“I lost my phone.” It sounded lame, even to my own ears. But it was the truth. My phone was gone, and I had no idea where it was. “I either misplaced it while fighting with him or he took it after I passed out.”
“Hmpf.” Pavel sneered. “I knew we shouldn’t have trusted you to do this job. You’re not only incompetent, you’re a fucking traitor.”
My pulse spiked.What?
Efrem stepped forward, sending me a hurt look. “Itrustedyou, Adrik. How could you betray us like this? How could you hurt Annika?”
Flabbergasted, I gaped at him. “What are you talking about? I wouldneverhurt Annika.”
“Show him,” Alexei ordered, waving at his son, his own gaze full of distrust.
Efrem fished his phone out of his pocket, swiping the screen. He held it up to me. “We know it was you, Adrik. Timofey told us. See?”
What the fuck?
I glanced at his phone, quickly reading the text message that had come from Timofey.
It’s Adrik. He took Annika. He fooled us all.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Adrik
“Take him to the boathouse!” Pavel ordered, marching across the yard. “We’ll interrogate him there.”
“I didn’t hurt Annika,” I protested, my gaze meeting Efrem’s. “YouknowI would never harm her.”
Efrem shook his head, turning away from me.
No one believed me. They all thought I was a traitor, that I would hurt Annika.
Two soldiers ushered me forward, and I had no choice but to comply, limping on my injured leg.
“Harley’s been shot,” I announced. “He needs a vet.”
Pavel whirled around, sending me a glare. “How convenient that you suddenly got over your phobia of dogs. Was that all an act?”
My breath hitched.What?Hell, no.
Before I could answer, he whirled and spoke to Oleg, one of his top soldiers, who stood directly behind him. “Have someone take Willow’s dog to a vet.”
At least they cared about Harley enough to make sure he received medical treatment.
Which was more than they extended to me.
No one mentioned my bullet wound. No one offered to have it treated. No one cared if it got infected and I died.
Because they thought I was a traitor.
I didn’t fight them as they hauled me into the small boathouse and thrust me down onto a metal folding chair. My leg throbbed the entire time, but I didn’t complain. Cooperation was key so they would see I was telling the truth.
But that text from Timofey had been damning. Why would Tim send that message to Efrem? It made no sense. Unless…
It hadn’t come from Tim.
What if Damien had sent that message from Timofey’s phoneafterhe’d killed Tim? That was the only logical explanation.
“What time did you receive that text from Tim’s phone?” I asked Efrem as they all gathered around me.