Her head twists to the side and for the first time, I realize just how blind I’ve been. Just how gullible.
“You’re wearing contacts,” I breathe as a shiver rocks through my spine.
“God, yes, and they’re so uncomfortable. Very annoying.” She releases my hands and touches her eye. Carefully, she plucks out one and then the other. “I’m glad I can be rid of them now.”
When she looks up at me again, the murky brown of her eye color is gone. Now, there’s only a bright, uninterrupted blue.
“Oh God…”
Seeing those eyes sends a wave of déjà vu coursing through my extremities. I’ve seen those eyes before. Fierce, vengeful, full of pent-up rage.
I’ve seen them in a nightmare. Or at least, what I thought was a nightmare.
“You were in my room last night.”
She nods. “I watched you for almost an hour last night, and I still don’t see what he sees in you.”
My whole body goes cold. Realization sets in. It’s impossible. And yet…
“Marina?”
She smiles in obvious relief. It’s as if she’s been waiting a long time to hear someone use her real name.
“Hello, Jessa,” she says. “It’s nice to meet properly.”
I turn to the side and dry heave right onto the grass. But before anything can come out, I feel pain at the back of my head.
Before I know it, I’m being pulled upright, forcing my head towards the sky. Marina is standing over me with a fistful of my hair in her hand.
“Oh no, you don’t,” she says calmly. “You’re not throwing up my special little remedy. Not until it’s worked its magic.”
She is frighteningly beautiful. I can see that now. Her terrible blue eyes are vibrant. I can even picture the true color of her natural blonde hair peeking out from beneath the boring brown dye.
“Everyone thinks he killed you.”
She nods. “That’s what they were meant to think. I needed time.”
“Time for what?”
“To plot,” she says simply. “To plan. Of course, you came into the picture and threw a spanner into the works. So I had to readjust.”
“You sent me that video,” I gasp. “You sent me that picture.”
“I needed to break your faith in Anton.”
“He thinks you’re dead.”
“Everyone does. You’re the only person—apart from my men, of course—who knows I’m alive.”
“Your father…?”
A look of regret passes across her face. “I didn’t plan for that. I never expected Anton to be so ruthless.”
“He’s a don.”
Her eyes snap to my face. “I know what he is,” she growls. “I know him better than you ever will.”
She’s still gripping my hair tightly, but I’m in so much pain that I hardly notice. I’m more concerned with keeping her talking.