I’ve already been spotted in the casino with Vigo tonight, so shedding this getup is the only way I can fly under the radar and avoid potential retaliation by any of his allies who might be watching.
But I can’t very well do it here on the street.
My eyes scout the desolate alleyway right next to the restaurant. If they would just piss off, I could go behind one of the dumpsters and do my quick change.
But the shorter, darker guy grabs my arm and pulls me toward the street. “Let’s go have a drink,” he mutters. “I’m sure you can use one.”
“No, no,” I say, holding up my hands in protest. “Please, I just want to go home. Thank you for saving me, but—”
He stops, his deep blue eyes narrowing. “It wasn’t a question.”
“But I’m not thirsty,” I say weakly.
“I’m not used to women turning me down.” A small smile quirks at his lips, but there’s something behind it. Suspicion, maybe. This isn’t a social call. For fuck’s sake, he and his friend came barreling into Vigo’s office toting Glocks. He’s not just trying to be nice and helpful, and that knowledge has my skin crawling. “You’re taking a sledgehammer to my self-esteem right now.”
I highly doubt that.
His fingers dig into my arms, gripping me tighter. “Don’t walk away. I’m the kind of guy who will be able to find you no matter where you run off to.”
Shit.
Looks like I need a Plan B.
Between them, they’re a combined total of about four-hundred pounds of cut muscle and they have guns.
I have some pretty lethal moves, but they’d draw too much attention to me out here in the open.
So I expel a sigh and nod.
I guess it’s story time.
They keep me positioned in the middle as we walk down the street toward the strip of bars in the next block. It’s unusually quiet tonight, and I was hoping to get in, carry out the hit, get out, and be in bed before eleven. Who the hell knew my plans would get thwarted by these two?
I bet any other girl on the planet would be thanking her lucky stars for a chance to be sandwiched between them, but as far as I’m concerned, they’re just super-hot obstacles I need to kick out of my path.
The taller one pulls open the door to the first place we come to called Velvet Lounge and I let out a shallow breath. Good fucking pick, guys. It’s dark and private, which is a very good thing for me, especially in terms of a quick exit.
My throat tightens as I step inside the door.
They’re not letting me go.
If I were them, I’d keep me close, too.
They obviously had business to take up with Vigo, so naturally, they’ll want to know who butchered him. And I can’t very well tell them the truth, that tonight was a setup to lure Vigo to Tatiana so a killer queen could go in and slay the bastard.
I have to focus on getting the hell out of here and disappearing into the night, leaving their questions hanging in the air.
This girl, this wig, this dress…none of it can exist outside of Velvet Lounge.
And if I want to stay alive, I need to bury it all immediately, if not sooner.
Lucky for me, I have the perfect out. I just need to get to the ladies’ room.
I clutch my bag, holding it tight against me as my heels click against the floor of the lounge. Part of me wonders why they haven’t tried to snatch it from me, not that they’d find anything interesting.
But they seem awfully trusting of someone who was just found crouched in the same room as a murder victim…a dangerous scumbag murder victim who’d committed too many crimes against humanity to even count.
I guess I’m a better actress than I thought.
They don’t seem the least bit threatened.
The shorter, dark-haired guy points me in the direction of the bar, giving me a little shove to move forward, and I grit my teeth.
Okay, really? Does he need to lead me around like I’m his fucking pet? I shake off his hand once we’re standing in a somewhat private corner of the bar, unable to bite my tongue for a second longer.
“Listen,” I say. “You don’t need to pull me around like I’m on a leash. I did not fight you. I came here with you as you requested, even though I begged you to let me go home.”
A look of surprise flits across his face and a smile lifts his lips. “Sorry. Maybe I just wanted to keep you close.”
“Keep me close?” I roll my eyes. “Please. After the way you frisked me at Tatiana, I think I you owe me a freaking marriage proposal.”
“Let’s start with your name, and then we can see how the night unfolds,” he murmurs, his lips lifting into a seductive smirk.
“Shocking.” I lift an eyebrow. “There are so many other questions I thought you’d have asked first.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll get there,” he says, waving over the bartender.
“One drink,” I say through gritted teeth.
“Maybe.”
“Definitely,” I seethe, almost letting my Americanized accent lace my words. He doesn’t catch it, though, since he’s too busy trying to liquor me up. Jesus. He doesn’t yet realize I can drink him and his friend under the table. I’m Russian, for Christ’s sake. I have vodka running through my veins instead of blood!
Although, the tall guy has the look of the Irish. I bet he can do some damage to a bottle of Jameson.
Jameson. That’s the name I’m giving him since I sure as hell know he’d never tell me his real one.
The bartender places three doubles of a clear liquid in front of us, but I make no move to grab my glass. Instead, I fold my arms over my chest.
“Is that the game we’re playing?” Blue Eyes says with a chuckle. I study him hard. Let’s call him Gio. He looks like he could be a Gio. I get that whole slippery, slimy, yet sexy and seductive vibe from him.
Gio hands Jameson one of the glasses, and both of them tip them back, gulping down the liquid and then slamming the glasses back on the bar.
After the shit I’ve seen and done tonight, I can really use a shot.
Or twenty.
But I don’t want to give this guy the satisfaction of knowing any of that.
I do, however, want to find out exactly who Gio is and why he was looking for Vigo. As far as anyone knew, he wasn’t supposed to be at Tatiana tonight, so I’d like to know why they were skulking around.
That means I’ve got to pack up my inner snarky bitch and bring out my weepy damsel alter ego again.
God, I fucking hate her.
But good that I can play her so damn well.
I force tears to my eyes and take a quivering breath before taking the glass Gio holds out to me. I release my arms, gazing up at him through my glued-on lashes. Can I just say the glue must be of the Gorilla variety because I can’t figure out how the hell they’re still adhered to my eyelids right now after all of the bullshit crying I’ve done.
Pretty impressive if I say so myself.
“If you only knew what I’ve been through tonight, you’d understand why I am being a little difficult.”
“Tell us,” Jameson says. “How the hell did you end up there?”
I raise the glass to my lips and take a tiny sip of the vodka. Mm. So smooth. So crisp. I want to toss it back in the worst way but I restrain myself.
I’m restraining myself a lot right now.
Self-control is something I struggled with for a long time after we escaped our hellish existence in the Ukraine, when I was angry all of the time and wanted to unleash it on anyone who got a little too close for comfort.
I’ve since learned how to channel that hostility in more productive, cash-generating ways, thanks to Uncle Boris.
“I was interviewing for a job,” I say in a shaky voice. “A cocktail waitress job in the casino. A friend of mine works there and she set me up with Vigo. But when I got there, he had something different planned for me. He brought in another man who pointed a gun at the back of my head and ordered me to take off my clothes.” I cough up a sob to make shit really sound legit as I spin my bullshit tale. “He told me he would shoot me if I didn’t. So I…I…” My shoulders quake and I weep into my hands, biting back a smile when I see the look of rage flit across both of their faces. I mean, yes, Vigo was a total pig and he deserved to die. But these guys are more than a little pissed off to hear how he came damn close to violating me. “I took off my dress and Vigo did…things. He touched me, made me touch him, and then he pulled off his pants and forced my head between his legs.” Bile genuinely rises in the back of my throat when I recall how very close my lips were to his diseased cock.