4. Maxim
4
MAXIM
I take her the same way I take anyone.
She doesn’t have time to react before my hands are on her, one gripping her arm, the other sliding around her waist.
I glance around me. The rain’s working in my favor. No one is looking our way. Good for me. Bad for her.
I use the black bag I brought for Evan, shoving it over her head. “You’re mine now,” I say as I push her into the car. I climb in after her and yank the door shut as she starts screaming for help. Behind me more horns blare. I ignore them.
“You want to live?” I ask as I wrap a zip tie around her wrists, yanking it tight. “Stop yelling.”
“Who the hell are you?” she demands, her voice shaking as I bind her ankles the same way. “What do you want?”
I lean close, my lips brushing the edge of the bag near her ear. “Your fiancé stole a lot of money from me,” I growl, letting the words sink in. “And you’re going to help me get it back.”
Her body goes rigid, her breathing shallow. For a second, I wonder if she’s going to pass out, but then she jerks her head toward me, her defiance shining through the fear.
“Go to hell,” she says.
“Already there.” I chuckle, low and dark, as I climb through to the front. The rain drums against the roof, a steady rhythm that matches the pounding of my heart.
She doesn’t make a sound. Her body is still, her breathing shallow beneath the black bag. The only noise inside the car is the steady hum of the engine and the drum of rain on the roof as I set off.
I dial Nikolai. He answers on the first ring.
“Job done?” he asks, his voice sharp and alert.
“Better. I have his fiancée.”
“Why?”
“I think she’s in on it. I need a location.”
“Victor’s city place is nearest.”
I hang up.
The rain eases slowly as we slowly leave the city behind, the buildings giving way to dark stretches of road bordered by skeletal trees. The windshield wipers slow, the rhythmic sweep fading into the background.
“What do you think I’m in on?” she says suddenly, her voice muffled but steady.
“Two hundred million dollars was stolen from me by your fiancé. He has it locked up in an encrypted file I can’t access. I need that file decrypted. You’re good at cybersecurity. You can unlock it for me.”
“Newsflash,” she says. Her head shifts, the bag moving slightly as she tries to face me. “I just caught him getting a blowjob from my best friend. I’m not exactly inclined to help him or you right now.”
“You’ve got two choices. You can help me or I can torture him to death. What’s it to be?”