Page 13 of Keeping My Enemies Closer: Pt. 2

Because it was easier to face Kasimir than it was to hold Viktor’s stare, I looked over at Kasimir, then told him the truth.“After I got ambushed into the kitchen, I asked them what they wanted, and they’d said money...that part was true.”

“And what made them believe that you had any?”Kasimir asked.

I had to let out a deep breath before answering.My next words were going to guarantee Marcelle’s death, and as much as I wanted justice for my mother, being responsible for someone else’s death was a lot.Or maybe I just hadn’t hit the angry stage of grief yet.Maybe the anger that I’d been directing Kasimir’s way hadn’t been anger at all, but just your average irritation.

I honestly didn’t know.

“The man who...who hit me...”I let out another deep breath.“He wanted to know where...he said that he knew that I had three-hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”

Even though I was looking at Kasimir, I could feel both men stiffen with that news, and the energy in the room wasn’t as calming as it’d been before I’d said the words.Like me, they knew exactly what this meant, and the truth really was unsettling.

“How could they know that?It’s my understanding that you entered the auction under an assumed name,” Viktor asked, telling me exactly how much he knew about what had happened between me and his brother.

I looked over at him, knowing that it’d be rude not to.“Besides Kasimir, there’s only one other person who knew that I had entered the auction under another person’s name, and so that’s the only connection,” I finally confessed.“They also knew that the girls had been paid the same night of the auction, another detail that only a few people could know.”

“What else?”Viktor asked, his voice a lot harder than it’d been only moments before.

“At some point, I must have passed out from the pain, because I can remember waking up, and the guy who hit me was on the phone, accusing someone of lying to them because there was no money,” I went on.“When he finished arguing with the person on the phone, that’s when they got desperate.The second guy had shot my mother, thinking that it would make me talk, but when my answer was the same, that’s when I’d been shot.”

Very quietly, Kasimir asked, “Who is the friend that convinced you to enter the auction, Zoya?”

I looked back at Kasimir, then said the words that were going to seal Marcelle’s fate.“Marcelle Jensen, one of the...one of the girls that I work with.”

“And she’s supposed to be your friend?”Viktor asked carefully.

Turning to face him once again, I said, “I thought she was, but...but when I went back to work, she cornered me in the breakroom, and she made claims about how she deserved half of the money because I never would have entered the auction if it hadn’t been for her.”

“Why the fuck didn’t you tell me about that?”Kasimir snapped, but when I turned to look at him, Viktor spoke.

“Kasimir-”

“Do not tell me to calm down,” Kasimir spat as he stood up from the couch.“Had she told me that, then none of this fucking shit would have ever happened.”

“I thought that I could handle it,” I said, defending myself as I stood up, which in turn, had Viktor rising from his seat also.“I didn’t think that she’d send someone to rob me.”

“And how did that work out for you?”he snarled, his white eye losing that spec of blue that was an indication of his state of mind.

Suddenly, I felt a hand on my arm, and I looked over to see Viktor pulling me back a bit, then going to stand nearly in between me and Kasimir.It felt oddly protective, but then again, Viktor knew his brother better than I did, so I didn’t fight him or object to his hand on my arm.

“She didn’t know,” Viktor said, and that’s when I recognized the humming.“She couldn’t have known that this was going to happen.”

“I don’t give a fuck,” Kasimir snarled.“If someone tells her good fucking morning, then I should know about it.”

What in the hell?

“Kasimir, I need you to calm down,” Viktor ordered, and the way that he was speaking to his brother had the hairs on the back of my neck standing up.“You need to focus.”

“Do not-”

“You also need to not make her feel worse than she already does,” Viktor bit out, interrupting whatever Kasimir had been about to object to.

Now, while I wasn’t exactly sure what was happening, I was still very aware of how Kasimir’s humming was getting louder, and I knew enough to recognize that his singing wasn’t a good thing.He only did it when he was upset, though I still didn’t know what it meant.

“The wheels on the bus-”

Letting go of my arm, Viktor grabbed onto his brother’s shoulders instead.“Kasimir, listen to me,” he bit out.“We will handle this.We will make sure nothing like this ever happens again, but I need you to calm down right now.”

“What’s happening?”I finally asked.