Page 67 of Essence of Fear

Funny how that worked …

“I think I can’t sleep, either, because I don’t know what’s happening. When I call Konstantin, he won’t tell me anything.” Viktoria rolled her eyes and glanced away from Pav when she muttered, “Instead, he lets me stew and make up a hundred different horrible scenarios in my mind about that monster, and what might happen next.”

“I’ll tell you.”

She peered back at him. “Would you?”

“Yes.”

“What would you tell me?”

“Anything,” he replied.

“Anything at all?”

“I said that.”

“About him, too?”

Pav cocked his head to the side as he studied her. “Boris, you mean.”

Why did her throat get tight, then?

Even saying that asshole’s name was hard. Harder than it should be, knowing he didn’t deserve anything from her now. He’d already taken too much from her. Her peace of mind and her body. Her trust and her self-worth. He’d taken all of it, and she was only now beginning to get it back, piece by tiny piece. So, why couldn’t she just say his name without feeling like she was swallowing a rock at the same time?

“Boris,” she whispered, forcing herself to say it. “About him. Would you tell me whatever I wanted to know?”

“I would.”

“Even about his time there … with you at the Compound, I mean.”

She didn’t miss the way his jaw tightened ever so slightly, or how his gaze darkened. But he didn’t look away from her, and she knew what his answer would be before it ever slipped past those lips of his.

“If you ask me, I won’t lie,” he replied, “but that doesn’t mean I think you should know. I think you want to know because you assume it will help. It may not, it may only—”

“Did he suffer?”

“Often,” Pav returned. “From various methods of torture and punishment.”

“Give me an example.”

“He was beaten every hour, on the hour, when he first arrived. He was left alone just long enough when that was over for him to believe things would get better.”

“But they didn’t,” she whispered.

Pav shook his head subtly. “Of course, not. Nothing gets better in hell.”

“Then, what happened?”

“You don’t really want to know.”

“I wouldn’t have asked.”

Pav cleared his throat, nodding. She knew that she had him, then. If she wanted anything from this man, all she needed to do was ask him. He’d told her that once, and she found that he wasn’t the type to go back on his word.

Not if he could help it.

Pav’s hand came to rest on her bare knee, just below the hem of her skirt. He squeezed gently, saying, “Punishment varied, and I wasn’t the only one expected to deliver it. Kolya came in a few times—he greatly enjoyed those moments.”