Page 55 of Bound By Sin
"Yeah, you should have." I run a hand down over my sweaty face and the tape scratches at my skin.
He shrugs his shoulders and shakes his head, then says, "I'm not trying to be right about her, Kaz." All of the anger and hostility has drained out of his voice. This is him leveling with me because he thinks I'm finally ready to hear it. "I'm trying to keep you from losing any more of what you've worked hard to achieve. And Roman…" His words trail off. He doesn't even have to say it. I know how pissed Ro will be over all of this.
I stare at the concrete between my feet and spit some of the blood out of my mouth. It drops to the concrete with a wet pop and smears crimson near Stepan’s white sneakers.
"Figure it out before he gets home." Stepan taps the ring apron once with his knuckles and turns and walks toward the gym door. Usually, I'm the one trying to give him good advice, but this time, I'm the idiot and he's the smart one.
I still really don't believe Zora is a part of this. And my heart doesn’t want to think she's even capable of hurting me like this, either. But right now, I don't have any other voices speaking tome, defending her. Just the accusations and the facts that aren’t lining up.
The next time I see her, I have to ask her what's going on. And I pray to God she's honest with me. Because the last thing I want is for Roman to find out it really was her and put an end to it. Because I know how he handles traitors, and I don't think I can stand to see him hurt her.
26
ZORA
I've been chewing my nails, pacing this room for the past few hours wondering what my brothers have planned and when Yefim's going to let me out of here. I never expected this from him—Bogdan maybe, or Makar, but not Yefim. He has never been so ruthless with me before, which means Bogdan and Makar probably won't even look at me right now. Maybe that's why he's locked me in his guest room. He's doing it to protect me.
And I've been hearing their voices in the study across the hall for a while too, though most of it I can't make out, laughter and banter. They're idiots, and I know they have something really bad planned. This whole time, they never wanted information to make Kazimir look bad. They always planned for me to lead them to Kuzin operations.
I walk over to the door and listen for a second and hear only laughter and a rumble of Makar's voice. It's torture not knowing what they're talking about, and since they took my phone and purse, I can't call anyone or let anyone know what my own brothers are doing. I have to assume that they're going to moveagainst Kazimir and his family, probably while his Uncle Roman is still away.
And I have to assume the reason they put that tracker into my purse was to learn where they are most vulnerable—and pull me back when they're ready to strike. Though, that last part is questionable. If they care even a smidge about my safety, it'd shock me. Or maybe that's why Yefim was the one to track me down. Bogdan and Makar would've let me stay with Kaz when they carry out their next attack and Yefim didn't want me hurt. Who knows?
"—tonight, though—" I hear, and I know it's Bogdan. I press my ear to the cool wood of the door and try to listen, but my own breathing is too loud to make much out. I hold my breath, pausing to focus on what Makar is saying now and press my eyes shut to block out any distraction.
"They'll never see it coming…"
What? What is coming? I press my ear harder and take a quick breath, then focus again on what Bogdan is saying now.
"—by the front entrance. Structural damage, maybe, but?—"
Damn my own need for air. I can't hear them over the sound of my breathing. I tell myself to focus and suck in a few deep breaths and blow them out, pushing as much oxygen into my lungs as possible before I hold my breath and press my ear back at the door.
Yefim is speaking now, talking about tonight. "…in about forty minutes or so, and response time would be under ten for a bomb threat."
"Then we don’t warn them," Makar says plainly.
"A building is one thing. You understand the hell Roman Kuzin will rain on us if we blow his people up?"
"No one will be there this…" Bogdan's voice trails off as I realize what they're planning. They’ve planted a bomb. My brothers are going to blow up a building and the only one that makes sense for them to blow up is the Kuzin offices.
"Oh, my God," I mumble as my hand rises to cover my mouth. What are they thinking?
I try the knob again but it's still locked. They can't do this. They could kill someone—they will kill someone. And what if it's Kazimir?
"No!" I shout, banging on the door with my fist. "Yefim, let me out! You can't do this!" I jerk on the knob several times, trying to pull it open, but they don’t respond. Then I bang on it more. "You have to let me out! You can't hurt him!" Tears want to well up but I’m too angry, too scared that they may actually go through with planting a bomb on Kuzin territory.
And it's all my fault.
I led them right to the place.
"Yefim, please," I plead, but I hear their footsteps moving away from the door and I hear their voices fading.
Panic grips me, pushing my heartrate and tanking my concentration. I need to get out of this room and I need to get to Kazimir now, before it's too late. I have to warn him, even though it means confessing that I knew how and why this was happening to him. I can't live with myself if they hurt him.
Looking around the room, I try to find something to smash the door knob and open it, but I only see the lamp and a chair. Ipick up the lamp from the nightstand and tug it away from the wall. The cord sparks and zaps as it tears from the socket and I use it to smash over the door knob, but the damn thing shatters, sending shards of glass across the floor.
"Fuck!" I hiss, dancing backward over the broken glass that crunches under my feet. Then my eyes are searching again, looking for a way out. "Dammit, you guys," I mutter, feeling myself getting too emotional. I feel nauseous too, like any second I'm gonna throw up.
