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He reached for her arm, pulling her to a stop, looking her dead in the eyes when he said, “Of course you’re feeling something. You were betrayed, left alone, and now you’re headed to one of the most vile men out there. You’d be a fool to not feel anything, and you’re no fool.”
Her eyes softened. “You don’t think I’m a fool?”
“Of course not.”
“Hmm,” was all she said.
“You’re not alone, Eva.” For some reason, he believed she needed to hear someone say that. “Not anymore.”
Her expression grew soft, her vulnerabilities rising to the surface. His words meant something to her. “I don’t know what’s worse, being alone or being betrayed by the only person I really ever knew. Maybe I prefer being alone.”
Did she just admit he was the only person she ever really knew? Gods, what a lonely existence. He hurt for her. “What I did wasn’t right. I won’t do anything like it again. I promise.”
She shook her head, her eyes tightening. Now he could recognize what she was doing. She was raising her walls. “You promise? That’s a good one,” she scoffed. “Let’s just get this Artem thing over with.” She looked down the hall, clearly impatient. “I have a bone to pick with him.”
“Don’t do or say anything out of line. Not to him.”
She raised a finger at him. “You have no right to tell me what to do here. You’ve done your part. You brought me here. Now, let Artem do his.”
He glared. She really was planning to act out of line. Sometimes he wondered if she was confident or insane. “Mypartis far from done. Myparthas only just begun. I refuse to stand by and watch you anger Artem again. It nearly killed me last time.”
“If you didn’t want me to play games with Artem, you shouldn’t have brought me here. Now I guess you have no choice but to watch.”
“You’re gonna get yourself killed.” He bit his inner lip, oozing with frustration. Didn’t she understand how dangerous it was to piss Artem off?
“I’m already dead.” Sadness crossed her eyes.
The anger he felt dissipated. “You’re not dead, Eva.” Did she really believe that? He always considered himself dead. He considered himself a walking corpse. It was a terrible feeling. He wouldn’t wish that feeling on anyone, especially not someone he cared about. “Don’t think that way.”
“Doesn’t matter anyway, I’ll be dead soon.”
“I’m not going to let you die.” Darius meant what he said. Yes, he brought her here. That was a mistake. He was going to fix it. He was going to help her. If she only listened to him it would be a lot easier!
“I don’t think you have a say in the matter, do you? Artem is in charge here. Not you. If you were in charge, Artem wouldn’t have been able to threaten you with the fate of your sister.”
His eyes widened. “How did you…” Karina told her that? What did he miss? He could hardly get Karina to talk to him. “Karina told you?”
“Doesn’t matter.”
Walls, walls, walls!Darius clenched his fists, beyond done with Eva’s harsh tone around him. “You might not believe this, but you’renotin this alone.” She wouldn’t be alone again for as long as he lived. If only he could convince her to behave so she didn’t get herself killed before he found a way to get her out of here. “You misbehave, you die. That’s not going to happen.” He refused to watch her die. Placing two firm hands on her shoulders he said, “We’re not going anywhere until you promise not to act out of line. Promise me this, Eva.” He brought his face close to hers, his eyes pleading.
“What are you going to do, kiss me?” She tried to make it sound like it was the last thing she wanted, but there was a hint of need in her voice. She wanted his kiss.
Maybe she wants me as much as I want her,he thought. If she was always masking her emotions, why wouldn’t she also be masking the way she felt about him? Of course she would. She trusted him and he broke that trust. Why would she admit she wanted someone who she believed would betray her the next chance there was?
“I might,” he admitted, relaxing a bit. “You’re not alone here. You need to know that.” Maybe, once he convinced her of this, she wouldn’t need to keep her walls up. Maybe she could openly admit how she felt about him.
Her eyes softened. It was as if she wanted to believe him. He swallowed.Hard.Gods, her vulnerability was incredibly sexy. He wanted to have her so fucking badly, both physically and emotionally. She needed to allow herself to simply be herself around him.
It would take time for her to learn to trust him again and open up to him, and if she taunted Artem, time would be something they would no longer have. “Promise me you won’t play games with Artem.”
Her expression toughened. “Why’s that? You don’t want to get in trouble for my misbehavior?”
She really didn’t understand, did she? She knew exactly why he brought her here - to save his sister - yet shestillrefused to understand.
He wrapped his fingers around her chin, forcefully holding her head up so she was left with no choice but to look at him. “You won’t believe me when I tell you you’re not alone in this? Then I guess I’ll just have to show you.”
He drove his head down to hers, aggressively pressing his lips against her own.
