Adam knew Russia. He’d worked in Moscow for years. When he moved up to head of the Special Activities Division at Langley, he was in the perfect position to help his Russian friends get their guns into the US. Hell, he might have even sought the position for that exact reason. He’d probably been squirreling millions away in Swiss accounts, a cut of every gun deal the Ralavichs had done.
Until he’d heard that the Malakovs were trying to muscle in, of course. Then he’d panicked. He’d needed someone to get information on the deal. Someone utterly disposable, someone too naive and eager to please to question why Malakov was such a high priority.#p#分页标题#e#
I’d been a pawn, right from the start. Roberta, Nancy...they’d tried to warn me something was wrong and I’d ignored them.
“You don’t want Luka arrested,” I said. “You never did. You want him dead.”
Adam made a scoffing noise. “I don’t give a shit about Luka. Vasiliy still controls the deals. Without his face and name, the buyers will come running back to Olaf.” He sighed. “Fucking Olaf. I told him trying to scare Vasiliy off wouldn’t work. So we’ll just have to move to plan B.”
“You’re going to kill him,” I whispered in disbelief. “You’re going to kill Vasiliy.”
“No,” said Adam. “You are.”
“After this call,” said Adam, “you’ll take the back off the cell phone and remove the battery. There’s a capsule filled with liquid. You’re going to dump that into Vasiliy’s drink.”
“Poison.”
“A drug. He’ll have a heart attack a few hours later.”
“Never. Jesus, you must know that. You know I won’t do it.”
“Oh, but you haven’t heard the best part,” said Adam. I could hear the victorious smile in his voice. “You haven’t heard what I’ll give you in return.”
“I don’t want it!” I almost shouted it. “Whatever it is, I don’t want it!”
He paused for effect. “You get Luka.”
There was silence for a moment.
“I only want Vasiliy,” said Adam. “Luka walks. And with the gun deal in pieces, I’m sure someone as...persuasive as you can tempt him away from crime. You can have a life together.”
I sat there stunned. It was everything I wanted. Luka and I could jet off into the sunset. He’d never need to know I was CIA. I could be with him.
If I killed his father.
I shook my head, ashamed that I’d considered it even for a split second. “Go fuck yourself,” I hissed.
Adam sighed. “Then you leave me no choice. I’ll have both Vasiliy and Luka taken out.”
“You—-You said you didn’t care about Luka!”
“I wanted to do it clean and quiet, with no questions from the authorities. A heart attack does that. But if you’re going to force me to openly kill Vasiliy, I might as well take his son, too. Wouldn’t want him coming after me for revenge. And you know I have the resources to do it. I just wanted to exhaust every other avenue first.”
“Please!” I begged.
“Don’t be pathetic, Arianna. Make a choice. We both know which one you’re going to choose.”
I slumped against the wall, my brain racing, searching for a way out and finding none. The thought of killing Vasiliy made me sick. But the idea of losing Luka as well….
My silence was all the answer he needed.
“Good girl,” said Adam. “I’m proud of you, Arianna. I always knew you had potential.”
I wanted to hurl the phone across the room, but I couldn’t because I couldn’t risk damaging the capsule. I wanted to howl in anger but I couldn’t risk Luka hearing. So, as Adam ended the call, all I could do was thump my fists uselessly on the bed. And then slump to the floor, the shame of my own stupidity coming out as hot, painful tears.
By the time I’d cleaned myself up, it was nearly time to do it. I couldn’t risk Vasiliy going to bed. If he was still alive in the morning and Adam got wind of it, he’d think I’d double crossed him and kill Vasiliy and Luka as well.#p#分页标题#e#
A brand new dress and underwear had been discreetly hung on the doorknob of the bedroom while I’d been bathing—Luka must have sent one of the maids out to buy them. With them on and the necklace Luka bought me around my neck, I felt a little more human.
For a second. Until I remembered what I was about to do.
Yuri was at the foot of the stairs, cleaning one of his many guns. His arm was in a sling. He looked up at me. “Okay?” he asked gruffly.