“I want to talk to a fucking human, goddammit.”
The robotic voice keeps blathering on. “ … To get your car back, please show up with your documentation between 9:00 A.M. and 6:00 P.M.”
I glance at my watch:8:34 P.M.
“Fuck.”
“To go back to the menu, press?—”
“FUCK!”
I toss my phone across the street. It lands with a loudcrackon the concrete, shards flying every which way.
I don’t need this shit. Not today of all days. Not when the thing I’ve been chasing after for so long is finally within my reach.
A way to find my family’s killers—to get my revenge.
But it can’t happen without Baldwin’s alliance.
I pull out a spare phone. I’m about to type another text to Maksim…
… when I seeher.
Messy purple scrubs. Ash brown hair, pulled up in a haphazard bun. Tired blue eyes, without a smudge of makeup. A beauty mark just under her chin that draws my eyes like a target…
… and a shit-eating grin like the cat who ate the canary.
All at once, I know what happened.
I stalk towards the woman. As I get closer, I realize how tiny she is—barely reaching my shoulder.
But if she thinks she’s getting my merciful side, she’d better think again.
That shit does not exist.
“You.” I stop in front of her. “Did you get my fucking car towed?”
She freezes. Then she turns with steel in her spine, her shoulders held up, chin raised in defiance.
For a tiny thing, she’s a spitfire.
“I did try to tell you.”
“You had no right.”
I can tell my closeness rattles her, but she hides it better than most. It’s a refreshing novelty. The way she holds my gaze. The way she doesn’t back down, not even for a second.
It’s been years since anyone’s spoken to me like this—like I don’t fucking scare them.
That can only mean one thing.
She doesn’t know who the fuck I am.
Just like that, I get an idea.
Whether it’s a good idea or a bad idea remains to be seen.
4
