Page 97 of SINS & Riley
“Hold still.”
I freeze as every muscle locks. My swallow sticks halfway down.
Oh, God. This is it.
He’s going to kill me.
He’s actually going to kill me with his bare hands.
If I wasn’t his latest victim, it would almost be badass.
Tears spill hot from both eyes as my hands clutch protectively over my belly.
My lids squeeze shut.
Please, Da. Look out for us.
Then—
The world explodes in a single metallic snap.
My eyes fly open. Between two fingers, he dangles the necklace—my leash—swaying above my face.
Then, I see the glint of steel. Da’s knife glimmering in his other hand.
The move, the one he just did just sent me free, it’s lethal and familiar all at once.
I stare hard. Am I imagining things? Or is this the exact move Dante did. “Did you just… slice it apart?”
With a casual shrug, he retracts the blade. “I lost the key.”
“What are you doing?” My voice is thin and strangled, every syllable scraped raw.
He sets both the necklace and the knife on my belly, the weight of them cold and final. “Giving you the only thing I can.”
“What?”
“Your freedom.” He nods toward the door. “Dominic’s waiting in the car. The arrangements aren’t to kill you. Or sell you.” His thumb catches a tear. “They’re to make you disappear. New name. New life. There’s money in a bank account. A villa waiting. But you have to leave. Now. There’s a plane?—”
“Wait…” The words stumble through me, heavy and strange, refusing to land.
Zver isn’t doing something vile to me. So why does it hurt?
“You’re… giving me my freedom?” I repeat.
His mouth twists into a tight line. “Yes.”
I don’t understand. My voice splinters on a single word. “Why?”
“Because…” His gaze flickers, searching for words like they don’t exist. Or maybe they’re words he refuses to say. He slams the door on it with a growl. “Because I am. End of story.”
I should be elated.
Throwing a fucking party.
But something about this feels wrong. So wrong, it aches.
And I can't explain it, but it feels like I'm losing Dante all over again.
