A good plan. Slip past the guards, incapacitate them quietly, access the tablet, download the data, and disappear before anyone realized I was there.
But Victor insisted, and I...
BOOM.
A heavy crash slams into the dumbwaiter door.
I jerk back, every muscle in my body coiled tight. My heart hammers against my ribs, and I press myself into the corner, barely breathing.
Another crash, and the metal door rattles as I reach for my knife.
I hear some commotion, someone grunts, and then that thud a body makes when it hits the floor, lifeless.
It goes quiet now, and I can't hear a thing.
