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Seeing me in this new, pathetic state emboldened Hardy in the driver’s seat. He glanced back and laughed. “Your husband isn’t going to get the chance to kill me,” he gloated. “Because as soon as we get him out in the woods, there’s going tobe a terrible accident, and he won’t be causing anyone anymore problems.”
“He’ll never fall for it,” I said, my throat closing up, because, of course he would. As soon as Lev knew where I was, he’d come for me.
“Oh, come on, it’ll be much easier than a divorce. Your only way out of the Bratva, my dear.”
This weak, cowardly man, who was only able to goad me and laugh when I was zip-tied by his wife, made me realize that Lev was wrong about things not being black and white. Some things definitely were. No amount of community involvement could negate the fact that Councilman Hardy and his wife were pure evil. The moment their plan to set Lev up went sideways, they immediately turned to a murder plot. Maybe that was their actual plan all along. They deserved whatever was coming to them, and it wouldn’t be bad enough as far as I was concerned.
I sat there as we continued winding along the deserted forest road, trying to stay one step ahead of whatever the Hardys were planning. They were obviously using me as bait to lure Lev somewhere, but not if I could stop them. I’d do whatever it took to keep them from killing him.
Maybe that person Lev had been ordering someone to make an example of was no different than the Hardys. Just plain terrible people who couldn’t be redeemed. Whatever Lev might do in his business, I’d never seen him be cruel or unfair. He seemed to go out of his way to give his enemies the chance to back down.
Was I trying to justify things that Lev did, or was my way of thinking changing? With the hard plastic zip ties cutting into my wrists, my head bleeding and throbbing with pain, and nasty Mrs. Hardy still pointing a gun at me, I didn’t have muchsympathy for bad people at the moment. And in my heart, I didn’t believe Lev was a bad man.
I spent so much time stoking my anger that I got myself into this mess. I should have shown Lev the first text that Councilman Hardy sent me, asking what the hell was going on between them. One thing I was certain about was that Lev would have given me a straight answer. Oh, maybe he would have waffled around a bit to save my feelings, but I could have pushed. If Lev got hurt or killed, this would be on me.
I closed my eyes and rested my head against the window, trying to let the cool glass ease the recriminating thoughts that pummeled me. I could almost hear Lev’s stern voice telling me not to be so hard on myself.
Even as I was about to be used to lure him to his death, that’s exactly what he would do. It was the same when he was encouraging me with my classes or hyping up my performance as his assistant. It was a completely fake internship, a cover story to our secret marriage, but he still explained the inner workings of his lobbying company since it was so interesting to me. He did that because he liked seeing my excitement, loved making me smile.
A tear ran down my cheek through my closed lids, but I remained still, not wanting Mrs. Hardy to have the satisfaction of seeing me wipe it away. Oh, what did I do?
Was it going to be too late to ask Lev’s forgiveness for my part in this plot? Would I get the chance, or would these evil people succeed?
It might have been a half an hour or more, but we finally arrived at a tiny cabin, deep in the woods. It was little more than one of those places that lost hikers could wait out a storm, and, by the looks of its exterior, had been long abandoned by the parkservices. With her gun stuck painfully in my side, Mrs. Hardy reached across me to push open my door. The councilman dragged me out and hustled me toward the door.
The wood was practically rotting, and the hinges were rusted and creaky. Every spongy step inside the damp, moldy place made me feel like I was about to break through the filthy floorboards.
I barely got a look around, desperate to see some kind of old-fashioned phone plugged into the walls, but Hardy shoved me into the only other room in the place. I grabbed the handle with both hands, still stuck together, but he was too fast, turning the lock before I could stop him. What did it matter if I was locked in? With them staking out the front room, armed and outnumbering me, there wasn’t going to be much of a fight.
This fear didn’t compare at all to when Lev had locked me in his bedroom on our honeymoon night. As difficult as it was to my pride to admit, I kind of liked that. Wow, way too late to admit I actually liked his bossy, almost controlling ways. It was my pride all along that kept me angry at him, never letting me accept I liked being married to him. Certainly liked the benefits. And actually liked him.
A whole new vision of my future swirled into my head, so breathtaking that it almost blotted out the pain. I’d been so busy clinging to the long-held dream of running for office one day that I’d ignored my present happiness. And Lev had made me happy.
Oh God, why was I soul-searching when I should be looking for ways to escape? If I gave up now, it would definitely be too late to figure everything out. There was one window in my dinky room, and I pushed aside the dusty, tattered curtains to try to open it. As much as I heaved and tried to turn the lock, it was painted over with several thick, years-old layers andwouldn’t budge. My hands hurt trying to pry it open, and blood was trickling from where the zip ties cut into my skin with effort.
There was nothing in the room to try to smash the window with, so I clasped my fists together, closed my eyes, and slammed my hands against the double-paned glass. It rattled but didn’t crack, and when I tried it again, Mrs. Hardy burst into the room.
“Knock it off, or we’ll get rid of you the same way we’re getting rid of your husband.”
Hardy appeared behind her, putting on one of his faces, which had tricked me into believing he was a kind, helpful person. I could see his eyes had nothing behind them but malice now.
“Do you want your family to be heartbroken by the tragic accident that claimed both your lives, or do you want to be showered with pity as a new widow?” His cajoling voice made my skin crawl. “There’s a place for you in my office when this is over,” he continued. “If you cooperate.”
As if I didn’t see through him and recognize his lies. It might have taken a minute, but my vision was crystal clear where he was concerned. No matter what he said, I wasn’t going to make it home, and if I didn’t find a way to warn Lev, his blood was on my hands.
All I could do was nod meekly and sink into a corner of the room. They retreated and locked me back in, and I curled my knees to my chest, resting my forehead on them. My hands ached as much as my head, awkwardly pressed against my stomach, which was beginning to churn from the flood of adrenaline.
I made a valiant effort not to cry, but wishing more than anything that I hadn’t been so stubborn had me dissolving intotears. The only good thing about the fresh flood of regret and heartache was that it distracted me from the pain in my head that had me yearning towards unconsciousness to get it to cease.
Chapter 35 - Lev
Hours passed before I finally received a call from an unknown number. Max and Mila had arrived, and were doing their best to keep Aleks focused on what was most important at the moment. Namely, finding Jenna, and not kicking my ass for lying and stealing his wife’s little sister out from under their noses. They couldn’t understand the depths of my feelings for her in their current states of worry and fear, and I was too worked up to be able to properly explain that she wasn’t a game to me.
“I’ve got something,” I said, holding up my phone.
Max and Mila, Aleks, Katie, and Nat, all gathered around as I set it on the table in the conference room we’d taken over while we waited and planned. I put it on speaker as I answered, all of us leaning over it, holding our breath.
“Talk to me,” I snapped. “What do you want?”
