\[Nadia’s POV\]
“Was it you?”
My father’s voice is filled with fury as he whirls to take me in. We’re still in the hallway of the hospital, with doctors and nurses watching us. Was he really going to make a scene right here and now?
“How could it?” I ask, continuing with my innocent act. “I was nearly killed as well!”
As I speak, I look down at my arms and legs, which are tightly bound. Beneath the bandages are healing shark bites, but since the damage was so extensive, it was still taking a while.
“Nadia,” my father says slowly. “Do you know how much is riding on our cooperation with the Torres'?” You couldn’t possibly be stupid enough to ruin that, could you?”
Could I? No, but right now that was exactly what was happening. Everything was beginning to spiral out of my control, and it was really starting to piss me off. This was all that bitch Denali’s fault. If she never came into the picture, this wouldn’t happen.
Get rid of her. The small voice in the back of my head growls. Urging me to fix the problem. Once she is gone, everything will go back to being right.
Get rid of her. Yes, that was exactly what I wanted to do, but every fucking time I tried, something got in the way. If I wanted to be able to finally succeed, I needed to do more and needed to make sure that Rosco wasn’t around.
“Nadia,” my father repeats, snapping me out of my head. “Tell me the truth. Were you the one who planned Denali’s kidnapping?”
“No,” I respond immediately. “Of course I wasn’t.”
“Then what was that about you poisoning her?” He continues to push, clearly putting the best interests of his business before his own daughter. “Are you going to tell me you don’t know anything about that either?”
“That’s right,” I confirm. There was no way I was going to admit my involvement. This would be a secret I took to the grave. “I really had nothing to do with it.”
“Then we will go and visit Hamilton,” he sighs, wrapping an arm around me and beginning to lead me toward my hospital room. “I’m sure that he will be able to talk some sense into his own son.”
“That’s great,” I beam, happy that the conversation was over.
At least, that was what I thought until we reach my room to find five police officers waiting with cuffs at the ready.
“Are you Nadia Valentine?” One asks the minute we walk in.
“I am,” I respond, going on defense. “May I ask what is going on here?”
“You’re under arrest for the attempted murder of Denali Ozera and the murder of Charlie Thompson,” he announces as his men move forward and grab me. “Please come quietly with us, maam.”
“What?” I gasp as my arms are grabbed and twisted behind my back. “How can you possibly come here and accuse me like this? Dad! I didn’t do it! Are you just going to let them take me?”
“Officers!” my father hisses, trying to calm the chaos that is beginning to erupt. “How can you possibly accuse her of such things without evidence?”
“We have evidence,” one explains.
“And what is that?” My father growls. “Do tell.”
“I’m afraid that is confidential until the investigation is complete.” The offer responds. "Now, please allow us to do our jobs.”
“Dad!’ I gasp as they snap cuffs on my wrist. “Are you…”
“Be good, Nadia,” my father says, giving me a gentle look. “I’ll handle this, so please just cooperate for now.”
Eyes widening, I take in my father’s words as I realize exactly what is happening. He was going to let them take me to jail, where I would sit and wait for, goddess knew how long.
“You can’t be serious!” I growl, feeling my anxiety grow. “DAD! How can you possibly let them take me when you know that I’m innocent?"
“If you’re innocent, then it won’t take long to settle this,” my father counters, collapsing on a chair. “Just relax and go with them. I’ll speak with Rosco and Hamilton right away.”
After that, my father didn’t fight for me. Instead, he just sat and watched as I was man-handled and then dragged out of the hospital and thrown into a cop car that quickly whisked me away to the police station.
When we arrive, I’m frisked by a large woman with a predatorial gleam in her eyes, and when her hands come to rest on my breasts much too long, I lash out, unable to remain calm any longer.
“Watch your hands, bitch!” I hiss as the officers that brought me to this fucking place wrestle me away from her. “I’ll break every fucking bone in those hands!”
“Miss Valentine!” One of the officers hiss as he pulls me along. “Are you trying to make matters worse for yourself?”
Worse? How in the hell could things get any worse? I was being held for attempted murder and murder. Although I covered my tracks and did everything possible to make sure that there was absolutely no way they could track me, they still got me.
Fuck! I was going to kill that bitch, Denali, when I got out of here, and this time I wouldn’t fail! Then Rosco would be free of whatever damn spell she had on him, and he would come running to me.
With these thoughts in mind, I’m put through the booking procedures of the station and then led through the main holding cells of the building and thrown into a room with a single table and a chair in it. There is a mirror just in front of it, and I know that it is double-sided.
“You’re there, aren’t you, Rosco?” I giggle, fixing my gaze on it. “I’m sure you’re enjoying seeing me like this, but while you have me interrogated, the one that can help your precious wife is still running free.”
Letting out a cackle, I plop down in one of the chairs that are available and wait until a detective comes into the room and sits across from me. But when he leans forward with a look of amusement on his face, I know that he is going to be disappointed because he wasn’t going to break me. No one could, even if they tortured me until I was black and blue.
Leaning back in my seat, I cross one leg over the other and put on my aggrieved face as I brace myself for the torrent of questions that will be coming at me. This would be finished soon enough, and when I got my phone call, I would make sure that the final act of my plan was put into motion so that bitch would be dead come morning.