Maybe the real Kirill, the boy I’d loved, was still in there somewhere, alone and in the dark. Could I leave him there?
I already knew the answer.
Kirill watchedme with rapt attention as his men left the room. I tried to ignore my father’s blood on his arms.
I did it for you.
Once we were alone, he leaned against the counter and watched me like he was planning to devour me.
“What happened to Theo’s boyfriend?” I had to know. The memory of Theo and Fede in the hallway was torturing me.
“He’s in hospital, I presume,” Kirill said, looking bored.
“He’s not dead?”
“He’d be unlucky to die from a shin shot, but I suppose crazier things have happened. He’ll live. I suppose you feel guilty he was hurt because of you?”
“I’m not taking the blame. You shot him.”
“You called him,” Kirill reminded me. “For future reference, think of it this way. From now until the day you die, calling another man will result in his bodily harm. Is that clear?” He looked so calm as he delivered his insane rule.
I took a deep breath and tried to maintain my resolve. Officer Tucker wasn’t dying, thank God, and no one else had gotten hurt.“You know jealousy is a petty emotion, right?”
Kirill studied me with shrewd eyes. “Max said you were difficult when you got home. Do you regret saving their lives?”
When he put it like that, my options seemed stark.I shook my head.
The tightening of his mouth was the only sign he felt anything. “Are you going to try to run away again? Are you going to cry and beg me to let you go? Plead with me for your freedom?”
His voice was tight with something I couldn’t quite make out, but I already knew my answer.
“No.” The word left my mouth before I could second guess it. “But I am curious what happens now?” My voice was hoarse from screaming when Max had attempted to lock me in a spare bedroom, and reality had hit me like a truck.
“Now, you begin your sentence here as my esteemed guest.”
“You mean as your prisoner?” I raised an eyebrow at him.
His shrug was perfectly indolent. “Your words, not mine. You want to fight me on it, Princess? Go ahead. You won’t win.”
There it was—the truth. I couldn’t win anything going against him blatantly. He had too many resources. He was too rich, powerful, and physically stronger than anyone I’d met. But it didn’t mean I was beaten.
Resolve settled in my heart, iron-strong and bone-deep. “I won’t fight you. I have nowhere to go, and besides”—I took a deep breath and went for it—“I’ve been looking for you for seven years. I’m not leaving now that I’ve found you. You didn’t have to do any of this. If you’d asked me, I would have stayed.”
Kirill stared at me, a flash of emotion showing through the cracks in his indifferent façade. I’d surprised him.
He recovered quickly and chuckled wickedly, making my hair stand on end. “I didn’t care to test that theory. The odds weren’t in my favor, and I don’t play those games. But look at you, brave little Mallory Madison entering the pit with her eyes wide open and agreeing to my insane demands. What do you think you can accomplish with this act of self-harm?”
“I’m not trying to accomplish anything. You’re obsessed with me. You’re not going to let me run away from you a second time. I don’t want to live looking over my shoulder. So, I’m here. Get your revenge on me and get over it with.” My voice barely trembled.
He approached me, circling me like a wolf homing in on its prey. “My revenge is no quickly sated desire, Molly. There’s no getting it over with.”
“Why do any of this? If you’d asked me, I’d have stayed with you forever,” I muttered.
He stopped, towering over me.
“No, Princess, you’d have stayed until you realized what you were dealing with. Didn’t you already have doubts? A niggling feeling something wasn’t right? I don’t want any secrets between us, and the time for acting has passed. It’s more honest this way. It’s just us now, fucked up, twisted, and raw. That’s how I’ll keep you, Molly. I don’t want to have to pretend to be a better man around you. It’s too late for that.”
I tried to keep the hope and desperate disagreement out of my eyes, but he gave me nowhere to hide.