“Henry made me leave.”
“It was seven years ago, Molly. What kept you?”
“And yet you only just found me too. You changed your name! I didn’t want this long to pass—”
“But it has, and it’s too late to go back.” He stood suddenly, and I tensed. I was still too far for him to reach, but he was quick, and I needed to be ready to run. “There’s no point in regrets. I’m tired of them.”
“Are you going to kill me?”
“Why would I do that when I’ve just found you?”
“What do you want from me? If you wanted to break my heart, you’ve already succeeded. Bravo. Finding out the truth of that night would have done the trick without playing me along for a week.”
“But I did so enjoy your excitement and pure, unjaded joy. I’m enjoying myself now, too,” he said quietly.
It felt like a knife was digging into my heart.“So, you’re a monster now? Is that it? You’ll use it as an excuse to act however the fuck you want from now on because I deserve it?”
A slow clap filled the room. “You always were good at understanding terrible people, Molly, and thanks to you, I now qualify as one.”
“You think I haven’t suffered in those seven years?” I attempted to shift the conversation, but Kirill wouldn’t be put off. He was as stubborn as me.
“I’m sure you have, but that was your choice. Now, are you going to come willingly, or do I have to drag you kicking and screaming out of here? Easy way or the hard way, Princess?”
“I choose – the hard way, every time,” I said, tension licking up my spine. I wouldn’t lie down and let him run right over me.
Kirill snubbed his cigarette with a pinch of his fingers and tossed the unlit stub to the floor. “I was hoping you’d say that.”
He moved toward me so quickly that my heart slammed into my throat. I spun around and started down the long hall, knowing he was right behind me. I couldn’t afford to look back.
His fingers brushed my hair as I pushed through a revolving glass door. On the other side, I hesitated, opening my mouth to cry out to a passing nurse as he grabbed me. I smelled him before his arms crushed around me. Black cherries and bitter chocolate, edged by the tang of gunpowder and something undeniably Kirill.
His huge hand clamped around my mouth before I could cry out, and his other hand went around my waist, crushing me to him so hard I could barely breathe.
He hauled me down a quiet corridor and around a corner. I managed to dislodge his hand enough to sink my teeth into his fingers as I bucked and kicked wildly.
He chuckled in my ear. “That’s right, Molly, fight all you want. It only makes me want you more.”
“You psycho.” I twisted my face away from his hand as one of my wild kicks connected with his knee. He let me go for a second, but before I could run, he slammed me into the wall, locking me in place with his hips. His hands pressed my wrists into the wall above my head, and I couldn’t move.
His eyes stared into mine.“My blood on your lips looks beautiful.”
“Good. I can’t wait to draw more. You think you can scare me with all this, but you can’t. I know you won’t hurt me, Kirill Lewis.”
The last statement left my lips before I could stop it. It was madness considering what I knew of him so far, yet the words tasted true on my lips. He wouldn’t. He couldn’t.
His mouth twisted in a smirk that would haunt my dreams.“Maybe you’re right. Time will tell. Until then, you have friends and family who don’t have protection. Henry first. He’s got it coming. Then Federica. I don’t even have to hurt her. I only need to tell the right people where she is.”
What the hell?
Before I could ask, Kirill continued.“Then there’s the lovely Theo, who’s far too touchy-feely for my liking. And Pastor Jason, who stares at your ass whenever you turn around. I’ve been planning how to burn his eyes out for that. Last of all, there’s Mara. No one would be surprised if your poor mother finally lost her decade-long battle with those injuries.”
Tears stung at my eyelids as the net he’d woven closed in. “You’d kill innocent people to hurt me?”
“We were all innocent once,” he muttered, pressing against me.
The smell of him and the feel of his hard body after the last few days of constant touching sent the memory of the last time we’d been in bed together through my mind.
“They’re lucky they made it this far. Not many get the chance.”