Page 96 of Cruel Demands

“That it was placed there by mistake.”

Petyr laughs once under his breath. He rubs a hand over his jaw. “Did you ask him about Orlov?”

“Yes,” I say. Petyr closes his eyes briefly. “Oh, please.”

“Do not ask him again.”

“Why?”

“Because if it is nothing, you gain nothing by asking. And if it is something, you really do not want the answer.”

“You sound ridiculous. Everyone sounds ridiculous tonight.”

“Then maybe listen when everyone is telling you the same thing.”

I set the container on the counter. “You don’t know anything about Mikhail.”

“I know enough.”

“No, you know rumors about a transport company.”

“I looked him up after you got the internship.”

My stomach tightens. “You looked up my boss?”

“You were excited about the position. I wanted to know who you were working for. I saw his picture.”

I already know what’s coming. I look toward Anya.

Petyr sees me do it, considers, and decides he doesn’t care. “The guy from the bar, Taylor? Really?”

Anya slowly turns toward me. I close my eyes. “Petyr.”

“Fucking your boss is dumb under normal circumstances. With Korolev, it is really, really dumb. Men like Korolev do not pursue women because they respect them.”

I laugh without humor. “And men like you warn women because you do?”

“I am warning you because you are in this country alone, and every important person you know in this country seems to be connected to that office and him somehow.”

“I know my own life.”

“Do you?”

Something in me snaps. “Yes, Petyr. I do.”

“Then act like it.”

Anya rises halfway from her chair. “Both of you⁠—”

“No.” I look at him. “You do not get to come into my apartment, announce who I have slept with, and then lecture me about men like you own me.”

The silence that follows is ugly.

“I care about you,” he says.

“You barely know me.”

Anya looks down at the table. I feel a flicker of guilt, but not enough to take it back.