Page 199 of This Bitter Sweet Temptation
Of course. No brawler like him walks into a museum back office to steal a priceless artifact without packing firepower.
Ideally, he’d love to do this without violence. Without anyone getting huffy and throwing a fit and making noise thatmightjust bleed through these dense walls.
Power drunk guys like him never know their limit.
Heknowshow terrified Fairfax and Talbot are, and he’s relishing it, but it just isn’t enough.
I’m sure he can smell my fear.
I have to fight to avoid locking up entirely. I feel the way my fingers quiver around the briefcase again.
And I haveone chance.
Everything hangs on what I do next.
What I decide to do.
Talbot’s chin wobbles. He’s down to his last thread of sanity, about to go berserk if I resist.
Every passing second is torment, and some people are stronger than others.
I sigh brutally and look down. “Guess I don’t have much choice, do I?”
Talbot’s shoulders sag with relief.
Fairfax stares at me with quiet, cool desperation.
I feel for them. I really do.
I can just picture their families, breathless and terrified, trapped by armed men in dark places.
I imagine Talbot’s wife and daughter, their wrists wrapped in duct tape, makeshift gags stuffed into their mouths. Their horror, potent and deadly.
Masked men guarding them with guns.
And poor Steven, so smart and lively, wondering if he made the mistake of his life by following in his father’s footsteps.
Viktor Guchkov looks on with his sea snake eyes, tracking my movements as I slowly stand, clasping the briefcase in both hands.
I do my best not to show how heavy it is.
I move slowly, like the fear makes me clumsy.
Really, I’m just stalling. I’m scared of what I’m about to do.
Sweat coats my palms. It hurts to breathe, and I have a raging need to pee.
No one ever tells you how much danger affects your bladder.
Holden might be built for this life.
Not me.
Still, I can’t back down now.
I need to make them believe I’ll comply, but I’m so scared I’ve lost my mind.
That shouldn’t be hard. The fear, that’s very real, bony fingers skimming down my neck.
