Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

VIVIAN

S o. Much. Blood.

I would have thought spending countless Saturday afternoons on the sofa watching true crime dramas would have desensitized me to it, but nope, not even a teeny, tiny, little bit.

Oh, my God, the freaking blood!

And the stench.

The air was thick with the smell of warm copper and feces.

Bile burned the back of my throat as I slapped my hand over my mouth to cut off my scream. My head swiveled as I spun in a circle.

I needed to get the hell out of this room.

Now.

The only exit led back to that man with the powerful arms and unsettling eyes.

"Woman! Where are you?"

Dammit.

It was him.

The vault.

It was my only choice.

It wasn't an exit, but anyone who knew about the hidden safe was now lying dead at my feet. I could hide in there until it was safe to escape.

Impulsively, I sprinted forward, only to lurch backward as my boot slipped in blood.

My body slammed against the far wall.

The only way to reach the hidden vault was over the dead men.

I couldn't do it.

Panic rose in my chest as the walls seemed to sway and shift.

Darkness creeped around the edges of my vision as I struggled to breathe.

My fingernails dug into the painted cinderblock walls as I fought to stay conscious.

Amidst a rising, thick fog, I heard a deep growl in a guttural foreign language.

" Chert voz'mi ."

A powerful arm pulled me away from the cinder blocks and wrapped around my waist as a hand cupped the back of my head, pressing my face into a solid, warm chest.

I fisted the soft cotton T-shirt covering the wall of muscle as I inhaled the crisp, clean scent of soap and aftershave.

It was the scary man from earlier. The one with the piercing bright blue eyes and the neck tattoos.

"You silly, stupid girl."

Squeezing my eyes closed as I focused on inhaling his strangely calming masculine scent, I muttered, "As soon as the room stops spinning, I'm going to yell at you for calling me a stupid girl."

His chuckle sent a deep vibration through his chest. "Fair enough, krasivaya ."

The arm around my waist slipped down over my ass to behind my knees, then he swept me off my feet.

My head rolled against his shoulder as I stared up at him. "Are you going to kill me?"