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Sighing sadly, I leaned my forehead against hers and looked deeply into her eyes. "I can't, Hanna, I can't ever let you go. If you were truly happy with Logan then maybe I could, but even a blind monkey can see how you and him aren't a good match."
I leaned in ever so slightly on a whim to ghost my lips against hers. "I am done playing by your rules, Hanna. I've given you your damn space, respected your boundary for us, but not anymore. I am going to show you that you belong with me starting tonight, and I won't stop until you have my ring on your finger and my collar around your neck."
Reluctantly—and unhappily—I let her go and stepped back after unlocking the door. "That is a promise my little tigress."
"I'll just keep rejecting you until you grow tired and fed up." She retorted defiantly in a solid and confident voice as she straightened herself out.
Chuckling deeply, I looked at her with a raised brow and a confident smile. "I will never grow tired or fed up with you, Hanna. Never. And the sooner you come to realize and accept that along with us, the sooner the real fun and pleasure between us can begin. If not, then, well, don't blame me for all the punishments you'll be getting by my hands."
Turning around, she opened the door and stood there for a moment before turning her head back to look at me with hardened and narrowed eyes. "If I see your ass tonight at Guilty then I'm going to fucking kill you."
Her attempt to be threatening was adorable. I would've taken her seriously if she meant it. From her squared-back shoulders to her playfully hardened eyes, I knew she'd presented me with a challenge.
I dare you. That's what her eyes screamed at me.
"If I see you at Guilty tonight with Logan then you've no one but yourself to blame for what happens after I throw you over my shoulder and march out of the club with you." This would be the only warning she'd get from me.
Let the games begin.
Chapter 26
Hanna
Fucking Stepan.
Fuck him.
It didn't take me long to connect the dots after Logan had come clean with me about receiving threats ever since he became involved with me. Sure, hearing about the notes, the break-in, and the dead animals was somewhat brushed off because anyone could have done those as a stupid prank. When he showed me the bullet that blew out his car window after grazing his cheek, that's what made the dot to Stepan connect. I knew his signature at this point after seeing his personal stash of bullets.
Stepan didn't use mass-produced bullets; he made his own or, at the very least, had his special order. His bullets had a well-hidden but distinct pattern at the tip of the round. If I hadn't seen his bullets, I could've missed it myself because the patterned lines followed the bullet's length down to the tip. The V's carved into them could easily be mistaken as striations from the gun barrel at a glance. Hell, I would have played it off as striations myself if it weren't for Stepan, who'd explained the point of it to me when I questioned him about his ammunition long ago.
'Why are your bullets so weird? Are they used? What are these lines?'
'It's the letter V stripped down around the bullet. V for Volk 'cause that's what everyone calls me. I made it that way to throw people off because no one is none the wiser. They think it's striations or manufacture error whenever they find one of my rounds. Of course, my enemies know my signature, so if they see it then they know they've got to watch their backs.'
Honestly, I had to give him credit for his innovative thinking regarding his signature. Really, if I hadn't known any better, or gotten that background from Stepan, I would have played the shooting off as some coincidence or some stupid idiot misfiring.
I found it hard to wrap my mind around why he would do that? I'd rejected him, made my rejection known, kept him at a distance, and kept my boundary strong. Did he do this out of spite because I rejected him? No, I couldn't see Stepan doing something so childish like that.
The answer was clear deep down: he did it to keep me to himself because he saw through my lies. His sharp eyes could cut through steel easily, so seeing through my defenses would've been easy for him.
As infuriated as I had been with him earlier, I couldn't argue strongly against him because he was right, yet again. My mouth uttered the lies, and my tongue weaved. I thought maybe I could fake it until I made it if I lied to myself enough. Superficially, I started to believe it, and I continued to live my lies about Logan and Stepan happily. I mean, I just had to keep to the surface because if I dipped my head down, the truth would devour me like a shark in open waters.
After what happened in his office earlier, the solution to my problem was clear, but I refused to take it because I was still so upset and angry at him for threatening Logan and making me face my true feelings regarding him and me.
So, I decided to do something stupid.
Just one last time.
I'd end it tonight, things with Logan, I mean. If Stepan wants to give chase, I'll give him one to see if he's worth it. After one last night with Logan, just as a middle finger to Stepan because fuck him.
Initially, I planned on forgoing my date with Logan tonight, but after the little argument with Stepan, I went fuck it. Might as well try to fuck my emotions out of my system and piss Stepan off while I was at it; kill two birds with one stone.
So, that's how I ended up here, in a private room at Guilty, rather than being at the gym beating my knuckles up.
The plan was simple: meet up with Logan at Guilty for one last night, and then we'd part ways forever. Unfortunately, the world had other plans by the name of Stepan.
Logan had left the room to get some water for me, and not a minute later, Stepan barged through the door with an eerie, dark, angry expression that sent a shock of fear and excitement jolting through my body.
