Page 109 of Impenitent Claim

But going back into the ballroom wasn’t an option. I wandered down the hall, stopping to examine the historic artifacts, my gaze lazily trailing over the plaques. A person could easily lose themselves in such a grand home.

Quit stalling!The inner voice nagged and wriggled like a bad itch I couldn’t shake.

Adjusting my mask, which didn’t have the best eyeholes, I stalked forward, wondering where the hell my brother was hiding.

The young woman’s portrait, the daughter of the tycoon who built this mansion, caught my attention. I stared at her pale, porcelain face. It was indiscernibly sad. The history of her life, laid out in bullet points, did not help correct my initial opinion of her.

What a tragic life.

And then I instantly felt guilty, because that could have been me. But I’d gotten out. I broke the chain of events controlling my life. In a matter of days, I wouldn’t have to nibble on salads and socialize with people I loathed.

Three more deaths, and the organization holding me prisoner would fall.

A smile curved my lips. I never thought before tonight that I would want to claim one of those deaths as my own. It should have freaked me out that I did. But there was nothing but dark delight simmering in my veins.

“It’s probably why I’m so drawn to you, phantom,” I confessed quietly. “We’re both monsters in the dark.”

He called me a siren, his rusalka. Well, technically that made me a predator. I might not have the brawn to track and hunt my prey. But I could end the Fabrizi vermin all the same.

As if summoned by my thoughts, the base of my neck prickled in anticipation. My spectre was near.

I threw a cautious glance around, but no one else was this far down the corridor.

Hard hands fell on my waist as Ilya folded out of the dark. I never did see him coming. “At last, you’re mine.”

“Am I?” A devious smile curled my lips.

Ilya pulled me to his body. “I should punish you for daring to say that.”

Heat flared in my core at the twisted idea. How could the anticipation of being punished turn me on this hard? What did that say about me?

Who cares.So long as I had his hands on me.

But that would have to wait.

“I only meant, right now isn’t the time for that,” I panted, already struggling to find the strength to breathe properly. “I’m on a mission here.”

His voice turned gruff. “Was that mission to find your phantom?”

He reached down, hard touch brushing against my pussy.

I sighed, need suddenly the most powerful blaze in my veins.

“That’s right, rusalka, I’m here now,” he rasped. “Your body knows to whom it belongs, doesn’t it.”

It was more statement than question, but I nodded eagerly.

“But I can’t,” I whispered hoarsely.

The growl that rattled his chest was nothing short of animalistic.

“I’m killing Cosimo,” I hissed and tugged open my designer purse.

The spectre stilled.

A flash of worry shot through me.

But Ilya began to tap his fingers against my belly the next minute. “What was your plan, Izzy?”

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