Page 102 of Alik
Alik was supposed to kill me?
“She was useful to us in ways Nikita didn’t understand.”
“Useful tous?” Sergey laughs while running a hand through his brown hair. “You’re the only one fucking her.”
“That isn’t what I mean.”
“What the fuck do you mean, then?”
Alik is quiet for several moments, but I don’t think he’s trying to find words to describe my usefulness.
I’m not useful. I’ve never been useful. Maybe that’s something he told himself at one time, but it’s never been true.
They wanted him to kill me.
Was it a coincidence that he lived next door? Or did they put him there on purpose, just to wait for the perfect opportunity to use me as they saw fit?
That night when I blacked out… When I wound up at the Irish drug house…
No.
I bump into the kitchen counter and grip the base while my knees threaten to buckle.
That night in the alley, when he showed up just at the perfect time, claiming people wanted to hurt me…
Washethere to hurt me?
What if I hadn’t had that video? That was when things changed, wasn’t it? He told me it would keep me alive. If I hadn’t had it, would he have killed me?
Oh my God.
“I love her,” Alik admits at last. I wanted those words so badly, but now all they do is close my throat and block the sob that tries to push from my chest.
Sergey’s face twists with pain. “You betrayed your family,killedyour brother…” He shakes his head. “You’re a disgrace.”
Alik nods. “I know. Nikita will know everything before he gets released. You have my word.”
“Ah, your word.” Sergey bursts out a dry laugh and pulls out his gun. “Well, I’ll let him know what you said.”
“You don’t want to do that,” Alik warns.
Sergey points the gun at Alik’s head. “Fuck you.”
I drop to the floor as the gun goes off. My lungs suck in a gasp that my ears don’t pick up over the ringing in them. Alik has Sergey pinned against the door, the gun dropping to the carpet, and with a quick jerk of Alik’s hands, Sergey’s neck twists awkwardly.
My eyes clench shut as I scream and wrap my arms around my knees. A voice whispers something in my mind that I can’t place.
“You’re going to sleep now, gorgeous.”
It’s Alik’s voice.
I hear it over and over. I don’t know where I heard it or when, but it’s so clear, so menacing.
And then it hits me.
That night he came to my apartment. He put something in my drink. I told him to leave,demandedit, but he just smirked at me. He caught me when I fell and laid me on the couch.
“You’re going to sleep now, gorgeous.”