I didn’t knowwhere Leo went or how long, and I didn’t care because he made a mistake in his drunk, grief-stricken state.
He forgot to lock the door.
I quickly grabbed the key from the pile of hay and used it on the cuffs trapping me against the wall.
I quickly pushed it off my wrists and ankles and tried to pull myself up from the wall.
Days of disuse and torture had made it a little challenging, but fuck, I was going to crawl out of here if I had to.
I stood up, keeping my ear open and listening for anyone coming by.
Sure enough, I heard footsteps outside the door moments later.
I sat back down and wrapped the cuffs around my wrist but didn’t lock it.
The door creaked when it was pushed further open, and a man I had never met before walked in, a deranged look in his eyes.
Desperate men usually make mistakes, and this one reeked of it.
One corner of my mouth lifted in a small smirk.
“Who are you?” I asked, assessing him. Desperate man or not, I was injured. I didn’t know if I could take him with my strength now.
The man was about average height, in his thirties, with straight short brown hair and brown eyes. He was unassuming in every sense of the word.
Despite the crazed look in his eyes, arrogance followed him around like a shadow.
A dangerous thing for a man like that.
To have so much arrogance and nothing to back it up.
His eyes flared from my question. “It’s no surprise that you don’t remember. Not many people do. But we’ve met before.”
“Yeah?” I asked, taking in the knife strapped to his side.
He smiled and tapped the weapon. “Yeah. About two years back. You happened to be visiting one of your betting parlors. You crashed right into me and said a man like me shouldn’t get in the way of others, considering how easy it was to overlook me. Do you think you can overlook me now, Damien Vasiliev?”
“Huh? Sorry. It doesn’t ring a bell.”
“Don’t worry. By the time I’m done with you, I won’t be overlooked again. Can you imagine it? I, Javier Russell, killed the great head of the Vasiliev Bratva.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. Even with me chained to the wall and him with a weapon by his side, he still hadn't taken more than three steps within my reach.
“Are you scared of me?” I asked, somewhat amusedly.
He scoffed, but the way his foot shifted slightly told me I wasn’t wrong.
I grinned.
“Scared?” he asked. “No, I’m not fucking scared of you. I’m going to kill you myself. I’m going to show those fucking Bratva bastards they messed with the wrong people. Your fucking enforcer has been busy. He put a bounty on my head, along with the rest of my men. What did he think would happen? I would just let you go? I have nothing to lose now, and once word got out that I was the one who cut your head off, power will come to me.”
I laughed.
So, Nikolay put on a hunt. How very like him.
And judging by the look of the stupid fucker, it was affecting him. No doubt he couldn’t go back into the city without someone trying to get him.
He came near me with the knife, but still not close enough that I could grab him. “What the fuck are you laughing about? Huh? Don’t you think I’ll kill you? You don’t think I can do it?”