“But your biggest mistake was that one.” He points toward the door where Max is bound and bleeding in the snow.
“I mean, really. You choose him? After all those years when I was just waiting for you to be ready for me?”
I shudder, biting the inside of my lip until I taste rust.
He can’t be serious.
“Not that I didn’t enjoy that sexy little video. The second time was truly a masterpiece.”
The thought of him watching me with Max, seeing everything we did while trusting we were alone…
I want to die.
I almost wish we’d never had sex at all. If I hadn’t, though, we never would have seen the cameras, never would have put all the disparate points together to uncover Dimitri’s lies.
“I always thought it would be me who took your virginity. That’s why I taught you how vile other men are, so you’d turn to me when you were finally ready.”
He refers to his fifteen years of grooming disguised as mentorship so casually.
Pieces click into place. Every lesson about men, every warning about trusting them. Every story of aggression andbetrayal and how I need to protect myself. How men use sex and violence to control women.
Even with all of that, though, I still can’t quite process his words. The confession doesn’t fit. “Youwantedme?” I fight back the urge to puke. “All this time?”
He shrugs. “I’m a patient man.”
“You’re my fucking brother! What the hell is wrong with you?”
His grin transforms him into a grotesque imitation of the man I always knew. “Only half, right? The other half is fine.”
The nonchalant dismissal of incest—like it’s a technicality instead of an absolute violation—curdles my stomach. The world tilts beneath me, my balance gone. Each breath tastes of ice and fear.
I shoot him a glare while clenching my hands in front of me. “You raised me, you freak!”
His hand lashes out, the blade a blur in the dark.
I toss up my arms and parry, but not fast enough. The slice stings my cheek and blood trickles down my face, but the cut doesn’t bother me.
It’s the fact he’s willing to cut me, to scar me, that has my mind reeling.
Dimitri always insisted on never marking my skin in any permanent way. He was always so, so careful.
But now…
He flicks my blood from the end of the knife. “I kept you safe and unmarked, my little snow princess. I waited until you were an adult and could choose me.”
He kept his prize pristine.
But I’m no longer a prize. I’m used goods, my lack of virginity the sole measure of my worth.
Fury like I’ve never felt before courses through me. I’m going to kill this asshole.
His boot comes down on my left hand. My fingers splay against wood as he grinds his heel, twisting and pressing as bones crush and joints pop.
I choke back the scream building in my throat, refusing to give him the satisfaction of knowing he’s hurting me. Spite might be the only thing I have, but I’ll use it.
I grit my teeth as he cracks the fine bones in my hand beneath his boot. Trying to stay silent, I hold my breath against the torturous pain.
Finally, he lifts his boot and crouches. “It’s okay to crush her hand.” Who the hell is he talking to? “Even if she’s my blood key, it’s just a hand. She has two. Once I finish breaking her in, I’ll have the rest of our lives to get her to love me again.”
