A short, icy pause. “Either put her back on, or you can forget about seeing the Indian girl again.”
Maksim’s face paints with rage, Mia’s with dread.
“You son of a—” I start, but Mia stops me.
“Let me,” she begs. “Please.”
I don’t want to. In fact, I want to keep Mia as far away as I can from this f*****g monster.
But she’s not wrong. Brad has a hostage, I remind myself. And right now, Mia’s our best way of negotiating.
I grit my teeth and hand over the phone.
“Thank you,” she says to me, then places it on the counter so we can all hear. “I’m here, Brad.”
“Good.” I hate the way he says it—so goddamn self-satisfied and cocky. Like it was only a matter of time before he sunk hisclaws into her again. “You see, I didn’t like how we left things.”
“You mean, when I beat you?” Mia fires
