Page 81 of Carved in Ice (Made of Steel 3)

I looked back up at him and all I saw was death. He killed Miles. He killed him. My parents. My grandmother. How could I pretend everything was okay? “V is dead. You got what you wanted.” My plan was flying out the window. I was losing control. My fingers itched to reach into my pocket and grab the broken bottle.

“I don’t have everything I want.” His eyes traveled down my neck and stopped at where my robe crisscrossed. “Not everything.”

Me. All I had to do was play make-believe for a little longer. Until he used my body. Until he was relaxed and happy. Until I had the perfect moment to stab him in the throat. I smiled. “And what is it that you want?” Before he could respond, I added, “because before Joan knocked me out in her diner, she said that the only person you wanted dead more than me was V. You got that. What else could you possibly want?”

He smiled. “Did you love that boy? Is that what this is about?”

With all my heart. He was my everything. “No.” I shook my head. “No, I didn’t love him.” It hurt to say the lie. It didn’t just hurt, it made me angry too. My heart started to race. And for the first time I realized it wasn’t beating against something. Where was my necklace? It was the last thing I had left of Miles. “He was a childhood friend, nothing more.” I tried to pause between my thoughts, hoping it was long enough so that he wasn’t suspicious. “Do you know where my necklace is?”

He pulled the chain out of his pocket. “You mean this?”

I reached for it but he held it away from me. “I always wondered why this trinket was so important to you.”

“It reminds me of my parents, that’s all.”

“You don’t need t

o remember them.” He tossed the necklace onto the table.

I kept my eyes glued to him and shrugged my shoulders. If he didn’t think it was that important, he wouldn’t keep it from me. The silence stretched between us.

“Your mom was a slut.”

It felt like he had slapped me. But I kept looking at him. His words weren’t true. There was no reason why they should affect me. It was impossible not to think about my plan, though. That would be one of the last things he ever said. That was justice enough. Just wait. Wait till the right moment.

“And your father was weak.”

I put my hand in my pocket, wrapping it around the bottle. “Did you kill my parents?” The words tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop them. He didn’t even have to reply. I could see it in his eyes.

“Weak until his dying breath.”

I thought the bottle might snap in my hand.

“Like you were when we first met. But I knew I could make you strong. You’re welcome, doll.”

He didn’t make me strong. Yes, Miles had trained me. But the strength I had was my own. It came from within me. I was made of fucking steel.

I lunged at him, pulled the bottle out of my pocket, and aimed for the side of his neck.

He knocked it out of my hand before I even reached him, like it was nothing but a nuisance.

I hadn't waited for the right moment. What the hell had I been thinking? I took a step back from him.

He slapped my face with the back of his hand.

My body fell toward the table. I was able to put my hands out just in time to catch myself.

“Not as strong as I thought then,” he said with a laugh.

I grabbed one of the metal covers for our food, turned around, and slammed it as hard as I could against his face.

The noise it made was satisfying, but he barely stumbled back.

He ran his hand down the side of his scarred face. “You’re going to regret that.” He stepped forward and wrapped one of his hands around my neck.

I took a strained breath before he cut off all my oxygen.

He lifted me up until my feet were dangling off the ground. I gripped his wrist and pulled as hard as I could. I can’t breathe. It was like I was transported in time to the last time he had done this. But I’m stronger now. I dug my nails into his skin.

---