“So here’s the deal,” Nick says in the most professional manner. “First option is you fight me on my generous offer that I’m about to give. In which case, the Sidorovs will eventually kill you, but only after I get bored of you tied up in my cellar. Or the second option is you accept my offer, follow my rules, and enjoy your stay. It seems like an easy choice to me.”
“I don’t see how me being held captive against my will is enjoying my stay.”
He chuckles and stands back up slowly as if his annoyance with me is causing an ache in his bones. “If you make wise choices, you get rewards. Your captivity can become quite enjoyable.”
I pull up my knees to my chest, the first time I’ve moved since he entered the cellar. “So what exactly is your offer?”
“You will stay with me indefinitely, in your own room as my guest. You will follow every single rule I have. You owe me a great debt, and how I choose to collect is undetermined at this time. But for now, I own you—body and mind. You’re mine.”
“You can’t own me!” I snap, my voice echoing off the walls. “I understand what you’ve done for me, and I appreciate it. But that does not mean I’ll be your whore.” My chest tightens, and the panic I’ve had since waking up is being replaced with fury. “You can’t do this.”
“I already have. The sooner you accept that, the better. I’m not good. I’m not decent. And I don’t follow the rules of morality. So yes, I can, and will, do whatever the fuck I want.”
“Even if it’s against my will?”
“Was it against your will when you went to one of the most dangerous families in the world to take out a loan? What the fuck were you thinking?”
“They were a desperate measure. A means to press a pause button until I could figure out a solution. I needed fast money or my family would…” I swallow, my throat dry. He doesn’t need to know about my parents. “They had money, and I needed money. It was black and white.”
“You paid off one debt by going into another more deadly debt with the Russians? Do you hear how crazy that is? I know you are a smart girl, but that move was beyond foolish. And all for parents who didn’t even care enough to stick around. Your loyalty would be impressive if it weren’t misplaced. If not for me, you’d be dead. No way could you come up with the amount of money I paid them. You do realize that interest was accruing, right? And that the Sidorovs never just go away. Those fuckers are going to haunt you for the rest of your life.”
“How much interest?” I ask, not sure I want to hear the number.
“Enough that you’ll owe me whatever the fuck I want,” he says in a much sterner voice than before. “You are not in a position to argue. Because there is no way that you’ll be able to come up with the cash owed. So you better let go of your fucking pride and be happy that I’m being so generous in allowing you to pay it off some other way.”
“People will look for me. Sasha and my brother—”
“Yes, let’s discuss your brother,” he says in an even and steady voice. “Your parents fucked up his life, too. He’s not going to be safe because the Sidorovs are smart and will try to use him as collateral to get to you. If they threaten to kill him, then they have the upper hand. Or… they may just kill him to send a strong message to you. Either way, his death warrant is signed unless you cooperate with me.”
I swallow back the scream ready to be unleashed and curse the tear that falls.
Dylan…
Nick’s right. I put him in danger. Technically my parents did, but the specifics don’t matter anymore. Would they find him at his college and—
Nick places his fingertip on a single tear and swipes it from my face. “Save your tears, Lyriope. Save them for if you decide to say no to me.”
“And if I say yes?”
“Then you live. No serious harm will ever come to you as long as you obey and live by the rules. You won’t be my captive. You won’t be my victim. In fact, you’ll be treated like a queen. That much I promise you.”
“And my brother?”
“In good faith, I’ve already arranged for his permanent safety.”
“But his college. His education—”
My security team will accompany him to and from campus until the threat from the Sidorovs, and whoever else is against you, has been neutralized. Wriggling my numb fingers, I bring my thoughts back to my now. “Why are you doing this?”