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The more important thing was the chain of command. I thought Sasha was at the top, but there was someone else. That complicated things. If Sasha wasn’t the one calling the shots, then the likelihood of him striking some sort of deal with me was probably slim to none.
“Well, thanks for the food, Ivan.” I didn’t want to press my luck with him. He’d already given up way more information in one conversation than I’d managed to wring out of his boss over the course of… shit, four days? Five? Time was a blur at this point.
He nodded again and ducked up the stairs, thankfully leaving the lights on.
I glanced around the empty basement and sighed. It was as desolate as I imagined in the dark. There were a few cots crunched together and shoved against the far wall. Each support post had a chain attached to it but I was the only one down here. At least for now. If the chains were anything to go by, they could have at least four of us at a time.
Besides the random toilet in the middle of the space, there was also a standing shower. It was just the fiberglass shell and a shower head. No curtain or door, completely open and exposed, like the toilet. If these were normal people, I would assume they were installing a bathroom and, you know, forgot to put up walls or finish it off like a proper bathroom.
But since they were fucking Russian criminals, I knew I was sitting in the middle of what I was fairly certain was an extension of their human trafficking ring, waiting to see whatmyfate would be.
Make the best of it, Roan. Just be patient and wait for the next opportunity. And this time? Don’t fucking hesitate.
24
Sasha
Roan wasawake when I came down the basement stairs, laying on his back, with one knee bent and his arms folded beneath his head. I couldn’t help but notice the way his whole body tensed the closer I got, each exposed muscle visibly tightening. I should have given him a shirt after I moved him, but I didn’t and I certainly wasn’t going to now. Didn’t want him thinking I was going soft.
“I brought you dinner,” I said, holding a plate of lasagna out to him.
He didn’t look at it — or me — before he unfolded his arms and rolled away from me.
“Nothing to say?” I quirked a brow at his back. I couldn’t believe it. Had I walked into an alternate universe, one where my hostage was quiet for a change? Not challenging everything I said, practically begging me to hurt him?
After a solid minute of staring at the back of his head in total silence, I set the plate on the floor and walked away.
The next morning was more of the same. Roan was awake, sitting upright this time, watching the stairs with bright eyes. As soon as he saw it was me, his shoulders slumped and he turned his gaze to the floor.
If it wasn’t me he was waiting for, then that meant he was expecting Ivan. He wasexcitedat the thought it was Ivan anddisappointedwhen it wasn’t.
“Breakfast,” I growled, holding a plate of eggs and bacon out for him. It didn’t escape my notice he hadn’t eaten any part of dinner from the night before. The plate was where I left it, completely untouched.
Yet again, Roan refused to take the plate. He refused to even look at me no matter how much I glared at him or how hard I willed him to lift his eyes.
I swapped the old plate with the fresh one and marched back upstairs. As soon as I grabbed my cell phone, I dialed Ivan’s number.
“What the fuck happened?” I demanded as soon as he picked up.
“What are you talking about?”
“The kid. He hasn’t said a word. He hasn’t eaten.”
“He ate lunch.”
“Well he didn’t eat dinner and he didn’t want breakfast. So what happened? What did you do?”
“Nothing! I swear! He seemed fine.”
“Fine? How would you know what ‘fine’ looks like?”
He sputtered on the other end. “I don’t know. He was talking, laughing. Isn’t that fine?”
“Laughing?” I gaped at the phone, nearly throwing it at the closest wall. “What the fuck was helaughingabout?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know why you’re asking me all these questions! I did what you asked, boss. I stayed at the house and I gave him food. That’s it.”
I stole a glance at the time, trying to ratchet it down a notch. “Come here at one. And bring lunch for him.”
