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Ivan’s nod is short. “Damon’s men caught one of them.”
I whisper the next question, holding his gaze when he tries to look away. “And you’re torturing him?”
“It’s the only way. He has been trained to only answer ‘I am Azrael’ to all of our questions. I’m applying some…persuasion.”
I feel my lips trembling and firm them. No matter how much Azrael deserves this…persuasion, it’s not worth the price of Ivan’s soul. And whether he admits it or not, that’s what it costs him every time. His soul.
“Ivan, no.”
His hold on me tightens. “It is a job that needs to be done, my pet.”
“It doesn’t. If it hasn’t worked so far, it isn’t going to.”
“Some nuts take longer to crack, but I always end up finding out what they have inside.”
“There has to be another way.”
Ivan tenses. “What? I should ask ‘please’?”
I sit up straight in his lap, dropping my hands from his chest. “I am asking, as your wife, to find another way to get this information.”
“And I am telling you, as your husband, that there isn’t another way to get information out of someone who is not willing to give it.”
“Ivan, please. It’s not worth the expense to you—”
“I love your soft heart and soft everything else, but this isn’t your concern, pet.” His palm strokes my breast, clearly trying to get me on track.
“Ivan, you are not the monster you believe yourself to be. You are a good man—”
“Only to you, love.”
“No, Ivan. We are setting up a new era for the Five Families. What is the point of doing all of this if we are going to carry on exactly as we have in the past? If we’re going to be exactly what we already are?”
“We are who we are. You dream too big, my pet.”
“And you dream too small.”
Sliding off Ivan’s lap, I climb from the bed and bend, plucking my nightgown from the floor. I begin to dress.
“What are you doing?”
My slippers are beneath the bed. I slide my feet into them and move toward the door. “I’m going for a walk,” I reply.
“Get back in the bed, Vivi.”
“I need to walk, Ivan.”
“I forbid it.” His voice is soft, but the command is undeniable. My body hesitates, yearning to respond.
I hover at the door, my fingers curling around the knob and tightening.
“Vivi.”
As much as I want to leave the room, to storm angrily away, I don’t want that between us. My hand drops from the doorknob, and I look back at Ivan.
“Find another way. Please.” I beg with my eyes, with the tone of my voice. I drop the robe, letting it puddle on the floor.
I’ll beg with my body if I must. It belongs to him, anyway.
