Page 26 of Nemesync
“No, I don’t,” I lied, because Elijah had already hinted at this reputation last time in the elevator.
His fingers brushed my arm again, but he quickly grabbed his glass from the opposite side of the table to conceal his gesture. “No one has photos of you; many men describe you as a dark angel, Lilith even, with long black hair, pale skin, and a killer gaze. They say you’re the embodiment of feminine danger. But I wanted to see for myself this dangerous woman.”
He leaned in closer, just inches from my face. His breath mingled with mine, his eyes vicious, filled with something that made me want to vomit, reminding me of things I wanted to forget.
I smiled at him apologetically. “It’s so funny to me to see how weak men are in front of a woman who knows her worth. But I have a question: why ask my father to bring me to this dinner if you think I’m so dangerous? Aren’t you worried about what I could do to you?”
Turning the glass in my hand, the ice cubes clinking together, I maintained my smile.
He lowered his head, laughing darkly, and placed his hand on my arm. This time, he didn’t try to hide it; he kept it there. “I’d like to marry you.”
Excuse me? Marry me?
His hand still rested on my forearm, and I felt repulsed by his touch. The shadow of his touch felt like a visceral and cruel mockery.
It felt like a knife to my nerves.
Nausea crawled up the back of my throat, choking my breath for what felt like an eternity but was only seconds, as my memories tried to drown me again in an abyss of impotence and weakness.
But I couldn’t let them ruin my image in front of him.
I wasn’t weak; I was shattered. And you can’t break what’s already been broken, but you can use those sharp pieces to stab anyone who’s trying to play with your sanity.
Focus Z.
His gaze intensified, and his fingers began to creep upwards. I stopped him, pulling my arm away. “Marry me? What? No, of course not, I don’t even know you.”
He smiled and straightened up, glancing behind me as if he’d just spotted what he was waiting for. “I was thinking that a little alliance could be beneficial for both our families. Let’s say it would be purely for business.”
I felt a lingering gaze on me—intense, almost natural, as if I had always been shadowed by it.
Discreetly, I turned around and saw Elijah looking at me with a cold smile, but his eyes immediately returned to Zaidan, focusing on the hand that was once again clasping my arm between his fingers. Nikolai stood beside him, observing his friend, and then his gaze shifted to me, offering a smile, while Ben, the doctor from last time, waved his hand to salute me. What were they doing here? It wasn’t even a well-known restaurant. Some men, security I presume, were all around them, as if they were kings and needed to be hidden from everyone else.
Was he stalking me?
He was!
This bastard followed me here with Nikolai and Ben and his whole fucking security team.
Returning my gaze to Zaidan, I spoke again, “Listen, I don’t care about boosting my father’s business. To be completely frank, I don’t care at all about anything involving my father, and I surely won’t sacrifice my life for the sake of whatever you’replanning. And don’t ever put your filthy hand on me again if you don’t want me to skin you alive.”
Before he could respond, my father returned. I quickly apologized and made my way outside, slipping through the small exit that few knew about, leading to a narrow alley opposite the parking lot.
What just happened? It felt so…insincere.
My father was trying to marry me off to another family—what an insane old man. I refuse to sacrifice the few moments I have left in this life for his empire.
And the way this Zaidan was always trying to touch me, it felt horrible. I despised feeling that way, but I couldn’t silence the voices that screamed every time a man’s touch grazed my skin.
I hated it so much; I needed air.
I didn’t even have the time to recover from the scene when someone opened the door behind me. I turned around, quickly pulling out my knife. I almost choked when I saw that the man who just joined me was none other than Elijah Volkov.
Fuck.
Should I feel relieved or start panicking even more?
He approached me with nonchalance and confidence, his gaze steady on my eyes, one hand casually tucked in the pocket of his suit. “Put away that knife, Zanae.”
