Chapter 9
Cara
I’ve pushed Dmitri past his limit. If I want to survive, I have to get out.
But how the hell do I do that?
I pull my wrist against the zip tie, trying to snap the material with force, but it doesn’t break. It bites into my skin, leaving another angry welt.
My father isn’t coming.
No one is coming to save me.
I twist toward the headboard and study the zip tie. There has to be a weakness in it.
If the Council is breathing down Dmitri’s neck, I’m already dead.
I really don’t have a choice now. Escape or die.
I inspect the little box on the tie, seeing a tab pressing down on the tie, then try to wedge my fingernail between the tab and the tail of the zip tie, pressure building under my nail bed. If I break this nail, I have four more I can use.
My nail slips under the tab.
Don’t shake. Don’t slip.
I push. Pull.
And eventually, the plastic slides free.
“Holy shit,” I breathe.
I let the unraveled plastic fall onto the pillow as I crawl away from the headboard that’s been my prison for too long. Getting out of the zip tie is only part one of my escape plan, though. I’ll still need to rush past Dmitri and whatever guards are outside or fight them off.
One step at a time, though.
I rub my wrist, soothing the ache of the red marks in my skin. As I approach the bedroom door, I stop and listen for a few minutes. I didn’t hear Dmitri leave earlier, but I also don’t hear him at all right now.
My heartbeat pounds in my ears as I quietly open the unlocked door and step out into the hallway, wincing every time a floorboard creaks under my weight. When I make it to the end of the hallway, I carefully peek around the corner. My eyes fall on Dmitri asleep on the couch.
My gaze lingers on his pinched face for a second. Even asleep, he looks haunted.
I tear my eyes away, focusing on my plan.
Maybe once I’m safe, I can tell him everything.
Maybe he’ll listen.
Or maybe I’m delusional.
With one bare foot in front of the other, I creep out of the hallway and through the living room toward the foyer, my eyes flicking back and forth between the front door and Dmitri to make sure that he’s still asleep. So far, so good.
I continue on slowly, crossing the threshold between the living room and the large foyer, the tall ceiling seeming to tower over me even more now.
My hand reaches out toward the doorknob and my ears strain to try to hear if anyone is outside, but there’s only silence. Maybe escaping is actually possible.
When I shift my weight, the floorboard creaks. I stop breathing.
Dmitri wakes with a start, his head turning every which way until his tired eyes land on me. We make eye contact for a second, but it feels like an eternity.
I’m so dead.
“Cara!” Dmitri shouts as he hauls himself off the couch.
I whip around to face the door again, my hands clumsily trying to unlock the deadbolt as his loud footsteps thunder toward me. My adrenaline goes into overdrive, making my hands tremble but I manage to get it unlocked.
I twist the knob and throw open the door, preparing to launch myself out and run as fast and as far as I can go.
His hand clamps around my arm and yanks me back hard enough that my ass hits the floor in the foyer. The door slams shut and locks, the loud sound echoing throughout the entire penthouse.
Dmitri looks even more pissed off than he was earlier. He steps toward me, his face reddening with fury. “You really thought you could just walk out?”
I crawl backward away from him as my heart threatens to slam its way out of my chest.
“I didn’t want you hurt!” I choke. “I didn’t! I was just following orders!”
“Bullshit! If you cared, you would’ve told me the truth!” Dmitri shouts at me as he follows me, his shadow falling onto me.
I crawl away until my back hits the wall, making my chest tighten. I might’ve gone too far. I might’ve really sent him off the edge this time. “I was scared!” I shout. “I was trying to protect both of us!” Softer I add, “I cared about you, and know that you feel something for me too!”
“Doesn’t matter what I felt,” Dmitri growls at me. “I felt things for a woman that doesn’t exist!”
“I am that woman,” I argue, tears pricking at my eyes. “I’m the woman who saved your life during the shooting!”
Dmitri rolls his eyes. “You saved me so you could keep playing me.”
“I saved you because I didn’t want you to die! Because I had started to care about you more than the mission!”
