Those who met him for the first time saw exactly what he was, a monster.They always reacted accordingly, they pleaded, broke, but Maksim gave them nothing.
Lena’s defiance, however ...it stirred something in him that had nothing to do with logic.He almost smiled.Maksim lifted the gun slightly, enough for her to see it clearly.He needed to remind her he held the upper hand.
“I don’t want to hurt you unnecessarily,” he said evenly.“But I will.”
She stilled, and she nervously swallowed.Maksim thought that was that, but incredibly, Lena wasn’t done.
“No one tells you no, huh?”she shot back, her voice laced with something dangerously close to sarcasm.
Maksim blinked once.Amusement flickered, faint but real.Oh, this woman was going to provide him with plenty of entertainment.
“Not often,” he admitted.
At gunpoint, he guided her toward the exit.She moved because she had no choice.Her survival, for now, meant obedience.
They stepped into the elevator.The doors slid shut behind them with a soft, final sound.For a moment, neither of them spoke.
“You’re going to get caught,” she said suddenly, her voice quieter now, but still edged with tension.“There are cameras.Security.People will notice.”
Maksim glanced at her, then laughed.It was probably inappropriate, but he didn’t care.
“All security feeds are disabled,” he said.
Her face paled.The realization seemed to hit her slowly.She was at his complete and utter mercy.
The elevator descended in silence after that.Each passing floor felt like another layer sealing her fate.When the doors opened on the ground floor, Maksim led her through a back exit.
A black car waited for him, the engine still running.His usual driver waited.Maksim glanced at Lena and saw the exact moment it truly sank in for her.
She must be thinking that this was real and happening.That she wasn’t going home.There was panic in her brown eyes, and her body tensed.
She was going to run, but it didn’t matter, because he’d just have to catch her again.Maksim moved before she could.He moved his hand up, fingers pressing against the side of her neck.
He easily targeted the carotid artery with practiced efficiency.He applied brief pressure, not enough to harm but sufficient for her to lose consciousness.
Her body went slack almost instantly, consciousness slipping away before she could even process it.He caught her easily as she fell.For a moment, he looked down at her unconscious form, but she was still alive and breathing.She had him to thank for that.
A strange, unfamiliar satisfaction settled in his chest.He couldn’t identify it.It was not relief or regret, but something else.Something he couldn’t quite name.
He opened the car door and placed her inside, adjusting her position with surprising care before closing it.His phone rang, and Maksim answered without hesitation.
“Alexei,” he said.
“Is it done?”his brother asked.“Any complications?”
Maksim’s gaze flicked briefly to the car, and to the woman inside it.His latest prize.
“No,” Maksim said.“No problems.”
