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Chapter Thirteen

Author: Uche Lawrence
last update publish date: 2026-03-13 06:50:35
IRINA VOLKOV (cont'd)

The elevator opened into the penthouse. He carried me down the hall, pushed open my bedroom door with one hand, and set me down — not roughly, which somehow made it worse — on the edge of the bed.

He straightened. Looked at me.

The blood had tracked a thin line from his temple to his chin. He didn't touch it.

"Stay," he said.

"You're not my owner."

"No." He held my gaze for a long moment. "But I'm the only thing standing between you and a city that will kill you. Reme
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  • Scamming the Devil    Chapter Thirty six

    CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX IRINA I felt it everywhere I walked. The way the men looked at me had changed, not with the wariness of the early weeks, but with something closer to acknowledgment. I had found the mole, which was Gregori. I had done it cleanly and without error. I had done it correctly, professionally, without making it about myself. Yeah, it's the pride in me speaking. I went to the gym at eleven that night because I couldn't sleep and my brain needed somewhere to put itself that wasn't Bratva or hacking trails or thinking about Nikolai with every chance I get. Well, i guess i lied.The gym was supposed to be empty at that hour.But it wasn;t.Nikolai was at the heavy bag in the corner. No shirt. The tattoos fully visible in the harsh gym lighting, all of it, both arms, his chest, the large piece across his shoulder blades that I'd been catching fragments of for weeks and had never fully seen. My goodness. He hadn't heard me come in. I stood in the doorway for a moment lo

  • Scamming the Devil    Chapter Thirty Five

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  • Scamming the Devil    Chapter Three Four

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  • Scamming the Devil    Chapter Thirty Three

    CHAPTER THIRTY THREEIRINA VOLKOVI found them on the stairs by accident. I'd been looking for Katya and heard voices and stopped before the landing.I didn't hear what they said. I only saw from the angle of the corridor below, Katya three steps above Dmitri, looking down at him, and Dmitri looking up at her with an expression I had never once seen on his face in two months of working alongside him.it wasn't warmth or softness.The expression of a man who has just encountered something he didn't plan for and hasn't yet decided what to do about it.I backed away before either of them saw me.Found Roman in the corridor."So, Dmitri and Katya," I said quietly.Roman's face did something extraordinary. "Oh! You saw.""Yeah, I did."He pressed his lips together with suppressed energy, containing excitement. "I give it six months before he admits it and two years before he does anything about it.""That long?""Have you met Dmitri?"I thought about the man who had been professionally sk

  • Scamming the Devil    Chapter Thirty Two

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  • Scamming the Devil    Chapter Thirty one

    IRINA VOLKOVThe backup generators turned the penthouse red. Katya's hand was on my arm. Galina had moved away from the windows without being asked twice, which told me she'd lived through enough of these moments to know what they meant.From below us, footsteps. Voices in Russian, clipped and directional. Nikolai's men moving with efficiency just like they've been trained."Irina." Katya's voice was very controlled. She was frightened and managing it, which was one of the things I'd always loved about her. "What's happening.""Security response. Someone breached the perimeter.""Someone breached—" She stopped. Started again. "Okay. Is this normal?""No.""Is your guy handling it?"I paused and finally said, "Yes.""Are we safe here?"Oh God, Katya!I looked at Galina, who had positioned herself near the interior wall away from the windows with calmess. Like she had been through this before and survived it. "Yes," I said. "We're safe here."Katya nodded. Took a breath. Took another o

  • Scamming the Devil    Chapter Five

    IRINA VOLKOV But I had the check. The money was already mine. What harm could one drink do? And if I refused, if I seemed too eager to leave, it might raise suspicions. This is risky and fucking dangerous. Besides, there was something in his eyes. A challenge. Like he knew I wanted to refuse and

  • Scamming the Devil    Chapter Four

    IRINA VOLKOVThe wine was excellent. Probably worth more than everything I owned. I took a small sip of my wine and set the glass down, hyperaware of every movement, every gesture. One fucking wrong move, one slip in my performance, and this could all fall apart."You look nervous," Damien observed

  • Scamming the Devil    Chapter Three

    IRINA VOLKOVThe next morning, I took the metro to Tverskaya and found a secondhand boutique that catered to women who needed to look expensive without actually being expensive. The owner, a rail thin woman with black hair and calculating eyes, sized me up immediately.“Special occasion?” she asked

  • Scamming the Devil    Chapter Two

    IRINA VOLKOVThe apartment building in Tekstilshchiki looked worse in daylight than it did at night. Yeah.Crumbling concrete, rust stained walls, windows that was covered with mismatched curtains or cardboard. I climbed the stairs to the fourth floor, the elevator had been broken for six fucking m

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