My eyes have gotten adjusted to the darkness. I blink and smile up at him in the dark. “Isn’t it?”
Maybe he wants me to break. I know he wants me to beg.
Instead, I tilt my chin up, exposing my throat to him. If he were a vampire right now, he could sink his teeth into my skin and never look back. "You like hurting people, don’t you? But I think you like it more when they deserve it.”
His thumb presses against my neck. My pulse beats faster. In the dark, his lips curl as he shakes his head. “You’re not scared, are you?”
The tension between us snaps, burning.
Hate.
Fascination.
Lust.
He shakes his head with a sigh. “You’re going to be so much fucking fun to break.”
That’s what he thinks.
You can’t break someone who’s already broken.
In seconds, he has my wrists wrapped in one of his while he ties them with rope.
“Hey—”
“Patience, little brat,” he says as he stalks away and leaves me.
I shake my head, and my heart beats faster. I can’t predict what he’s going to do or when, but I know this game is only just beginning.
I’m not trapped. I’m playing the long game.
He thinks he’s in control.
ButI’mjust getting started.
Chapter Ten
Matvei
Every fucking timeshe fights me, I want her more.
Every time she outsmarts me, Ineedher.
I started out hunting her down to punish her for her betrayal and drag her back to where she belonged. But now—the thought of anyone else near her makes me rage. I cut off a soldier’s fucking hand before killing him for touching her. The idea of anyone else touching her—god.
I don’t just want her.
I want to own her, every inch of her.
But I owe my allegiance to my Bratva, and I can’t let even the most beautiful, intriguing, captivating woman who’s seared herself into every cell of my being sway me from what’s right.
She’s in the back seat of my car, her wrists red and raw from the restraints. I check them, frowning. I didn’t mean to tie them that hard.
Her hair’s a tangled mess around her face. She isn’t drugged, not this time. She’s just asleep. When she sleeps, she looks fragile and almost childlike, but there’s nothing fragile about this woman.
When I undo her restraints, she wakes with a start. Blinking up at me, her baby-blue eyes meet mine. “Where are we?” she whispers. Her voice is sharp around the edges.
Fuck.
