“Max’s little brother?” Alexei’s smile turns hard and brittle around the edges. “Of course. You know, Sasha, before all this nonsense about your father and the amount he might pay someone who ensured you were, shall we say, taken care of–or delivered back to him so that he can do the job himself–I had other ideas about you. I thought you might see that Max was a dead end. A man so wrapped up in his past and his ideological ideas about who he used to be that he was really no use to you in the here and now–not for what you wanted, anyway.”
“And what?” I snap, crossing my arms over my chest. Some of the blood on my skin flakes away, dropping onto the silky skirt of my dress, and I feel a flare of nausea again that I’m forced to choke down. “I’d pick you instead?”
Art pushes himself away from the dresser, taking a few steps toward me. I don’t think it’s meant to be threatening, exactly, but I shrink back anyway, wrapping my arms around myself as he advances.
“If you were as smart as you think you are, you would have.” His smile still looks brittle at the edges as he steps closer to the bed. “My brother pretended to be so righteous, so committed to this family, but he wanted out just as much as anyone else. He just took the priesthood as his way–very fitting, since he always wanted to be such a fucking martyr.”
Art lunges forward, his hands on either side of my head as he pins me back against the pillows. I can’t stop the quick, startled intake of breath that comes out as a small squeak, or the way my entire body goes rigid, pain burning through my sore muscles as I stare up at him wide-eyed. I don’t want to show fear, but I can’t help it. The action brings up every terror left over from my past, and I press myself backward, trying to avoid him touching me.
“I didn’t really have any interest in the estate, to be honest. I don’t want to be a part of these Families, with their arrogance and pompousness, their rules and duties and ways of doing things. Even after our brother died, I was going to let the place rot. But then Max came back.”
Art cocks his head, his eyes boring into mine. “I couldn’t let him just waltz back in and take it, not when he was always so clear that he didn’t want to be the heir. I thought that he might hand it over to me, if he knew that I’d changed my mind and wanted it. It’s not as if our father was particularly good to him, either. All of that was reserved for our older brother. But poor, righteous Max.”
He sneers down at me. “Always the martyr to the end. Sacrificing himself on the altar of duty and all of that. He’d take up the mantle of the family rather than give it to me, force himself into a role he doesn’t want rather than be with you, the woman who so desperately–even pathetically–wants him.”
I squirm away, trying to get out from under him, feeling my heartbeat race in my chest as a cold sweat prickles over my skin. I’m half tempted to spit in his handsome face. “Is this how you talk to women usually? Because I would think someone who spends all of his time modeling in Milan would have more charm.”
Art smirks. “Honestly? Usually, I don’t even have to try. I’m feeling a little insulted this time around that I’ve had to work so hard, especially in comparison to my brother. Surely a nearly thirty-year-old virgin can’t have beenthatexciting. Did he even know where to put it?”
He leans in, trapping me against the pillows, his lips hovering over mine. “Trust me, Sasha.Ido.”
Whoever had put me in this bed while I was knocked out hadn’t even bothered to take my shoes off. I’d found it frustrating when I’d been tottering to the bathroom to puke my guts out earlier, but now, as Art leans in to take an unwanted kiss, I draw my knee back and drive my heel directly into his balls and hardened cock, kicking with all my might.
The howl he lets out is that of a wounded animal. He lurches back, grabbing himself, his eyes full of furious pain.
“Youbitch!” he snarls, lunging back at me. I scramble sideways, but he gets a fistful of my hair, yanking me back as he looms over me. He’s not a large man, built with the same height and lean muscle as Max, but he has surprising strength.
“You and my brother are very alike in one way, at least,” Art hisses, his eyes narrowed as he glares down at me. “You seem intent on denying me what I want.”
He smiles down at me, his expression cruel now, the smile cold and slick as ice. “I knew there was someone looking to put Max in the ground for what he did to our brother’s murderer before I came to the estate. I thought I’d give him the chance to do the right thing, to hand the estate over to me, instead of sticking to our father’s principles. But he didn’t. I thought I could make you see the light, and come with me, never the wiser and not getting caught up in all of this messiness. Butyoudidn’t.”
Leaning in, he puts his face very close to mine, lips and nose almost brushing. “So now, Sasha, Max is dead. Iwilltake what I want. The only way for you to not end up the same way is for you to give it to me.”
His mouth slams against mine. It’s not a kiss. It’s a marking, a demand, his lips forcing me to submit. I squirm under him, trying to kick again, but he’s pressed himself too closely to me. Despite the pain of my heel in his balls, his cock is still hard, and I feel another wave of nausea rising up, twisting my gut as Art grabs my chin in his hand, trying to force my mouth open for his tongue.
I sink my teeth into his lip, hard. And then, as he jerks back with heated fury in his eyes, I lurch upwards, the nausea overtaking me as I vomit bile into his face.
It’s hard to feel defiant or powerful with puke on my chin, but I glare back at him anyway, spitting into his face. “Fuck you,” I hiss. “You can do your best to force me, but I’ll fight back every step of the way. You can do your worst and fucking kill me. But I’ll nevergiveyou anything. I wouldn’t before, and I won’t now, especially not knowing–” my breath hitches in my throat, raw and painful. “Not knowing you helped kill Max.”
Art rears back, his hand cracking across my face with a force that sends me sideways, wiping at his face with his arm. “Disgusting bitch,” he snarls. “Go fucking clean yourself up. You’re lucky I don’t tell Edo to do whatever the fuck he wants with you here and now.”
“Why don’t you?” I taunt. “I’mnevergoing to give in to you. IlovedMax. I’m never going to willingly let you touch me, you fucking monster.”
“I don’t care.” Art pushes himself off of the bed, still wiping at his face. “In fact, I might like knowing that I’m taking you by force better, in the end. It would hurt my brothersomuch, if he knew. He tried so hard to save you from men who wanted to hurt you.”
He laughs, his eyes cruel as he looks at me, crumpled in a heap on the bed. “I wouldn’t have hurt you, Sasha. I’d planned to spoil you, treat you like a princess, sweep you away to Milan and show you that you’d chosen the right brother–if only you’d chosen me. But you’ve chosen this way instead–and I have to admit, there’s a certain sweetness to it.”
His eyes narrow. “I am the last Agosti, Sasha. All of it is mine now. And so are you.”
With that, he turns and stalks out of the room.
5
SASHA
Somehow, I manage to keep the shaking from starting until Art leaves the room, slamming the door angrily behind him. I lie there for what feels like a long time, arms wrapped around myself as I curl onto my side, shaking with tears running down my face.
It’s all so much worse than I ever could have imagined. I’d never thought that Art was a part of what happened to Max, or how deeply this all ran. I press my face into the pillow, trying to sort through my grief, fear, and confusion to find some kind of calm, so I can decide what to do.