Page 10 of Then We Shatter

My jaw feathers. “Give me a name.”

When Katarina turns, her complexion is startlingly pale against the darkness that surrounds her. The spatters of blood on her cheeks look like old wounds reopened. “The commander didn’t abuse me. Not in the way you think,” she says. Her gaze flicks to the chair wedging the door shut. “I was a good, little student. I learned all the ways to seduce and pleasure a man.”

I could point out the power imbalance of such a situation, not to mention her age, but this is Katarina’s story. “And what about you? Who saw to your needs?”

Her laugh is strangled by darker emotions. “My needs were simple. Stay alive and keep my sestras safe.”

I close my eyes briefly. “You were the princess. The commander couldn’t harm you, but he could threaten the people you cared about to force you to do whatever he wanted.”

She shrugs. “Caring for people is a weakness that can and will be used against me. I learned that the hard way.”

I rest my back against the wall, keeping my distance. If it’s talking Katarina needs, I can give her that. “And what happened to your sisters?”

“The lucky ones are dead,” she says simply. “For lower ranking women in the Bratva, the alternative is infinitely worse.”

I don’t disagree. Ilya flooded the dark web with horrific footage of many of his victims before we put an end to his operations and his miserable life. We destroyed what we could, for all the good it achieved. Where there’s a demand, there’ll always be a supply.

Some might point out that my family does some fucked up shit too, but in my defense, I’ve spent most of my adult life steering Dad towards more legitimate ways of earning a living. That’s how I ended up working with Ash. I corrupted him a little, and some of his principles rubbed off on me.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not looking for redemption. I like the buzz you get from nights like this, but the McConkeys’ moral code is significantly less twisted than the Barkovs’. Present company excepted.

I dig my hand into a pocket and pull out a protein bar. “Want one?” I ask, offering it to her.

Katarina shakes her head in disbelief, her long braid swishing across her back. “You’re snacking? Now?”

“All the excitement makes me hungry,” I reply, tearing open the wrapper and taking a bite. With my mouth full, I ask, “So what’s the plan, Kitty?”

I notice the flinch. She thought I was going to call her kitten. I might have done, if I hadn’t seen her reaction when she was talking to Oleg. She relaxes into a scowl and more importantly, doesn’t tell me off. Result. I think she likes her pet name. “Who says I have a plan?”

I size up the next bite of my protein bar. “Ash told me.”

She scoffs at that. “Nice try, Shorty.”

It was worth a shot. “Come on, you can tell me. No way would you be hooking up with Marmaduke Moncrief if there wasn’t some deal on the table. That guy’s been through enough trauma.”

Not a single muscle twitches in those luscious lips of hers. She’s been trained to withstand intense interrogation, but her bored expression lasts all of five seconds. She closes her eyes briefly, but she’s already fallen victim to the Killian McConkey smile. “Duke and I are soon to announce our engagement so my uncle won’t recall me back to Russia.”

“Duke’s going to marry you?” Decent guy or not, I want to kill him. I shouldn’t. But I do.

“God no,” she replies. “He’s desperately trying to keep out of my way, but he’s agreed to play along until…”

When she pauses, I know what she’s waiting for. “Whatever you say won’t leave this room,” I promise.

“The Griffins are going to fake my death,” she says without hesitation. Taking me at my word is an act of faith. My goddess believes in me. “With their help, I’m going to disappear off the face of the earth. I’ll be gone in a matter of weeks.”

I should be pleased she’s going to escape Vasili’s clutches, but leaving? Forever? The news crushes me in a way that takes me by surprise. “Fuck, Katarina. That doesn’t give us much time.”

Her gaze narrows on me. “To do what?”

“Each other,” I reply, licking the last crumbs of my protein bar from my fingers when it’s her lips I’m desperate to taste.

“Not a chance,” she says but her gaze flicks to my mouth. “You’re too loud.”

“I can be quiet.”

“You’re too cock-sure.”

She would have to mention that particular appendage. “Not around you,” I say, then immediately prove myself wrong by pushing off the wall and taking a step towards her.