Dmitri shakes his head, something flashing in his eyes that I can’t make out. Pain? Anger? Hope? I can’t tell. I can’t read him anymore! “There was no reason for you to care about me. I’m nothing but your father’s enemy.”
“Do you think I meant to fall in love with you?” I ask him as tears roll down my cheeks, my heart aching so badly that it takes my breath away. I didn’t think that I would admit that out loud any time soon or ever, but he should know the truth.
Dmitri goes completely still, only his jaw ticking. Then he even takes a step back as if I’ve struck him. “Don’t.”
“It’s true,” I whisper, my voice shaky as I fight back a sob. It’s been hell being at odds with him. I’m not used to him looking at me with such hatred in his eyes.
Dmitri shakes his head. “You’re lying. You’re still trying to fuck me over. You’ll get no sympathy from me, Cara.”
“I don’t care about doing what my father wants anymore! And I don’t want your sympathy,” I spit out, my emotions spilling over. “He ordered me to kill you. I refused.”
Dmitri narrows his eyes at me. “Stop with the fucking lies.”
“I’m done lying!” I tell him. “When I say that I didn’t have a choice, I mean I didn’t have a choice. You know how cruel my father can be.”
“You’re his daughter,” Dmitri says.
“He doesn’t see me that way. I told you that,” I reply. “I’m nothing but a pawn. He used me to get what he wanted, and he wanted you to suffer. Then, he wanted you to die because I got close to you.”
Dmitri turns away from me, his jaw tensing as he thinks to himself. “I can’t believe anything you say. I’m going back to Brendan. If he doesn’t support your claims, someone is still lying. Someone might need their tongue cut out for that.”
My eyes widen in horror as he walks toward me. “No, wait!”
Dmitri grabs my arm and yanks me up to my feet.
I stumble, crashing into his chest. His arms lock around me automatically.
My eyes lift to his, desperation clawing its way through me.
“You didn’t change your mind about following your father’s orders.
You didn’t decide to help me or keep me safe.
You know how I know that? Not even a few days have passed since you told your father my plans about my fake meeting,” Dmitri tells me in a cold voice that makes the hair on the back of my arms stand up. “You set me up for an assassination.”
“I was scared,” I say, my vision blurring from my tears. “You don’t know what he’d do to me if I disobeyed him.”
Dmitri’s eyes search mine, but he doesn’t release me or relax. “How did you break free from the zip tie?”
I remain silent as I gaze up at him, a lump forming in my throat. He still doesn’t believe me. He’ll never trust a word I say again.
Dmitri grabs both of my upper arms, gripping me tightly enough to ache. “Cara.”
His warning tone tells me to answer or face whatever consequences he has in mind. Consequences that I don’t want to face.
“I just pressed down on the tab to free the tie,” I say as I drop my eyes. It just hurts to look at him now. He doesn’t look at me the same anymore.
Dmitri nods. “Smart girl. Your father taught you that?”
“The only thing that he taught me was that I’m useless unless I know how to follow his orders. I’m not a killer. I never will be,” I tell him.
“But you’re damn good at following orders,” Dmitri mutters before dragging me over to the coffee table and opening the hidden compartment. A handgun. Handcuffs. He grabs the handcuffs and the key and drags me back to the bedroom.
“If you were ordered to kill me, why don’t you just do it already? You won’t ever believe me,” I remark, my hope dwindling away.
Dmitri pulls me onto the bed and handcuffs my wrist back to the headboard bar. “Try that again, and I won’t hesitate.”
I keep my mouth shut, quietly wincing as he makes the cuff too tight.
Dmitri gets off the bed with a look of disappointment on his face. “Let’s see what else your Irish friend has to say.”
“He’s not my friend,” I say bitterly. “None of them are. Brendan stole my money from…from the first time we were together. In your office.”
Heat flickers in his eyes for a moment, as if he’s remembering that morning. Then it’s gone. He turns and leaves the room, shutting the door behind him and turning the lock.
I drop my head back against the headboard with an exhausted sigh.
The metal bites into my wrist, and I’m right back where I started.