Page 4 of Cruel Submission

She grabs another blanket and tucks it around my shoulders. “Get some sleep. I’ll be right here.”

But sleep doesn’t come.

I lie on Diane’s couch, wrapped in blankets, staring at the ceiling. Shadows shift and dance from the streetlight outside. My mind won’t stop.

The van. The zip ties cutting into my wrists. The chase through traffic. Kostya’s hand reaching for me.

“There you are, darling.”

I press my hand to my stomach. It’s too early to feel anything, but the knowledge is there—this tiny life depending on me.

I won’t let them take me.

I won’t let them take this baby.

But even as I think it, doubt creeps in.

How do I fight a man who can snatch people off the street in broad daylight?

How do I protect myself when I don’t even understand the game being played?

And Arkady—

Does he know I’m missing yet? Is he looking for me? Or does he think I ran away, that I finally got sick of his secrets and his dangerous world and left?

Would he even care?

The thought hurts more than it should.

I close my eyes, but I can still see Kostya’s face. Can still feel the drug in my system, the terror of waking up in that van.

Dubai.

Gavriil Laurov.

How is Arkady connected to all of this?

And how did I get myself into such a mess?

Chapter Two

Mirabel

“I can’t stay, Di.”

I’m already pulling on yesterday’s clothes, the ones that smell like fear and sweat. Diane watches me from the couch, arms crossed.

“I have a job to do.” I tug my shirt down over my stomach—still flat, still hiding the secret growing there. “I can’t lose my father. Not him, too.”

“Mirabel—”

“I know what you’re going to say.” I grab my phone, check for messages. Nothing from Arkady. Nothing from anyone. “But I don’t have a choice.”

Diane stands, closing the distance between us. “Fine. Do what you have to.” She holds my gaze. “But if anything happens—anything—you call me. Okay?”

“Okay.”

She pulls me into a hug, and I let myself have this one moment. This one breath of safety before I walk back into his world.