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Then all hell breaks loose.
Kolya flips the blade in his hand, turns, and buries it to the hilt in the throat of the armless man next to him. The poor bastard still has steak juice dripping down his chin, but as I watch, real blood starts to run right along with it.
It feels like there should be more blood. It feels like there should be more noise.
But all I can hear is silence.
The other men at the table seem mostly at ease. Maybe a little taken aback, but not so shocked that they’re unable to function. Unlike me, who seems to have forgotten how to use my limbs.
If I remembered, I’d have tried to run by now.
But apparently, I don’t need to know how to use my legs, because I feel Kolya’s hand on my middle back. With a simple nudge, he has me on my feet and then he’s walking me to the door.
I’m not sure if I’m walking or he’s carrying me. All I need to know is that I’m leaving behind the dead body sitting at the table with a steak knife sticking out of its throat.
My knees buckle at the staircase, but he holds me upright. I have no choice but to cling to him.
I expect him to push me through my door and leave me alone in there. Abandon me to sift through the horror show I just lived through and make sense of it on my own.
But he walks me right to my bed, scoops me up like I weigh nothing, and lays me down on top of the blankets.
“W-why… why would you do that?” I stammer up at him.
“I’ve been playing nice, June,” he says, standing over me like the flesh-and-blood incarnation of a nightmare. “But what you should know about me is that I will do whatever I have to.”
I stare at him, searching for any trace of humanity in those crystal blue eyes. Surely there has to be some humanity there, right? A man without it wouldn’t remember to pour me lemon soda.
“I will go above and beyond to make sure you and your baby are… taken care of.”
The pause he leaves before the last three words is significant. Like his ever-arching eyebrow, it says everything he needs to say without saying it.
He will protect me—just so long as I dance to his tune.
I find myself nodding, too exhausted to argue, too defeated to think past this night. I just want to lie down and lose myself to unconsciousness. Tomorrow, I’ll weed through the chaos of this night. Tomorrow, I’ll find my fight again.
Tonight, just give me the mercy of sleep.
I lie back against the bed and close my eyes while he’s still in the room. It seems like a stupid move. No sensible person should close their eyes on a man like him.
But I do. Because deep, deep down I don’t believe he will hurt me.
Then again, I didn’t think Adrian would hurt me, either.
Maybe lightning strikes twice.
9
KOLYA
Milana fixes me with charcoal eyes. “This is the third day in a row that she hasn’t eaten a thing. Not even a piece of toast.”
“It won’t last,” I say without looking up from my computer.
“I wouldn’t be so sure. Your little stunt the other night robbed her of her appetite. She’s refusing everything the maids take up for her. They say she’s not looking great, either. I hate to say I told you so—”
“Then don’t.” I lean back in my seat and glare at my second-in-command. “Take her another tray. Stand there and make sure she eats. Spoon-feed her yourself if you have to.”
She shakes her head. “Seeing me will only double her resolve. She won’t have forgotten the little part I played in her failed escape attempt.” She raps her manicured nails across the gleaming oaken surface of my desk.Tap-tap-tap. Tap-tap-tap. “You know what you have to do, Kolya. There’s no point in avoiding it. The girl needs to be convinced, and you’re the only one who can convince her. You can be very persuasive when you want to be.”
