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“What do you want?”

“Isn’t that obvious? To make Maxsim Aristov suffer. Now, I could share details of why, but quite frankly, you won’t believe me or care.”

My stomach filled with butterflies in hearing he was alive. “He will hunt you down and he will kill you.”

He laughed as if my words were one big joke. “He can try, but he will fail. Much like he’s already doing.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Maxsim believes both you and his daughter are dead. Killed in a massive explosion at the restaurant.”

I was startled by what he’d just said, my breath catching. That’s what I’d heard. The explosion. “You’re lying.”

“I thought you might suggest that I was.” He grabbed an iPad from the desk’s surface, moving his finger across the screen. “Here is the news story about the horrible incident.” The bastard was gloating.

He said nothing as I watched the horrific scene, including when the fire trucks arrived. With the sound up, I was forced to listen to sirens wailing in the distance, watching as people covered in soot were being checked out by EMTs. The carnage was unfathomable and my stomach was in knots. When I turned away, he chuckled.

“You fucking bastard. How many people did you kill in trying to make it look like Mina and I died?”

“A few. Their lives mean nothing to me. I enjoy watching their suffering. Now, as I said, you’re here because you’re going to help me destroy Maxsim once and for all.”

“Why me? I’m nobody.” There had to be more to the reason why I was taken. My instinct told me a perfect storm had formed.

“That’s where you wrong. You’re very important in the scenario. More than you can imagine. In fact, you were a gift sent by the very gods. I’d wanted a true weakness, more than even the loss of a child couldn’t provide.”

“What is wrong with you?” I held my head high, refusing to allow him to see my fear.

He drew closer, enough I gathered his stench. Repulsed, I finally turned my head only to have him grab my chin, his fingers digging into my skin. That’s when I noticed the ring on his middle finger, a huge gold and diamond piece.

“Be very careful what you say to me, Isabel. Up to this point, I’ve chosen to be kind to you, providing you with a place to rest and food and water. However, I could take everything away from you. And that would only be the beginning of your suffering. Don’t try and tell me you don’t care about that little girl because you’d be lying.”

My body was betraying me by shaking.

“Now, are you going to be a good girl?”

Instead of hearing his cracked, aging voice, I heard Maxsim’s. I had to be strong and pretend to go along. “Yes.”

He took a deep breath while allowing his gaze to fall to my breasts. “When this is over and if you give me what I need, I’ll consider allowing you to live.”

The way he was staring at me was even more unnerving. As if he was trying to see if I remembered him.

“Why would I even consider helping you?”

“Because if you don’t, you’ll be forced to watch the little girl die.”

There were levels of fury that caught me off guard, blindsiding me to all acts of danger and having a child threatened was one of them. I reacted without thinking, throwing a punch. But he caught my hand, twisting my arm and using his other to backhand me. The ring hit me square in the mouth, anguish tearing through me. I was sent flying across the room and against a piece of furniture.

Dazed and in pain, I remained where I was for a few seconds.

He was furious and I could tell how much I’d caught him off guard. His hair was out of place and he raked his fingers through the thin strands.

“I suggest you calm down, Ms. Dayne. I hadn’t intended on hurting you today, but I will if necessary. Just as I will with Mina if you don’t cooperate.” He moved toward me, offering a hand. “I assure you what you’re about to do won’t be harmful. At least not to you.”

“I’m not going to hurt Maxsim.”

“Call it a test. I want to see how he handles realizing you’re alive instead of rotting in a grave.”

“Are you fucking out of your mind? He will gut you.”