“Did someone let you in?”
“I… I have the code…”
Yes! Hell fucking yes. “Tell me,” I order, toeing the bottom of her trembling foot. “What is it? Tell me now!”
She starts shaking her head as tears spill down her cheeks. I feel horrible, but I’m too desperate to give into the guilt. I have to get out. She has the code. This is the only way.
“Tell me now!”
“Master Kian… He will be upset…”
I don’t know if it’s my imagination or not, but I think I hear footsteps. I’m terrified he’s going to walk into this room right now and derail my escape attempt. I have to hurry.
Suddenly, I find my hands around her neck. And I’m staring down at her deep grey eyes.
“Please don’t make me hurt you,” I whisper. Now, my tone is bordering on desperate.
Her eyes go wide as I apply more pressure around her neck. “I… I…” she croaks.
The expression on her face is so damn familiar that for a moment I can’t stop looking at her. I can’t help but try to place it.
And then it hits me. The expression is familiar because it’s one I’ve had many times before. When Drago was in one of his moods and I was the easiest outlet for his anger.
This is how it feels to fear for your life.
My eyes leave her face and flicker to my own hands, wrapped around this poor woman’s neck. After all those years with my brother, I’ve finally become the thing I hate most.
I release her instantly and back away. I can’t even hide the fact that I’m trembling. Her eyes are on me, but she stays where she is on the ground.
“I… I’m sorry,” I stammer. “I’m so sorry… I… I just… I have to get out of here. Please. He’ll kill me.”
She has no reason to care. No reason to help me after what I just tried to do to her. But her expression shifts instantly. The terror fades and she looks at me with concern. With sympathy. With the desire to help.
“Fifty-six-eleven-seventeen-forty-two.”
My mouth pops open. “Say it again.”
She repeats it again. This time, slowly.
A tear slips down my cheek. “Thank you,” I whisper.
She nods. “Go,” she urges almost silently. “Now.”
I don’t wait to be told twice. I scramble forward and out of the room. My numb legs trip me up more than once, but by the time I make it to the elevator, I feel slightly steadier.
I punch the code she just gave me into the keypad.
Fifty-six…
Eleven…
Seventeen…
Forty-two…
I wait. Pray with eyes closed. And then the elevator doors ping open.
I don’t allow myself to feel relief. I leap inside just before the doors shut and mash the button for the bottom floor until my finger cramps up.