Page 74 of Pageant

I slumped to the floor and cried, shards of broken mirror digging into my legs and cutting them to ribbons. I wasn’t crying for Ivan. I knew who had smashed everything to pieces. Elyah’s hatred for me was palpable in that room.

He gently cups the nape of my neck. “I am sorry. That was me. I was furious with you and blind with the shock of everything that had happened. I got into car and drove out of the city, and I just kept driving.”

It was probably for the best, in hindsight. If he hadn’t, he would have been arrested. “You did what you had to do. You’re a survivor, Elyah. That’s why all these powerful men want you around.”

He captures my cheek in his large hand, his expression urgent. “Do you trust me to protect you,solnyshko? Do you know that I will do it, no matter what? You are my everything until my dying breath.”

I’m no longer a married woman, but I’m still far from free. A short while ago, I was marked for death. I can’t see how it’s possible that I will leave this villa alive.

There’s a click, and a deep voice says, “Please remove Number Eleven and take her to the cellar.”

Elyah and I both sit up and see Konstantin standing with his finger on the intercom, his cold, gray eyes fixed on me. A thrill of apprehension goes through me.

Back to the cellar.

Back to being a contestant in his pageant.

Kirill is behind him, leaning against the wall with a hungry look in his dark eyes. “You fuck so beautifully, Number Eleven. I’ll never get tired of watching you come.”

I give him the finger and turn to find our clothes, scooping up Elyah’s pants from the floor.

He steps toward Konstantin, butt naked, the muscles of his back rippling. “She is not Number Eleven. She is Lilia Aranova, and she belongs to me. You already eliminated her from this pageant.”

Konstantin’s gaze sweeps from him to me, and ice dances down my spine. There’s a covetous curve to his lips, as if he’s laid eyes on a delectable morsel for the first time.

“So I did,” he says to Elyah, but still looking at me. “But circumstances have changed.”

“Nothing has changed. We agreed she was mine,” Elyah growls.

“Yours to kill. If Number Eleven isn’t going to die, then this changes everything.”

Konstantin and I gaze at each other past Elyah’s naked body. He stripped me bare and humiliated me in front of everyone, proving to himself that I’m useless. Even if I’m not the betraying bitch they thought I was, that doesn’t make me the right contestant to be his bride.

“I’m not the woman you’re looking for,” I tell him.

A smile hooks the corner of his lips, and I can’t tell if he’s truly reevaluating me or if he wishes to destroy me because I’m taking away one of his most loyal allies.

I push Elyah’s pants at him and get quickly into my clothes, then step around my bristling lover to face hisPakhan. “Just because you hate me doesn’t mean you should hurt Elyah. What happened to the loyalty you spoke about? It works both ways.”

Konstantin’s expression turns lethal as he addresses Elyah. “We agreed Lilia Aranova would be yours based on the assumption that she betrayed you and her husband and was working with the feds. If that’s not true…” An indomitable gleam fills his eyes. “Then she’s not eliminated.”

Elyah’s jaw bunches.

“No!” I cry. “That’s not fair.”

But in my heart, I know that fair or not, Konstantin rules this pageant with an iron fist. He has the power to demand whatever he likes.

I gaze at the scarred, gray-eyed man, hatred filling my heart. I’m so tired of this perilous game of chess. I’m a dead woman. I’m not a dead woman. I’m free. I’m not free. Now I have no choice but to plead with a man who has a heart of ice. “Please let me be with Elyah. You can see how much we love each other.”

Surely he values his man’s loyalty and gratitude even if he doesn’t give a damn about me.

After a long silence, Konstantin turns to Elyah. “We need to talk about this. The women will go back to their cells. Number Eleven, that includes you.”

My shoulders slump and I hang my head, disappointment pouring through me. He sounded just like my father. Just like Ivan, too. There’s no point in arguing with aPakhanwho has made up his mind. I start toward the door, but Elyah reaches out and grabs my wrist.

“No. Stay.” He turns back to Konstantin and snarls, “Lilia is not going back in that cage.”

“If you were to leave Number Eleven in your bedroom while we talked, do you suppose that she’d still be there when we were finished? How trusting you are, Elyah.”

---