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“How the hell did they find us, anyway?”
“They’ve probably been tailing us since we left the penthouse. I should’ve spotted that.” He shakes his head, clenching his jaw.
“I’m sure there’s a reason you didn’t,” I say in a poor attempt to reassure him.
“We have to get the fuck out of here now,” he says in a hushed tone. “We’re outnumbered and outgunned, and I can’t get the cavalry here on time. If they find us, they’ll kill me and take you. And if you die on my watch, Nik will find a way to resurrect me so that he can kill me himself.”
“I’m so fucking done being kidnapped by fucking mafia men,” I mutter through gritted teeth. “Let’s get out of here, then. Lead the way.”
After grabbing my hand, he does. Dmitri makes me crawl through the store as McGuire’s men, in their search for us, unleash sheer terror on the poor salespeople. Somehow, we make it to the back of the store unnoticed. Luckily, we find an emergency exit.
“Wait! If you open the door, it might sound an alarm,” I say to Dmitri in warning.
He shrugs. “We’re out of options. Get ready. We’re making a run for it. Whatever happens, run as fast as you can. Don’t look back, don’t wait for me. Just run. We have to get to the main road.”
“But your car is parked out back.”
“Forget about the car. Our best chance is to get to the main road. It’s busier, and we can lose them there.”
I open my mouth to question this flawed plan of his, but I change my mind after thinking better of it. He’s right. We’re out of options.
“Ready?” Dmitri asks. I nod. “On the count of three.” He quietly counts down, and we run for our lives.
No alarm goes off once we shove the door open, but it doesn’t matter. The mere act of pushing the heavy metal exit door makes enough noise to raise the dead, giving away our position. We hear the Irish excitedly yell behind us as we run through a back alley.
“Go, go, go,” Dmitri yells.
For once, I listen.
Just as we get to the main road, I spot the beautiful, miraculous sight of a cab driving down the street. We frantically wave at the driver, and—thank our lucky stars—the man pulls over.
Dmitri pushes me into the vehicle before I can even react to the car slowing down before me. He barks the penthouse’s address at the taxi driver, promising him a small fortune if he can get us to Nik’s place without stopping for any reason.
The man eagerly puts the pedal to the metal, and I turn to Dmitri. “Shouldn’t we try to lose McGuire’s men before returning to the penthouse?”
He shakes his head. “There’s no point. It’s not like they don’t know where Nik lives. We’ll be safe at the penthouse. Trust me—if they had the manpower or firepower to hit it, they would have by now.”
I’m no mafia affairs expert, but I think Dmitri’s probably right. He pulls out his phone, and, after glancing at the screen, he exhales loudly, cursing.
“Fuck. That motherfucker hit Nik hard,” Dmitri says under his breath.
“What do you mean?” I ask, alarmed.
“I didn’t feel my phone vibrate, so I had no idea until just now. Right after we left home, McGuire torched half a dozen of Nik’s properties without warning. Nik must be so fucking mad.”
“Is he okay?” I ask, holding my breath. My voice breaks slightly, and my vision gets blurry.
“I’m sure he’s fine. Like I said, they wouldn’t dare hit the penthouse, and Nik knows it. Even McGuire isn’t that bold or stupid. He’s trying to flush Nik out. I guess that explains the courtesy visit his goons just paid us.”
“Are you saying they were trying to take us to use us as bait to lure Nik out of the penthouse?” Blood-red anger washes over me. I feel it overtake me almost to a physical level, with every inch of my skin growing warmer and tingly as the feeling takes hold inside of me. I’ve had it with being a pawn in these ludicrous mafia schemes…
“That’d be my guess,” Dmitri says with a shrug. “Damn it, Nik. Pick up the fucking phone.”
“He isn’t picking up the phone? Oh, god, Dmitri—what if something happened to him?”
“Nothing’s happened to him, Kat. I’d have heard it by now. He’s probably just busy or trying to get a hold of us.”
“Well, let’s keep trying to get him on the phone. I need to hear his voice to know he’s okay.” I fish inside my purse for my phone. Hands shaking, I manage to pull it out and ring his number.
