Page 86 of Sinner's Sacrifice

His mother said something in another language, not one Sam recognized.

“Your mother is extremely pissed off,” Yvgeny said to his cousin.

“How do you know?” Nika asked.

“She’s swearing in Hungarian.”

“Yvgeny,” his aunt said. “You must hide Nika and this young man with Miss Samantha, so we can deal with Baz’s assholes.”

It was an order.

Yvgeny bared his teeth at her. “If I do that, our family business will not stay within the family.”

She studied Brian for a moment, then said, “What alternative is there?”

“None,” Yvgeny snarled.

There was a loud thud. It came over the speakers, but Sam also felt it reverberate through the floor. Another thud, then another. It sounded like someone was taking an ax to the walls.

She checked the screens and saw she was right. The well-dressed group were, in fact, doing exactly that. Attempting to hack their way through the walls to the other side of the building using a fire safety axe.

That was all kinds of stupid. Maybe the idiot with the axe would hit a power line and take himself out of the population.

“You are going to ruin my life. Again,” Yvgeny said in a low tone, but he walked toward her room and waved at Brian and Nika to follow. Brian didn’t hesitate, but Nika did.

“Baz?” she asked, and it was a loaded question.

“It’s okay,” he told her. “Remember, I’m excellent at getting rid of assholes.”

“That’s because you are one,” she said, dryly. She kissed him and followed Brian.

Sam heard the trapdoor open and someone started down the steep stairs. She got to her feet and walked away from her seat in front of all the screens.

Brian reached the floor and turned. He stopped after the first step, then gave her a wobbly smile and a little wave. “Hi, Sam.”

“Hey, Brian. Did you have fun in the secret stairwell?”

His smile broke into disjointed pieces. “Not really, no.”

Nika came down the stairs as the trapdoor closed and locked behind her. “Well, this is interesting,” she said, looking around. “But not a surprise.”

“And look,” Sam said, gesturing at the screens. “The secret hideout has all this free entertainment.”

Nika slanted a look at Sam. “You’ve been spending too much time with Yvgeny. You’re starting to sound like him.”

“Jaded, irritated, and tired of stupid?”

Nika grinned at her. “Yup.”

Brian sat in the chair and studied the screens. “I do not understand what’s going on.”

“You probably don’t want to understand,” Nika said. “Because as out there as secret passages and panic rooms in a hotel might seem, this is all only the tip of the iceberg of weird.”

Sam looked at Nika, at her tightly compressed mouth, and asked, “Tell me about the weird.”

Nika shook her head. “It’s not my story to tell, and I think I’ve barely scratched the surface of it.” She glanced at Brian. “FBI.”

He glanced at her then did a double take at whatever he saw on her face. “What?”