“You’re not the interrogator anymore,” Pavel snarled, his cold stare boring into mine. “You don’t get to ask the questions.”
Frustration swelled. For the first time since I’d joined the Bratva, I was on the opposite end of the interrogation. Uneasiness swirled in my gut.
“But it’s important,” I argued. “Tim was my best friend. He would never betray me or the Bratva. The only logical explanation is that Annika’s abductor texted from Tim’s phone after he killed Tim.” My voice cracked on that last sentence, my chest compressing at the reminder that Tim was gone. My best friend murdered.
And apparently I’d been set up to take the fall.
“Looks to me like you not only killed your best friend, but you also murdered the other members of the brotherhood before you snuck Annika off the property.”
“What?” I glanced around at everyone again. “I’m not a superhero, and even if I did do all that, then it would be on the surveillance footage. Did you check that?”
Pavel huffed. “All the footage has been wiped clean. The entire system erased. There’snothing.”
I shook my head, true alarm settling in. Damien had always been crafty with electronics as a little kid. But I hadn’t seen him for so many years, I didn’t know what his capabilities were today. Could he have erased the Popovs’ entire security system footage?Damn you, Damien. What have you done?
“It was all there last night,” I said lamely.
Pavel huffed. “Well, it’s gone now. How do you explain that?”
I groaned, putting my face in my hands. “He must have erased it after he blew up the Escalade and I rushed Annika out of here.”
Everyone exchanged glances.
“We’re wasting time here,” I added quietly, lifting my gaze to Pavel’s. “We need to be out therelooking for her.”
Pavel leaned down so his face was only inches from mine. “We would if we knewwhere to look! Why don’t you just tell us where the fuck she is?”
“I don’t know!” I shot back. “I’m telling youI didn’t hurt her.”
Pavel grunted, turning away from me, and motioned Oleg forward. The man handed Pavel a cellphone. “This was in your belongings,” Pavel stated. “Hiding between your socks and underwear.” He held the phone up for me to see. “We caught you, Volkov, so there’s no use denying it. Just come clean and tell us what you did to Annika.”
I expelled a frustrated breath. “I didn’t harm her. And I don’t know anything about that phone. I have no idea where it came from, but it’s not mine.”
Pavel swiped the screen, then shoved the phone in my face. “You didn’t send those disturbing texts to Annika?”
My heart stopped as I read the string of text messages that had been sent to Annika from her stalker. The bastard had set me up, hiding his phone in my belongings, making it look like I’d been the one who’d sent them.
And suddenly, I understood the meaning of the text he’d sent right before the explosion.
You’re about to go down for betraying your pack. Get ready to beg for your life.
He’d planned for me to go down from the very start, setting me up to take the fall as Annika’s stalker and kidnapper. He’d known the Popovs would think I’d betrayed the brotherhood, and, in turn, they would interrogate me, punish me, and probably kill me. That text had been referring to betraying the brotherhood and being tortured and having to beg for my life.
I swallowed hard, closing my eyes.
I was fucked.
Unless I could find a way to convince them of my innocence.
But I wouldn’t beg for my own life. I would rather beg them to hurry this along so we could find Annika.Shewas all that mattered.
Suddenly the door banged open, crashing into the wall. Lev marched into the boat house, followed closely by Dominik. Everyone parted as the twins strode forward, their hard gazes focused on me.
Lev wrapped a hand around my throat and lifted me out the chair, slamming me into the wall. He was the most volatile one of the group, easily riled. Huge and bulky, he was even bigger than Tim. His face livid with rage, Lev snarled, “You motherfucker! We let you in! We treated you likefamily! And this is how you repay us? ByhurtingAnnika?” He spat the words in my face, his furious gaze boring into mine.
Dominik moved up on my other side, his expression hard. “Howcouldyou, Adrik? We trusted you.” He didn’t raise his voice like Lev, but his eyes said it all. He was deeply offended by my “betrayal.”
I gulped, unable to draw in any air with Lev’s hand strangling me.