Whiskey Pain by Nicole Fox

Author:Nicole Fox [Fox, Nicole]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-05-09T16:00:00+00:00

30

PIPER

The door closes as if in slow motion. The shaft of light grows smaller and smaller until I’m in total darkness.

The air feels stale. Already, my lungs burn.

I pound on the door with my fists and scream, even though I know it won’t do any good. “Timofey!” I shriek. “Timofey!”

I try to convince myself I hear murmuring on the other side of the door, but this room is utterly soundproof. He can’t hear me. I can’t hear him.

I’m alone.

I stumble backward until my spine slams into the wall. Then I drop to the floor, my knees curling against my chest. If I pass out, I don’t want to fall on my stomach. I should stay sitting.

Just as I start practicing slow inhales and exhales, trying to convince myself I’m not going to run out of oxygen in this cramped space, I hear the bolt on the door click.

“It’s a mirage.” I think mirages are visual, but that doesn’t matter now.

My mind is tricking me.

Timofey wouldn’t put me in here and then change his mind. He isn’t coming back anytime soon. I better get cozy.

Then the door opens.

It’s only been a couple minutes, but the light blinds me. My eyes burn, and I blink into the doorway, convinced this is all in my imagination.

It’s not until Timofey grabs my arm and hauls me to my feet that I start to think this could be real.

“Is it you?” I pat his stubbled face, blinking repeatedly to try and clear the hallucination.

He arches a brow. “You were only in there for two minutes.”

I stare at him as realization washes over me. As my mind catches up with my senses, and I realize this is Timofey. He’s here. I’m free.

The first thing I do is haul back and slap him across the face.

My palm cracks across his cheek so hard it actually hurts my hand. But Timofey barely responds. His head shifts slightly. Then he looks back at me and nods. “I suppose I deserved that.”

“You deserve worse, you…you…you jerk!”

“Harsh.” He closes the panic room and pulls me after him. “Come on. I changed my mind.”

“You changed your—Let go of me!” I rip my arm out of his hold, and I’m well aware that Timofey chose to let me go. If he wanted to still have a grip on me, he would.

“If you don’t want to get locked in panic rooms, try not charging headfirst into disaster.”

“So that was my fault?” I spit.

He shrugs. “Partially.”

“You are such a—”

“A jerk, I know. Now, come on, we’re going to be late.”

I’m so busy thinking of the very long list of names I could call him that would make even a sailor blush that I don’t process what he’s saying right away. “Wait. Late for what?”

“I have a meeting. You’re coming with me.”

I frown. “You’re taking me to a meeting with you? A Bratva meeting?”

“Fuck no,” he snorts. “You aren’t coming within a thousand feet of those brutes so long as I can help it. We’ve tried that once before.

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