“Stay in New York. I will find you an apartment. Come to work here at Duskoff International. I will give you an excellent salary, more money than your Bowling Green-born self could possibly imagine. You will have the best of everything if you join us.”

If only you agree to bleed for me. The words went unspoken, but she knew that’s what he meant.

“Why do you want me so badly?”

“You are very strong, my petal, stronger than you imagine. I am like any other executive of any other company; I search out the best and brightest for my staff.”

“And Bai? What of him?”

“If you stay close to me, I can control him. Together we will work on that problem.”

She bit her lower lip. “I haven’t decided what I’ll do yet.”

Stefan said nothing for a long moment. “And Mr. Anwar? What will he do?”

“He is also exploring his options.”

He picked up his cigar once again and leaned back in his chair. “I’m disinclined to take him. I know nothing about him, and he requires a thorough background check.”

“Of course.”

“Are you fucking him?” Stefan took a puff and smoke curled around his face.

Sarafina didn’t answer.

“If you are, stop. You don’t want to rile the Atrika any more than you already have.”

“I will live my life as I choose.”

“Do you have a self-destructive streak?”

Her jaw locked for a moment before answering. “I am no one’s slave. Not yours. Not Bai’s.”

He laughed. “Yes, you are a fire witch. There is no doubt.” Stefan leaned forward. “My petal, it is necessary that you choose a side and choose it soon. We are in a war and all those who stand in the middle risk obliteration.”

“DON’T MAKE ME LOSE MY TEMPER, SARAFINA. TRUST me, you won’t like it.” Theo paced across the hotel room, fear making every single nerve in his body sing to life.

Fear for Sarafina.

The trip to Duskoff International had gone well as far as things went. No daaeman had popped up to kill them. Stefan seemed unaware of the ruse, thanks to Sarafina’s plausible excuse for having come.

They had gotten a bit of information they hadn’t known before—Bai was personally interested in Sarafina, and it didn’t sound like he just wanted to kill her out of hand. They also knew without a shadow of a doubt that the Duskoff were in league with Bai. However, there were a lot of whys and hows still hanging in the air.

Why did Bai want Sarafina?

Why had the Duskoff allied with Bai?

How had they pulled him through and were there others?

And here they were sitting on a great opportunity to find out. All they had to do was risk Sarafina’s life.

“Dissolve that charm, Theo. It’s unnerving not to see the real you.”