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“Is this really necessary?” I roll my eyes, but take the cuffs and do what she asks.
“Yeah, it is,” she says, still standing by the door. “I hear you have lethal Krav Maga skills.”
“That’s true,” I admit, feeling an odd sense of pride.
When she’s happy I can’t get away or hurt her, she settles into the same chair as yesterday and tosses me a greasy bag of tacos. We both tear into the food. She’s quiet, and I can tell she has a lot on her mind, but I’m desperate to know what’s going on.
“Have you heard anything more from Andrei?” I blurt.
She studies my face, not saying anything for a few moments. “No, but he’s scoped out the meeting location, so he’s taking this seriously.”
Unease hovers over me like a black cloud.
The temptation to tell Kira the truth about her family is overwhelming, but why would she believe me? As cozy as we are right now curled up together eating fish tacos, she must be somewhat unhinged to have put this plan into action. And who knows, maybe she is working with her father and this whole thing is a set-up. I can’t take a chance.
Before I can reply, she turns to me, frowning. “Did he hurt you?”
“Andrei?”
“No.”
Our gazes meet and a muscle feathers in her jaw. She’s talking about Oleg, her father.
“No, but it was only a matter of time.” Her face falls, and it’s obvious she knows more about her father than she cares to. “I’m taking it you and your father are not close.”
She shakes her head, the corners of her mouth drawn downwards. “Never. I barely saw him growing up. I was basically raised in boarding schools all over Europe. The only person in this world who ever loved me was my aunt, Masha. My father’s sister.” Emotion clogs her throat. “And he killed her.”
“I’m so sorry,” I say, the food souring in my stomach thinking of everything Oleg stole from his own flesh and blood. “Why would he kill his sister?”
Her teeth clench so tightly her molars must ache. “Masha was leading an uprising against him. Some of the older members of the brotherhood still reported to her, unhappy with how my father was running things. My aunt couldn’t sit idle anymore. She put this plan in motion to overthrow my father. Now I have to finish the job.”
“So your aunt helped to plan all of this, but now… who is helping you to execute it?”
“Jake.”
I gulp. “Is that it?”
She shrugs defensively. “He’s the only person I trust. The only person willing to help me.”
A stone fist squeezes my chest. “If your father found out about your aunt’s plan, you might be in danger.”
She waves her hand dismissively. “He knows nothing about my involvement. He thinks I’m a stupid party girl with no idea that he killed my aunt. It serves me for him to believe that. Now I have the element of surprise.”
Bravado is clearly a family trait. For a five-foot nothing slip of a woman, she’s got balls of steel. Or she’s truly unhinged. Because she’s in a sharing mood, I push her further. “What about your mother?”
“Died during childbirth.”
I nod, anguished over the lie she’s been fed her whole life.
Kira shrugs. “It’s life, right?” She rises from the bed, collecting our food wrappers. After a moment, she glances up at me. “We need to leave soon for the meeting. We’ll hold you in the same building as the place we’re meeting with the Kozlovs, but on a different floor.”
A chill slithers down my spine. “Will you return me to Andrei?”
“If he agrees to my terms.”
“And if he doesn’t?”
“I don’t know,” she says, a hint of sadness in her voice, “I really don’t know.”
