Stolen by the Mob Boss : A Russian Mafia Romance (Bratva Hitman), Nicole Fox [best ebook reader for surface pro .txt] 📗

feet, pleading with him. Reluctantly, he undoes the ties. I rub my ankles for a second, then hop up from the bed and shimmy out of my pants.

Roman gives me a curious look, but I ignore him.

When I reach the door, I twist it open just a crack and look up at the officer behind the door. Poking out around him, I see the small beady eyes of a man in his late fifties. He clears his throat.

“Sorry to disturb you, miss, but there was a missing persons report filed for a Lucy Walker. I’m the manager. I wanted to make sure that everything is okay.”

The officer nods in agreement, tilting to the side to look behind me. I keep the door closed just enough so that Roman is hidden. “I’m Lucy Walker,” I say, feigning confusion. “And I’m certainly not missing.” My laugh sounds forced, but the two men don’t question it.

“It says here that your grandmother and coworker came into the station. They hadn’t heard from you in twenty-four hours. You were last seen walking into an alley, and security footage across the street witnessed one man leaving in a car. He later checked into this hotel,” the officer reports.

Despite everything, I’m touched that Nana and Madeline came looking for me. If I really was in danger, those two would’ve saved my skin. Instead, I’m just being tied to beds and bathroom sinks by hitmen. Nothing dangerous about that at all.

“Gosh, my nana is such a worrywart,” I giggle. “I take shortcuts through the alleys on my way back from the coffee shop I visit. I ran into an old friend who told me about the shortcuts in the first place, and ... one thing led to another.”

I shift my weight to one side to let them see the outline of my hip, clad only in panties, at the same time that I let my thought trail off, hoping that they’re able to pick up where I’m going. It takes them a moment, but when they make the connection of why I’m staying in a shady motel, they’re both instantly embarrassed. Both men smile bashfully and look down at their feet.

“Ah,” the officer says, scribbling something down with a pen he pulls from his pocket. “I’m sorry for the misunderstanding, ma’am.”

“Don’t be,” I say, shaking my head. “It was honestly my mistake. I just got a little wrapped up and forgot to let my nana know where I was.” I give my biggest flirty smile again.

“To be young and in love,” the manager says awkwardly.

I grin and shrug, trying my damnedest to keep calm. I feel transparent and obvious, but as far as I can tell, the men seem satisfied with my answers. The manager nods again and starts to walk off.

But just as the officer makes to follow him, he glances at my wrist where I have my hand against the doorframe. I follow his gaze and swallow hard. The bruising on my wrists is even more evident now that time has passed.

He looks at me with a piercing gaze. In a much lower voice, he says, “Ma’am, if you’re in any trouble, nod once.”

This is my chance. I could nod and this would all be over. I’d be safely away from Roman and back to my normal life by the end of the day. No more hit man, no more bondage, no more fearing for my life.

But no more chance to kill Konstantin, either.

I make my choice. “What?” I give a little laugh and look at my hand again. “Oh, this? Well, I’ve always loved Fifty Shades of Gray ...”

The tension in the officer’s body relaxes and he takes his hand off his gun. Another shy smile. “My mistake. Sorry for interrupting you again, by the way. Please give your friend and family a call and let them know where you are, okay?”

“Will do, officer. And I apologize for having everyone so worried!”

“You have a good day, miss,” he says. Together, the two of them head back down the hall, talking in low voices. I close the door and press my forehead to the cheap wood. It takes a moment to get my breathing back to normal.

When I turn around, Roman is standing in the same place I last saw him, lips pressed together tightly. He looks at me with an expression I haven’t seen before. Brows slightly raised, eyes softer than before. Maybe I’m being presumptuous, but he seems almost ... impressed?

“What?” I ask, trying to bite back the rising pride I feel coming on. Maybe I did lie to police and throw them off Roman’s trail, so what?

“Why did you do that?”

The way he asks it, I think back to the night before. He seems just as unsure about me, wondering why I didn’t take the opportunity I had to stab him when he came back in the room. He sees me as a hostage, someone desperate enough to do anything to get away. Maybe I was at the beginning, but hearing him say that man’s name, the one who took everything from me, changed my perspective.

We’re in this together now.

“Because you can’t help me if you’re in prison.”

“Help you with what?”

I give him a look. He knows what I’m talking about. “I want to make Konstantin pay, and I don’t have the same set of skills that you do. I don’t know how to kill people, or transport bodies, or torture someone to get information out of them. I don’t know the first thing about that. What I do know is that something brought us together. Something put me in that alley at the same time as you. Something that wants me to end Abram Konstantin.”

Wordless as always, he simply stares at me. I’m suddenly aware that he’s shirtless, and I try to keep my eyes from traveling over his body. I do notice that he’s stitched himself up, though. Part of me is disappointed. That was another opportunity to touch his hard