Page 27 of Ruinous Need
I mean it as a jab, but his lips twitch. It’s the closest I’ve seen him to a smile. “Star-crossed friends.”
“What if they report back to the Italians that there’s a blonde girl in your apartment? Am I not in danger then?”
“They won’t report back to the Italians.” The hint of a smile fades, and Viktor’s face is tense again.
“How do you know that?”
Viktor tries and fails to keep the edge of frustration out of his voice. I feel a rush of achievement. I’m wearing him down.
“Because I told them you’re my girlfriend.”
“I told them we weren’t dating.”
His eyes darken. “Maybe they’ll think there’s another reason you didn’t want to admit that.”
“Like what?”
“Oh, I don’t know, Lisette. Like the fact that I’m more than a decade older than you and I’m a hitman for the Bratva.”
A hitman.
I guess it makes sense. The way he could grab me off the street without making anyone bat an eyelid. The way he took down the scar-faced man who tried to hurt me without breaking a sweat.
I’ve seen the clinical efficiency with which he carries out brutal tasks. His job shouldn’t change anything. I won’t let him make me afraid just because he’s killed people.
“And they know that? How can you trust them?”
“They’re my friends. And they hate the mafia as much as I hate the Bratva.”
“You hate the Bratva.” I say slowly, raising a finger to my bottom lip in mock thought. “Then why are you trapping me here on behalf of the Pakhan, Viktor?”
He slams his fist on the table and rises to his full height. I take in the way his grey t-shirt hugs nothing but solid muscle. The corded tension in his forearms as he forces himself to uncoil his fist and flatten his hand against the wooden tabletop.
“Enough questions. I will say this only once, Lisette. Do not escape. Your family will be in danger, from me, the second you set foot out of this apartment. Those are my instructions.”
It all comes back then. What the Pakhan told me on the phone.
My stomach churns.
I guess Viktor is the man who’s going to carry out his awful, bloody threats if I try to get out of the engagement.
The monster who’s been killing since he was a child. And this won’t just be killing, but torturing my family members untilthere’s nothing left. Carving away their body parts, making sure there is physical evidence of their suffering to show me.
Making sure I can feel every shred of their pain while remaining alive enough to hold up my end of the bargain.
The thought makes my stomach twist. I’d felt relaxed here. I might have been trapped, but at least my time was my own. At least no one was telling me what to wear.
But it turns out Viktor is actually a key component of the Pakhan’s web of influence. He’s the monster who will actually carry out the horrific deeds that the Pakhan orders to keep me trapped in this marriage.
My lip wobbles. I capture it with my teeth so I don’t embarrass myself with tears. I’m sure he can see them anyway, shining in my eyes.
I release it with a sigh that sounds more like a sob. “I agreed to marry. Not to be locked up with some asshole.”
He’s shaking his head again, the light gleaming off his tanned skin, the sharp edges of his cheekbones. It’s unfair that a killer can look so beautiful.
“That’s not how it works. Marriage is not like that in our world. You’re engaged, so you’re his possession.”
“I don’t want to be.”
