“No, you shouldn’t have,” he agreed gruffly. I wished I could see his face so I knew what he was thinking, but I didn’t dare risk it. “But you can make it up to me now.”

Icy fear licked up my spine. “How?”

“By opening your legs for me the same way you did for King.” I could hear the smirk in his voice. “I said I’d return you to him if he met my terms, but I never said what condition you’d be in.”

Oh, God.

My eyes flew to his.

“That’s more like it.” He smiled cruelly, obviously enjoying my terror.

He wrapped a fist in my hair and yanked my head back, exposing my neck. He cupped his other hand around my throat and squeezed. Spots danced in front of my eyes. I tried to shake him off, but without my arms and legs, there wasn’t much I could do.

After a moment, he let go, and I hauled in a breath. My throat burned, and my lungs ached as I refilled them.

Petrov drew his suit jacket open, revealing a gun holstered at his hip. “I’m going to cut your ropes because it’s more fun if you fight. If you try to run, I will shoot you. If you make it outside the apartment, my men are waiting. There is no escape. Do you understand?”

My mind whirled, sifting through ideas, trying to figure out how I could use this to my advantage.

I clearly couldn’t leave through the main door if he had men stationed there as he’d said, so I’d have to try something else.

I tried to look over my shoulder, but although the curtain was now open, I couldn’t turn well enough to look out and guess what time of day it was. Based on the natural light filtering into the room, it might have been mid- or late afternoon.

Surely someone had noticed I was missing by now. Perhaps they’d be looking for me. They might even have figured out who’d taken me. Whether or not escape was possible, I could buy them a little time. Maybe it would be enough to save myself.

“I understand,” I told him, holding myself rigid as he drew a Swiss Army knife from his pocket and freed one of my feet, then the other. I scarcely dared to breathe as he sliced through the ropes tying my wrists together. It seemed like a distinct possibility that he might cut me at any moment, simply because the urge arose.

“Get on your knees.”

I did as he said, all senses on high alert for any chink in his armor. I heard the click of each individual tooth of the zip as he unbuttoned his fly.

I recalled what Kade had said during our self-defense session about aiming for weak points.

Eyes, nose, throat, groin.

Perhaps I could debilitate him for a few minutes.

He started to slip his hand into his pants, and I lunged forward, ramming my fist into his testicles. He grunted in pain and doubled over, the knife dropping from his hand. I snatched it off the floor and thrust it up, catching him in the midsection. The metallic scent of blood hit my nostrils.