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“Water?”
“That too.” I smile. “I’m sorry about your son. It was never my intention to kill him. It was an accident, and Leonardo was at fault when he shoved your son in front of himself like a coward.”
“Shut the fuck up.”
“I’ve given you six months of my life. I did everything I was told to make up for it.”
“No amount of deaths will make up for his.”
“I know.”
“You got it off your chest.” He nods at me. “Now it’s time to get to the good part.”
“Which is?” I ask with nerves dancing in my stomach.
“The part where you fucking die.”
“Wait—” I hold my hand up to stop him, as if that would anyway. “When I’m Pakhan, I’ll give you more businesses. You’ll be able to expand and have even more money than what you do now.”
“Silly boy.” He laughs. “I don’t need more businesses from you. I’m already Donhere.”
“I’ll give up my seat at the Table.”
This seems to stop him in his tracks, and he tilts his head to the side. “Tell me more.”
“When I’m Pakhan, I’ll give up my seat at the Table, and you can appoint another Italian in my place. It’ll tip the scales in your favor.”
“I might be dead by the time you’re Pahkan.” He’s not wrong, that’s the worst part. I know this isn’t going to work, but I’m desperate.Desperate. I’m pathetic. “No deal.”
Goddamnit.
He nods again at the guards and I hold my breath, then my head is once more dunked underwater. My lungs burn, and more water gets into my mouth, but surprisingly, they let me back up. I thought for sure they’d kill me right about now.
I look around for Matteo, but he’s gone, and rather than being killed like I thought I would be, I’m being put back in the chair and tied up. My shirt sticks to my skin, making me cold and causing my teeth to chatter painfully. I try to tune out my body’s response to everything that’s happened, but not even Camilla can achieve it. My hope is that one day, maybe soon, someone will have a change of heart and let me go. I can’t have her if I’m dead, and I most certainly do not have a death wish.
After what feels like forever, someone opens the door again. It might have been a few hours since the guards haven’t done shift change again, yet I refuse to open my eyes. My head is spinning from lack of food, though I guess if they’re going to kill me they’re not going to ensure I’m well nourished.
A hand nudges me, not large, but small instead. Feminine. I open my eyes and come face to face with Camilla. I close my eyes again because surely I must be hallucinating. Can hunger make you do that? Fuck. I can’t think of any other reason why I’d see her. Certainly, her father wouldn’t be careless enough to let her come in here, and if he is, then he knows about it. There must be cameras somewhere in this building, if not in this damn room.
“Nik.” Camilla breathes, touching my face in the process. Her small, warm hands send a shiver through me and I open my eyes again. “Wake up.”
There’s a frown on her face, her perfect eyebrows slightly furrowed, and her hazel eyes glassy. Has she been crying? “Don’t cry, princess,” I tell her hoarsely. “I hate when you do that.”
“I can’t help it.” She sniffles. “I can’t leave you here.”
If I had no bindings, I’d grab her face and kiss her, but I can’t move an inch. “Get out of here,solnyshko. Someone is going to come and kill me, and I don’t want you to watch.”
Her slap stings my cheek right before I hear it echo, and I clench my jaw to chase the pain away. I must be getting weak already.
“Don’t say that, Nikolai,” she yells. “No one is killing you!”
“Keep your voice down, Camilla.” I sigh. “My fate is sealed.”
“I’ll—I’ll—” There’s a pause. “I’ll get on my knees and beg him. I’ll do anything. He won’t do this to me.”
“Pavlovs don’t beg. And you’re a Pavlov now.” I glower, my face still hurting from the slap. She’s got a hand on her. “He already told me there’s nothing that can save me. He doesn’t want anything I’ve offered him, Milla.”
“Then someone else has to do it for us.” Confused, I frown, and she elaborates, “Someone else has to save you, if not me.”
