Rhia tried for a better cover. Masked by the darkness she slowly eased her closet door open until it met with her bedroom door to create a thicker barrier.
“You’re not going to spend all evening hiding from me, are you now, sweetie? That would be rather dull? Dimitris and I have such great plans for you and little Maya here. He’ll be so happy with me when I arrive with such a prize for our clients.”
“Run, Seraphina. Don’t worry about me.”
Maya’s voice sounded anything but normal. More like choked and garbled.
“Such loyalty. Did you hear that, Seraphina? She’s willing to die for you and she doesn’t even know your real name. Do you know how hard it was to keep your little secret all these weeks?”
A headache started to form and pound behind my eyes from all the rollercoaster rides of adrenaline.
“How about I tell her for you? Would you like that? Poor Bjorn was right. He should have killed you the first night you walked into Haven. Maybe I’ll do it tonight. Dimitris will just have to live with not having a turn at you, I suppose.”
Rhia let the bold, blatant threat slide off, focused more on counting steps.
To her, the crazy bitch made insanity sound sultry, but only to a fool. A lesson Bjorn would not be bouncing back from any time soon.
Another step and instead of words, the blonde let another wash of bullets do the talking. Plaster and cement pelted the flooring as Indigo played target practice.
“The little shit had one job.”
Rhia stood, edged around her bed, and stepped out into the hall, gun raised, hammer cocked.
“Well. Well. Well. Feisty hellcat. I knew I liked you from the first day I met you. Dimitris said I would. He’s been watching you for the longest time now. You’re going to fetch a pretty price at auction for him. It won’t take long to get you made up nicely for the high rollers. They’ll pay nicely for a submissive like you. Get our money’s worth from your father one way or another.”
Rhia shivered at the sadistic laugh that peeled through the apartment as sharp green eyes landed on hers the second she stepped into the hallway opposite Indigo.
“I knew you had it in you, sweetie. Now where was I? Ah yes, the truth. It’s a nasty word, don’t you think?” She tapped the barrel of her gun against Maya’s temple. Maya was already wide-eyed and barely hanging on to sanity, from the wild look in her eyes.
She looked back to Indigo. The woman had serious issues.
“Let her go. This is between you and me. Or are you scared?”
With her arm wrapped around Maya’s throat, Indigo forced the woman another step, and Rhia fired off a round over the demented woman’s shoulder, the metal grazing through the narrow hallway to thud against the back cement wall. Maya flinched in Indigo’s arms as she clamped her hand tighter around her throat.
The other woman bristled. “Watch it now. Wouldn’t want to hit your friend.”
“Stay right where you are, bitch.” Rhia blinked slowly, mentally counting to ten and trying to get her heart out of her throat and back into her chest. Over Indigo’s shoulder, several large shadows prowled through the darkness and just beyond the edge of her vision. Probably those thugs from the warehouse.
Shit.
Rhia fired off another bullet. “Don’t take another step. Let Maya go and we can all go our different directions.”
Even she didn’t believe the words coming from her mouth, but what was she going to do? Lay down her gun and rollover? Not a fat chance in hell.
Indigo raised a hand, gun cocked.
Another peal of laughter clawed the air. “Stupid little child,” she sighed. “You know, your daddy was one of us. Blacker than sin on the inside. He’s the one that transported all the women in his containers and your new boy toys helped. In fact…” She drew out her words like they were candy meant to lure her into some fairy tale. “I bet your fuck buddies didn’t tell you they’re the one who ordered his death. I’m sure that’ll make fascinating pillow talk after he’s fucked you.”
Rhia struggled against the weight of Indigo’s words.
“Could have been perfect if you ask me, had he not filmed that damn video. Dimitris is a vain man.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
She looked pointedly at Rhia. “You don’t have a clue, do you? The Volkov family is just as twisted as the rest of us, and you’re in bed with your own enemies. Clueless cunt. But I don’t want to spill all the secrets, now do I?” She gave an off-handed shrug. “But we know how everything turned out anyway. I’ll put off killing you and your little friend here if you come quietly. Dimitris just wants to talk. That’s not so bad. Little Maya here is sort of a guarantee. You play nice. I play nice. Everyone wins.” Indigo preened slightly, tracing the barrel of her gun along a trembling Maya’s jawline.
Bullshit. No way she believed the lying traitor.