Hailey leaned forward and took my earlobe between her teeth, biting gently. “Just sit back and relax,” she breathed. “I’ll do all the work.” She rolled her hips and I groaned in pleasure—where had she learned to do that? I didn’t care, it felt amazing.
I had a sudden vision of her falling from the balcony. I shuddered, then pulled her even tighter against me. “I thought I’d lost you,” I muttered.
Her lips brushed my ear and I felt her grin. “It’s alright,” she said. “You have me back, now. Forever.”
And she kissed me.
67
Hailey
THE SUV headed west out of New York, speeding me away from the FBI, from my friends, from everything I knew. Ahead, storm clouds were gathering, blocking out the sun.
As we neared our destination, the men, who’d been chatting and joking with each other in Russian, gradually fell silent and began to glance at one another uneasily. Whatever was waiting for us, it scared the hell out of them.
Christina’s wet dress had soaked every last bit of warmth out of me. I sat there numb and quiet, my head filling up with all the stories I’d heard about Ralavich from my friend Kate, who’d narrowly escaped him herself. Truly sickening stuff. Murder. Human trafficking. And of course his notorious “rape clubs.” I was so scared, I wanted to throw up.
This monster believed I worked for him. And if Konstantin and Calahan had been successful, if they’d stopped the assassination, he’d blame me. My punishment wouldn’t be death, not from what I’d heard. It would be much worse than that.
I started to panic-breathe. One of the men glanced round at the sound, meeting my eyes...and then just looked away, a trace of guilt in his eyes. As if he’d seen this a thousand times before. I felt my heart rate accelerating out of control. No rescue was coming, no rescue was possible because no one knew I was missing. I could disappear into Ralavich’s nightmare world for years, decades, before he got tired of me and killed me.
And meanwhile, Christina would walk away scot-free and enjoy a life with Konstantin. Accepting his love, his new affection, and grinning behind his back, gloating at what she’d done. The thought of them together made me want to throw up.
We turned off the highway and I got a glimpse of fences and aircraft, then we stopped at a barrier. Oh God, we’re here. Some sort of private airfield, way out of the city where Ralavich could fly in and out unobserved. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I felt sweat trickle down between my shoulder blades. A guard waved us through and then the SUV pulled up beside a big, gleaming white jet. A set of metal stairs had been positioned outside, leading up to the open door. I knew who was inside. Oh God, oh God.....
As Ralavich’s men hustled me out, I lost it completely. My legs turned to rubber and I started shaking my head. “No,” I told them as they towed me forward, one on each arm. “No!”
But they ignored me. Two of them pushed me over to the steps and then up them. Overhead, there was a roll of thunder and the rain began to fall, heavy drops that soon became a torrent. By the time they’d forced me to the top of the steps and in through the door, my half-dry hair was soaked again and water was running down my face, half-blinding me. I blinked and blinked again—
And there he was. Ralavich. I felt my knees buckle in fear. The man had a physical effect on me, but it was the exact opposite of Konstantin’s magnetic attraction. It was as if all the evil inside him, had spilled out onto the surface, as a warning. That ruined face you couldn’t look away from, the bones broken and never properly put right. Those piggy eyes that made you feel dirty when they looked your way. That body, flabby with fat but still intimidatingly powerful beneath his dark blue suit. He was slouching in a huge leather armchair that had been positioned at one end of the cabin, facing down its length. He must have thought he looked like a king in his throne room, but he didn’t have any of Konstantin’s regal presence. For all his money and power, he was just a thug.
It amazed me that once, like Carrie, I’d thought all these men were the same.
“Christina,” he said, his expression unreadable. “Have you heard the news?”
The assassination. I held my breath, about to offer up a silent prayer—
But I didn’t know what to pray for. If Konstantin and Calahan had been too late, if the assassination had gone ahead, then maybe Ralavich would let me walk free. But if that was the case, Carrie was dead, Konstantin was going to jail and probably Calahan with him. I couldn’t—wouldn’t—pray for that.