Dancing with a Stranger

Chapter Forty

My alarm goes off at six-thirty sharp, a high-pitched reminder that I barely got any sleep last night. Nikolai is lying on his stomach beside me completely undisturbed by the sound. He's so still I have to stare at him just to see his body rise and fall with his breaths. His arms are stretched above his head on either side, and it takes everything within me not to trace the muscles of his back with my fingers.

Rolling back over, I type out a text to Ian and Emma telling them there's an emergency and I'll be late for work, if I make it in at all. I place the phone back down on my nightstand and collapse back into bed to try to catch another hour or two of sleep, but my mind doesn't get the memo as it spins with thoughts and theories about Nikolai's incident. I can't shake the nagging feeling in my gut that Braden has something to do with this.

With the stealth-like movements of a leopard, I slide out of bed, taking one last glance at a sleeping Nikolai before sneaking into my closet to throw on some sweats and a t-shirt and grab the burner phone. Terror and anxiety fill me as I slip past the bed and out of my room.

"Shit!" In my haste, I stumble over the shoes in the hallway. I pause, scared to even take a breath, listening for any movement from the bedroom. When Nikolai doesn't call out or appear, I throw on my shoes and rush out the door.

The crisp morning air sends a chill down my spine as I pull up Braden's number. I should've grabbed a sweater. It rings exactly three times before his groggy voice comes through on the line.

"Didn't expect to hear from you, Lace, but I don't mind waking up to your voice."

I roll my eyes, anger filling my blood at how cavalier he's acting after what he did. "Nikolai came over last night."

He sighs, and I can just picture him squeezing the bridge of his nose in frustration. "I'm not really in the mood to hear about your—"

"He was shot, Braden! Was that you?! Did you and your guys have anything to do with that?"

Silence permeates from the speaker. I've walked the length of the sidewalk by now and I'm standing at the edge, tapping my foot impatiently waiting for him to say something.

"Well...?"

"Obviously it wasn't me, but I'll find out if it was the company."

"I don't want to do this anymore. You told me no one would get hurt."

Braden scoffs. "I never said that. I would never say that. Nikolai runs an international crime ring — of course people will get hurt."

Restless, I start pacing again. As I get closer to my building, a chill runs through me and I get the creeping sensation of being watched. My eyes dart to my window, but I see nothing unusual there. No shadows, no moving curtains, no eyes staring back at me. I look up and down the street, but everything seems status quo.

"Lacey? Lacey, are you still there?"

"Yeah, I'm here. I should go though. Nikolai will be looking for me."

Again, silence. I know Braden well enough to know that comment irked him. Good! Serves him right.

"Before you go, tell me what he told you about what happened last night."

I relay the information, keeping my voice down as I pass the buildings on my street. Braden just listens, though I'm sure I can hear him jotting something down on a piece of paper.

"Your instincts are right — he's lying to you. Nobody in their right mind would try to mug Nikolai Jovan. It's a death sentence."

"Yet here you have me literally betraying him." I spit the words out, disgusted with Braden for the way he keeps dangling the possibility of death in my face.