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I got to know her. It felt sacred and secret, our friendship.
And then she left and ruined everything.
“Ollie,” Lev snaps. “We don’t have all day.”
Renata swallows, and her eyes meet mine. She feels it too.
Good. I hope she knows what she lost. I would have burned the fucking world for her.
“Where are you hurt?” I ask her. “Tell me where it hurts, Renata. And if you fucking lie to me, I’ll find every bruise, every mark, and make you confess where each one came from.”
She stares at me through gritted teeth. “Go ahead, Romanov. Find out for yourself. Why don’t you strip me?”
I narrow my eyes and begin.
First, I run my hands through her hair and press my thumbs to her scalp. Nothing. I run my hands along her shoulders next. Her skin is warm, her lithe, curvy body evident beneath the tattered, form-fitting clothes she wears. I run my hands along the length of her spine, and she winces when I get to her side.
“That hurt?” I ask. She flinches and nods. I press harder, and she cries out. “Right there?”
“Yes, you asshole,” she hisses out.
I slap her ass hard. “Behave yourself,” I say in a low drawl. “You wouldn’t want me to have to punish you in front of my brother and his wife, would you?”
Her narrowed gaze tells me she wouldnotlike that.
Too bad. I would.
Next, I run my hands down the length of her legs, ignoring the way my dick hardens at the feel of her skin on my palms. With her facing me, I grasp her hips, circling her inner thighs. I note the way her breathing hitches and the way she bites her lip with a scowl as if she’s angry at me for turning her on here, in front of her former friend and my brother, when we aren’t friends, and she’s being interrogated.
I stroke my thumbs over her breasts, lean in and whisper in her ear. “Does that hurt? Did they hurt you there?”
She squeezes her thighs on my body as if she wants to squash me to death and doesn’t respond. I chuckle and keep on investigating. When I get to her belly, she cries out in pain.
I lift her shirt and grit my teeth when I see a mottled mess of bruises on her abdomen and sides.
“She’s fucked up all around here.” Looks like someone kicked and punched her.
“Good,” Isabella snaps. “That’s where you’ll hold her while I ask her questions.”
“Bella,” Renata cries out, her voice shaking. “You think I betrayed you? Why would I do that?”
“I know you did. Don’t ask stupid questions,” Isabella snaps. “Keep your hold, Ollie.”
I hold Renata firmly, feeling the tension in her body as Isabella steps closer, her eyes cold and calculating. Renata’s breaths come in sharp gasps, her fear tangible despite her efforts to conceal it. Isabella crouches down to eye level with Renata, anger and sadness etched on her face.
“Why do you think you can lie to us?” She grabs Renata’s chin and forces her to look at us. “Tell us the truth now, and maybe we’ll consider not making this worse for you.”
Renata’s eyes dart to mine in a silent plea, but she has no ally there. I’m not immune to the look, though, no matter how hard I try to pretend otherwise. I squeeze her side as a reminder to tell the truth.
“I didn’t do anything, Bella,” Renata whispers, tears brimming in her eyes. “Iwas the one who told you everything I knew. Please. You have to believe me.”
“Then why did you escape?” Isabella snaps.
“I didn’t! I was taken!”
Isabella nods at me. I tighten my grasp and press my fingers into her bruised skin. She gasps, a sheen of sweat breaking out on her face.
“We found the messages, Renata. We know you’ve been in contact with our enemies.”
