Read Online Slave to the Rhythm by Jane Harvey-Berrick - Free Book Online Page A

can you stand it?”
    “It’s never been this bad before,” Gary admitted flatly. “I’m scared. We all are after what happened to you today. So you know what I’m going to do? Nothing. I don’t see anything, I don’t hear anything, and I don’t say anything.”
    “But . . .”
    Gary dropped his voice to a whisper.
    “People around here disappear. My last roommate, Erik, he was like you—thought he could change the world. One day he was just gone. Officially, he went back to his family in Poland. Unofficially, no one knows.”
    He shuddered.
    “The rumor is that Sergei wants to be top dog, and with Oleg helping him, it could well happen. There’s a power struggle going on. And you, my friend, have walked right into the middle of it.”
    Gary dropped the washcloth onto the floor and climbed back into bed.
    “This conversation is done. And if you start screaming again, I’ll toss a glass of water over you—it’s safer.”
    Gary threw the duvet over his shoulders and turned on his side, huffing noisily.
    I’d just been chewed out by an angry dude in Hello Kitty pajamas.
    My brain was wired after everything that had happened, but my body was suffering.
    I lay in the narrow bed and forced myself to relax. I’d wait, find out how this place worked, and then . . .
    “Hey, Gary!”
    “What do you want now?” came a very pissed off voice.
    “Can I borrow your phone? I need to send an email.”
    Gary grumbled some more, but eventually tossed me his phone.
    “I’m just going to say this one more time—be careful who you involve in this. These people are dangerous.”
    I sat with the cell phone in my lap, and tapped out an email to Luka, giving him the basics of what I’d seen and heard. I wasn’t expecting to hear right back, because I knew he was on tour, but within minutes, he’d replied, his message short and unambiguous: Go to the police.
    I glanced over at Gary who was snoring loudly, his swollen nose amplifying the sound.
    I can’t .
    After a few more moments, the reply arrived.
    I have €1,000. It’s yours brother—just say the word. I’ll buy your flight home right now.
    I wanted to tell him to get me a ticket, but without ID, I had no chance. I turned off the phone and lay back.
    But every time I shut my eyes, I saw the girl’s face. I wanted to claw that memory out of my brain, and after another hour of her haunting me, I was ready to tear out my own eyes. But eventually, sleep pulled me under into dreams that were dark and ugly, slicing at the surface of my mind, icy breaths chilling my skin.
    My life hadn’t been all sunshine before, but I hadn’t been afraid of it. Everyone dies. Everyone. But today, I’d thought it was my turn. That was messing with my head. I barely knew who I was anymore. All I wanted was to feel something other than numbing fear.
    Two months ago, my biggest worry was Jana breaking up our partnership. Now, a crazed mafia killer had his sights set on either fucking me or killing me.

    The next morning, we carried on as if nothing had happened. Gary’s nose was a little swollen, but he didn’t mention it.
    At breakfast, no one spoke to me and no one wanted to sit near me. Even Gary was unusually quiet.
    Then Trixie appeared, and the muted conversation died away.
    “Mr. Volkov wants to see you,” she said, snapping her fingers.
    No one would look at me, although I saw Gary darting a worried glance before his eyes lowered quickly.
    I didn’t even know how I felt. I didn’t know if I expected to live.
    This time, Trixie led me to Volkov’s office where he sat like at king on his throne.
    “Such a shame about that little misunderstanding with Sergei,” he said, inclining his head to my damaged hand. “He just can’t help himself when he sees a handsome face, although I can’t say you do much for me . . . no offense.”
    “None taken,” I ground out after slightly too long a pause that made Volkov’s forehead wrinkle in a frown.
    “Hmm, so there’s an end