Page 44 of Then We Shatter

“Why do you think I said it?” she sniffs. When I continue to stare, she rolls her eyes. “I’m a mad psycho bitch. Didn’t you know?”

“Oh, I know. But I also know what’s behind that mask you wear,” I point out. She puts on an act of being cruel and indifferent, and that’s all most people see. But I’m not most people. “You’d never let innocent people get hurt, especially ones connected to the very people who were trying to help you.”

“Never underestimate me, Shorty.”

“I’d be a fool to,” I agree, pulling her closer. “Now, are you going to tell me how the hell you sneaked me in here without raising the alarm? I’m impressed. Assuming I get out alive.”

“You will,” she promises. “But there’s a fee.”

“Another orgasm?”

Katarina slides her hand lower and my already thickening cock twitches at her touch. “You know me so well.”

“Well enough to know you’re distracting me so I’ll forget you haven’t answered my question,” I say. When she leans in, I allow her one brief kiss. “How did you get me in?”

“I didn’t.”

I lift her leg so it rests on my hip before sliding my fingers through her slit. She’s leaking my cum and I push my seed back into her while fighting the growing need to fill her again. “You didn’t, but someone did, which is some feat. Mace Griffin is one of the best hackers there is and he’s never been able to break through Vasili’s firewalls. How did your accomplice do it?”

Katarina writhes under the pressure of my thumb against her clit. “She didn’t.”

She. Good to know her accomplice isn’t a man. Katarina evokes a wild possessiveness I’ve never felt before, the kind that could lead me to make questionable decisions. But for now at least, my head is clear. “If she didn’t have to break in, it must mean she’s already inside.” I think on it for a moment. “Your sestras, the ones that survived the training camp. Was one of them good with tech?”

“Killian,” Katarina says as a stiletto heel stabs into my calf muscle. “You talk too much.”

Chapter 16

Katarina

Now

The sun is yet to set on my first full day on Blackwater Rock, but within minutes of joining Eric and his other guests for dinner, yet more storm clouds block out the last of the day’s rays. I know it’s wet season, but the omens for my nuptials are bad enough without this constant sense of foreboding.

Wedding guests have been arriving throughout the day, but this is the first chance Eric has had to show me off. We’re standing beneath glittering chandeliers, sipping aperitifs and making small talk. I’m starting to think I must have died alongside Killian because this is surely hell.

“I do hope it stays clear for the wedding,” the woman next to me says as the rain rattles the windows. Eric had introduced her, but I’m not interested in remembering names.

“It would be a shame if it was called off,” I reply with a dramatic sigh.

I bring my champagne glass to my lips to hide my smile as Vasili stiffens. The Bratva have suffered some major setbacks this year and his desperation to use me to forge new alliances is starting to show. I suspect his little empire isn’t worth nearly as much as he wants people to believe.

“Katarina won’t be leaving this island until she and Eric are happily married, I can assure you of that,” he says.

Eric puts a proprietorial arm around my waist. “Who said anything about letting her leave?” he says with a jovial chuckle. “Once she’s mine, I don’t intend to share her with anyone.”

Thunder cracks overhead. Kill me now.

To add to my misery, Grigor and Sasha arrive as we’re invited to take our seats.

“Nice shoes,” Sasha remarks with the biggest smirk.

“Fuck off.”

The dress code for this evening’s dinner is black tie, and Emily had arrived with my dress while I was getting ready. Pink lace, a tight-fitting bodice and a full skirt that reached the floor. No, thank you. I’m not a clothes horse.

After picking out a short, black silk dress that matched my mood, my mood had turned darker when I discovered every single shoe box in my closet contained footwear with nothing higher than a two-inch heel.

“Kitten heels for my kitten,” Grigor remarks.