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Wide-eyed, I gape at her.
“The fact he protected you means you’ve gotten under his skin. But it’ll only take some tears and hollow promises of going home for his protective big brother mode to kick in. I will wedge a wall between you by filling his head with insecurities, like he isn’t the only man you want, and he’ll believe me because he doesn’t see himself as good enough for someone like you. Then he won’t be so quick to protect you when I kill you with my fucking bare hands.”
I thought I’d seen it all. I was wrong.
She steps forward, and with nowhere to go, I turn around to face her. “I will lie, cheat, and kill to get you out of my life. So if that means lying to my brother, then so be it. I know Saint. Even though he’s loyal, his jealousy will make him weak.”
“And what are you then?” I spit, refusing to back down. “Isn’t this little pep talk because you’re frightened Aleksei will throw your sorry ass to the curb?”
Furious, she advances forward but then abruptly stops and takes a calming breath. “I’m the person you don’t want to fuck with,” she threatens. “You may think you’re safe with Saint here, but he has to sleep. And if I don’t get to you first, the other men on this yacht will.”
“I don’t want Aleksei,” I clarify in case she missed the memo. She simply chuckles, and it’s not a pleasant sound.
“That’s what they all say. But Aleksei is like heroin.” Her face turns tranquil while I wonder where she’s going with this analogy. “You become hooked with the very first taste, and you don’t know you’re addicted until it’s too late. All you need is a little bump to get you through the day, but before long, you can’t survive without it.”
“Lucky for me,” I say, coming to a slow stand, “I’ve always said no to drugs.”
Zoey looks surprised by my wit. “I wouldn’t be so sure.” She’s a few inches shorter than I am, but like her brother, she oozes control. “Isn’t Saint your heroin?”
My cheeks instantly blister because she’s caught me off guard. But I squash down my embarrassment. “If you think that, then why are you so concerned I will come between you and Aleksei?”
She takes another step forward, almost pressing her nose to mine. “Because he will worm his way into your soul and make you forget a life before him existed. Believe me, I know.” When she traces over the track marks on her arm, Ialmostfeel sorry for her.
“I don’twantto be here. I hate him,” I spit, wanting to make that very clear.
But she reveals just whose show this is. “Didn’t you hate my brother as well?” My silence says it all.
I don’t know how she can tell, but she’s right. And she knows it. And then she says the most frightening thing she could ever say.
“Who do you think taught him everything he knows? So just as you once hated Saint, you may hate Aleksei now, but sooner or later”—she rips the air from my lungs when she presses her lips to mine and whispers—“he will become your heroin too.”
She seals my fate with a chaste kiss—the kiss of death.
She pulls away with a smug smile because she’s won this battle. I’m too shell-shocked to move and watch with wide eyes as she saunters away from me. My knees threaten to buckle, so I slump onto the seat, needing a minute to catch my breath.
What the hell just happened?
Zoey has struck a nerve because she’s right about Saint. I did hate him, and now…I don’t. But Saint isnothinglike Aleksei.
“Who do you think taught him everything he knows?”
Zoey’s words haunt me.
A master manipulator, Aleksei clearly loves to play mind games with people. But so does Zoey. She made it clear she would put Saint against me if I didn’t play by her rules. I want to think he’d see through her lies, but knowing she’s the reason he’s done all this, I’m not so sure.
But the fact she thinks I would ever feel anything other than utter hatred toward Aleksei reveals that I’m stronger than she is. He may try to fool me, but you can only fool me once, and Drew was a lesson learned. And I will never be like Zoey—hooked on the most potent drug of them all.
“He will be your tormenter, but he will also be the person who makes the pain go away.”
Saint’s words echo loudly in my head, seeming to confirm what Zoey just said. Suddenly, I’m more fearful for my soul than my virtue. And when I hear Aleksei’s voice, my body breaks out into a cold sweat.
Saint walks down the stairs, instantly seeking me out. When he sees me stooped over, he raises a brow but quickly shrouds any emotion when Aleksei trails him. His men stop what they’re doing, some even standing at attention, while Zoey leans against the wall watching me.
Taking a deep breath, I won’t allow her words to affect me. I need to have a clear head because it’s the only way I’ll survive this.
“I almost didn’t recognize you.” I know he’s talking to me, but I can’t look at him. The scissors burn my flesh, screaming at me to use them against this vile man. When his shoes come into view, my breathing mounts, no matter how hard I try to keep calm.
“After everything you’ve been through, you must be exhausted. Saint told me that for most nights, you slept outdoors?” Hearing his name has me lifting my eyes to meet Aleksei’s gaze.
