We stopped in front of a room and Parker knocked. A moment later, the door opened.
Tania stood there, her expression impassive as she motioned us in. Her eyes flicked over me, then back to Parker.
“Viktor will just be a few minutes,” she said.
“That’s fine,” Parker replied.
“Can I get you a drink?”
“Scotch on the rocks.”
Tania turned and went to pour his drink from where a small bar area had been set up in the spacious suite. She didn’t ask if I wanted anything, but that was fine. My stomach was in knots from what I had to tell her and alcohol would’ve been a bad idea.
She handed Parker his drink and he took a sip, heading to where there was a large dining room table in the main living area. I watched as he set his briefcase down and began taking papers from it.
Turning to Tania, I spoke in an undertone. “Is there somewhere we can talk? Can we go to your room for a few minutes?”
She glanced at me. “This is my room,” she said flatly. “I have to stay with Viktor. I’m not allowed my own space.”
Tania wore an elegant, fitted black dress that ended just above her knee. The neckline was a deep V and the sleeves were made from sheer chiffon. With her black hair and ivory skin, she looked beautiful—so long as you didn’t look at her eyes, which were dull and devoid of emotion. It hurt to look in them.
“I need to tell you about your sister,” I said. “I can make up an excuse, say I need your help or something, and we can leave.”
Her face had brightened at the mention of her sister, which made me feel awful, but I didn’t just want to blurt it out to her. After a moment’s hesitation, she nodded.
“Okay.”
Just then, the door to the bedroom opened and Viktor stepped out. He glanced our way, his eyes seemingly, unerringly, drawn to Tania, then headed over to Parker.
“I have a feeling you and I have a lot more in common than I thought,” Viktor said.
Parker’s face was blank as he rifled through some papers. “How is that?” he asked.
“I see the lovely Sage is at your side this evening. It seems you require her presence as much as I require Tania’s.”
Parker glanced up at him. “I don’t require anything,” he said.
Viktor’s smile was thin and cold. “Of course.”
Knowing I was going to draw Parker’s wrath—which couldn’t be helped—I grabbed a sheaf of papers from the leather satchel I carried and took several steps forward until they both looked over at me.
“Um, I forgot to make copies of this,” I said, holding up the papers. “Tania’s going to show me where the business center is. We’ll be right back.”
Viktor reached for his cell phone. “I’ll call Jon to go with you.”
“I think we can make copies without help,” I said curtly. The last thing we needed was one of Viktor’s henchmen babysitting us. Turning, I headed for the door, taking Tania’s arm along the way and herding her along with me.
I breathed more easily once we were out in the hallway.
“The business center is on the fifth floor,” she said, heading toward the elevator. She waited until we were inside and the doors had slid shut before she spoke again. “Did you find my sister?”
Her eyes were hopeful as she looked at me and I had to take a deep breath before I said what I’d come to say. There was no easy way to break the news, so I went for the blunt truth.
“I’m so sorry, but your sister…she was murdered.”
Tania didn’t do anything for a moment, just stared at me, until I wondered if she’d understood what I said. Then she suddenly turned and punched the button for the floor we’d just left.
“Wait,” I said, “I think we probably need a few more minutes before we go back.” No way could she have processed that information. She had to be in shock.
“I’m going to kill him,” she ground out from between clenched teeth.
Okay, that was alarming. “What do you mean, you’re ‘going to kill him’?” I asked.
“Viktor. He was behind it. I know he was. He deserves to die and I’m going to kill him.”
The elevator was nearly at the previous floor now, and I was starting to panic.
“Tania, you can’t do that. Not just that you don’t kill people, but literally you can’t. He’s twice your size! You’ll be the