Frowning, Dominic looked between Luke and Roman. “That’s your new boyfriend, right? And what’s Sammy doing here?” He looked straight at Sam, glaring at him. “Where the hell have you been all these months? Do you have any idea how worried I’ve been?”
Sam dropped his gaze, thinking hard. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled. “I didn’t mean to worry you, Nick.”
The gun stopped pressing as hard against his temple, so they must have been convincing. But Roman’s voice was still cold as he said, “Are you claiming that you had nothing to do with your little pet breaking into my house and hacking into my computer?”
Dominic’s frown deepened. He moved his gaze back to Sam. “Sammy? Is that true?” When Sam said nothing, Dominic’s lips thinned. “Really? You returned to your old ways after everything I’ve done for you? You fucking promised you were done.”
Sam reminded himself that Dominic was just playing his role and the disappointment in his eyes wasn’t real. It still made him feel wretched.
“I had nowhere to go,” he said, his voice cracking. “I needed protection from Tucker. So I went to Billy Redknap’s gang. I need to pay him for his protection, and stealing is the only thing I’ve ever been good at.”
“This is all very touching, Sammy,” Roman said, not sounding touched at all. “But am I supposed to believe you just happened to choose my house to break into, after your… guardian spent weeks trying to get into Luke’s pants?”
“What are you implying here?” Dominic said, his eyes narrowing. He didn’t look dangerous. Just offended.
“I’m not implying anything,” Roman said and his free hand wrapped around Sam’s throat loosely. “That wasn’t a rhetorical question, Sammy.”
A muscle twitched in Dominic’s jaw.
“No, it wasn’t a coincidence,” Sam said, his mind racing and his stomach turning with nerves. God, he didn’t want to let Dominic down again. They said that the best lie contained an element of truth. But would it be enough to convince someone like Roman Demidov? “A few days ago, I came across an article about Luke and you. It caught my attention only because I sort of knew Luke. The article said that you moved to England very recently and that you were very rich. It said that you’d be out of town for Christmas. So I thought… I thought it shouldn’t be too hard to break into your house. It was likely that in all the chaos of the move your security wouldn’t be perfect yet.” He glanced sideways at Roman, hoping to gauge how well he was doing, but the Russian’s face was impossible to read.
“It doesn’t explain why you were hacking into my computer,” Roman said. “One would think a thief would be more interested in material possessions.”
Sam scoffed. “It’s the twenty-first century. Information sells. It weighs nothing, easier to sell without getting caught, and it goes at a higher price.”
“You claimed it was a job application before Luke recognized you,” Roman said, his voice pitched low, clearly not wanting Dominic to hear it.
Hope flared inside him. If the Russian thought Dominic was clueless about his criminal activities, it meant Dominic’s cover was still safe.
For the first time in his life, Sam was incredibly grateful for being a pale redhead. It wasn’t hard to make himself blush. “I got nervous and lied, okay? I heard a few things about you through the grapevine, but I have no idea how true they are.” He lowered his voice, too. “No one knows much about you. You’re a new fish in the pond. Everyone wants to know why you moved here and what you want. That’s why any information about you is so valuable. I lied because you looked like you wanted to kill me.”
Roman gave him a long, piercing look. Sam barely resisted the urge to squirm. Only the fact that he could feel Dominic’s unwavering gaze on him gave him the strength not to crumble and give himself away.
“What’s to say you aren’t lying again?” Roman said, his hand tightening around his throat—just barely, but enough to make Sam’s lungs hurt.
“Let him go,” said a cold voice.
Sam stopped breathing. Roman went still, too.
When they turned their heads, they were greeted with the sight of a sharp knife pressed against Luke’s throat. And Dominic… The harmless, confused businessman was gone. It was like looking at a different person. Dominic’s face was hard, his dark eyes fixed flatly on Roman. Luke was very still and very wide-eyed. He didn’t even seem to be breathing, a tiny drop of blood visible on his milky skin where the knife was pressed against his neck. A small twitch of Dominic’s hand could be fatal for him.
Roman was absolutely rigid next to Sam.
“Sure, you can shoot me,” Dominic said, his gaze locked with Roman’s. “But will you risk it? I could be faster. He will die because of your arrogance.”