Chapter 97

The chair dug in her shoulder blades, its high end cushion worn off tattering to the sides. Vanessa hardly had a second to draw in another breath before she was slammed on it. Her already tied legs would shift her body forward or backward, not sideways, and make her lose her equilibrium. She focused on the physical consequences because the mental one was a rabbit hole. Mikhail had picked her up like a gurney, tied her legs in the process, carried her oin his shoudlers to a room thatwas looking a lot like basement. She curedherself in all languages she knew. She had, foolishly, admitted the writing on the note was hers. She had neevr written it though. If she had, she didn’t remember. But how do you convince someone who was already on edge of your innocence when everyone in the room had better priorities? Like finfing Ian. Beatrice. Her priority aligned with theirs. Thats why she had pleaded and put ehr case forward in the most polite, panic-less way she knew how. It had gotten her he