Chapter 50
Chapter fifty
Alisa
More dangerous?
The competition was ending?
Dmitri picked up his vibrating phone as I tried to swallow his words. A low curse sprang from his lips, and my heart rate started pounding.
“What is it?” I said, disentangling from my whipping thoughts about the competition.
“I have to go,” Dmitri said, roughly shoving his phone into his pocket. “I’ll explain everything later, just stay here.”
I laughed at the absurdity of leaving. Like there was anywhere I wanted to go other than the safety of this warm home. My friend had tried to murder me, and I was left dealing with the aftermath.
The only thing I wanted to do was curl up on the couch, and fall into a hopefully calming sleep.
Dmitri’s jaw ticked. “I’m serious. You don’t understand what’s going on.”
“I’ll stay,” I said, sinking further into the couch.
The door clicked shut. I closed my eyes, waiting for the darkness of sleep to envelop me, and to actually feel fine again.
I needed the oblivion of rest to heal this aching feeling pushing through my chest whenever I thought of the last few hours.
Instead, a few insistent chimes from my phone stole any attempts at sleep.
I smiled when I realized the texts were from Gemma.
“Wanna come over and hang out?” the first text read.
As tempting as it was to see her, there was no way in hell I was leaving the house after Dmitri’s ominous warning. For all I knew there was someone else waiting to kill me.
“I’m hanging out with my boyfriend,” the next text from Gemma read. “And I want you to meet him.”
I started replying that we could do something next weekend instead when a picture dinged on my screen.
Nausea slammed against me, and I prayed that I was hallucinating. I pinched my arm, hoping it’d prove this was some twisted nightmare.
Roman’s smug face smirked at me from the picture. A heavy arm was wrapped around Gemma, and she was smiling so big I could almost feel the happiness radiating out from her.
No.
No.
As I stared at my phone, icy fingers dug into my chest, threatening to steal all of my air.
“Are you with him now?” I texted while gasping in breaths.
“Yes! We’re at my apartment,” was her immediate reply. “He says he’s dying to meet you!”
I jumped up from the couch, Dmitri’s warning echoing in my brain.
My brain screamed that I’d be walking straight into a trap and truthfully, I couldn’t even argue against it. But I couldn’t leave Gemma there.
Roman’s disgusted face flashed in my memories.
No, I wouldn’t let him scar her mind like he had mine. I wouldn’t let him steal her light in order to exert some control over me.
I bit down hard on my lip as I opened the front door. For the only friend I had left in the world, I’d willingly put my life on the line.
I texted Dmitri that I’d be back soon. When my phone buzzed, I didn’t even have to look at his response to know he was pissed.
The entire cab ride to Gemma’s, I gripped the knives I’d hidden in my purse. I’d found them stashed at Dmitri’s, and prayed that he’d kept them sharp. I alternated my nervous fiddling with brushing my hand over the various poisons I’d hidden.
As I approached Gemma’s crappy apartment building, I replayed the layout of her floor plan, and all of the potential exits. I had no idea how the rules of the Pakhan’s competition had changed, but I knew without a doubt that Roman wouldn’t be playing fair.
My stomach knotted as I spotted a rock propping open the door to Gemma’s apartment building, and wished that I was re-entering Dmitri’s place instead of going into this mess.
Pockmarks lined the hallway, and I suspected the neighbors were similar to my own, and wouldn’t call the cops if they heard gunshots or screams. When I swallowed back that thought, acrid liquid greeted my tongue.
“Alisa!” Gemma greeted me at her door.
The scent of vodka smacked against my nostrils as she pulled me into an enthusiastic hug. I looked over her shoulder, straight at Roman’s smirking face.
Roman leaned back onto a torn couch, resting his arm lazily over the stained hump of the couch. His entire attitude appeared nonchalant, but there was a tension in his shoulders that he failed to hide.
Even though all my instincts screamed not to take my eyes off him, I pulled back and quickly glanced over Gemma for any injuries. Relief swirled through me as I took in her relaxed, albeit drunk, expression.
She was safe. I’d make sure it stayed that way.
“Nice to meet you, Alisa,” Roman said, his smirk taking on a cruel edge.
A knock pounded behind us, and I immediately zeroed in on the window that let out onto a rickety fire escape. If that was one of Roman’s men knocking…
Fingering the knife in my purse, my body tensed when Gemma opened the door–
To reveal her irritated looking landlord.
With an apologetic look, Gemma stepped into the hallway.
“What do you want?” I snarled at Roman the moment the door closed behind us. My heart hammered at the realization that I was alone with Roman in Gemma’s tiny apartment.
“I wouldn’t be taking that tone with me. I’m dating your best friend… who happens to have no idea what you actually do for a living.”
His words triggered images of Natalya’s slumped corpse.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I said, my hand shaking. “Your girlfriend just died, and you’ve already moved on like it meant nothing.”
Roman’s jaw tightened, but he remained silent.
“Wait a second,” I said, the pieces lining up. “You’ve been dating them both this entire time haven’t you?”
“We aren’t here to talk about my relationships,” he spit out the word. God, Natalya had trusted this piece of shit over me, and he’d been two-timing her this entire time. “I’m here to remind you what happens if you talk to Dmitri.”
For the first time since I’d entered the room, uneasiness spread across Roman’s face. Understanding swept through me.
This had nothing to do with the competition ending. He was worried I’d tell Dmitri what Roman had done to me.
“You’re scared,” I said.
Roman scowled, but I didn’t miss the momentary flash of fear in his eyes. “I’m not scared of shit.”
Liar.