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“Only sometimes?” I quipped.
“I am leaving,” he announced. “However, if anyone should get some sleep, it should be you, Pakhan. After all, you’re the one that’s going to have a pissed off blonde on your hands in the morning.”
“Unfortunately for her, that’s how I like her.”
Maksim just shook his head as he turned to leave my office. “You are crazy,” he muttered.
Not agreeing or disagreeing with him, I finally took a seat at my desk, then opened the contents of Morocco’s folder. It really was a shame that the Sartoris were the only ones that had a man as gifted as Morocco Carrisi. A hacker with Morocco’s talent was invaluable to an organization like ours, and the man was worth his price tag, though his loyalty was solid to the Sartoris.
Flipping through the report, there wasn’t much more than what Maksim had summarized, though the report did contain pictures of Artem and Hannah Rostova, and younger pictures of Louie Manziel. I looked for any resemblances to Maksim, but I could not find any, though that didn’t mean anything. After all, it was Klive Simpson that we were more concerned with, not Louie Manziel.
I finally took a sip of my vodka, needing it more tonight than usual.
Chapter 14
Samara~
Everything hurt as my eyes struggled to open, but even if I’d wanted to sleep some more, the raised voices that were ringing in my ears would make that impossible. I didn’t recognize who they were, but my mind was still a foggy mess of pain.
“Samara? Can you hear me?”
When my eyes finally opened, I saw Maksim on his haunches, staring down at me. His brow was furrowed, and his dark eyes looked hard and lifeless, but that was nothing new. Maksim always looked like he felt nothing but contempt for everything around him.
As I struggled to sit up, I noticed Alexei standing behind him, and when my eyes started darting around for Rurik and Vlad, I didn’t see them anywhere. Still, that didn’t mean that they weren’t still here somewhere, waiting for me to get my comeuppance.
When I looked back up at Maksim, that’s when panic gripped my mind in a painful hold. Instead of following the rules-regardless of whether I’d been aware of them or not-I had fought back, going against the bratva. Avgust had a guard with my sister, and all it would take was one phone call to the guard to end my sister’s life or make her pay for my obstinance. My refusal to submit had probably cost my sister’s life, and I no longer hurt with the beating, but with the swift regret that I was feeling now.
“Maksim,” I choked out, my throat raw from my screaming. “I’m sorry…I’m…call Avgust and…and tell him I’m sorry.”
“Samara-”
“Don’t kill my sister,” I begged, desperation making me grip his shirt. “Please…please…”
“Samara-”
“Call Avgust,” I cried out hysterically. “Let me talk to him…let me ex…explain… please…”
“She’s hysterical,” Alexei remarked, sending me into a furor.
“I’m not hysterical!” I yelled, my voice cracking with pain. “I need to talk to Avgust!”
“Samara, I can call Masha-”
“No!”
Shame threatened to strangle me at the very thought of speaking to my sister. I had sworn to always protect her, and the first time that I’d been put to the test, I had failed miserably. I had promised her that she’d be safe from Avgust with my sacrifice, but instead of accepting the choice that I’d made, I had put her life in danger by fighting back.
“Samara-”
“Call Avgust,” I begged again. “Please…please, Maksim…I…he can’t hurt her. It wasn’t her fault.”
“Okay, calm down,” he ordered, his voice even and in control. “I will call Avgust for you. Just calm down, yes?”
Though it hurt like hell, I nodded. “Yes…yes…”
As Maksim called Avgust, I looked down, and that’s when I finally noticed that my torn shirt was giving them an eyeful of my bra and that my jeans were still undone. My ankle was a bloody mess from when I’d been struggling against the cuff, and as I took inventory of my injuries, everything started to hurt worse with each account.
“Samara?” I looked back up at Maksim. “I’ve got Avgust on the phone for you.”
