AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I nod as Astra mentioned it the night of the masquerade ball.
“We were dirt poor with parents who didn’t care if we were alive or dead. Although Astra’s parents take the prize for the world’s shittiest parents when they sold her for a measly two thousand dollars to a rich pervert. She was smuggled into the country from the Ukraine when she was eight years old.”
That explains a lot about her.
There is much debate about psychopaths and nature versus nurture. In Astra’s case, it definitely is nurture because I hate to think of the atrocities her young eyes witnessed. She was forced to grow up at a tender age because she really was alone in this world after being abandoned by the people who should have protected her.
A small part of me feels sorry for the eight-year-old Astra. The adult Astra, however, I have no empathy for.
“That rich pervert was Borya’s uncle.”
Well, I’ll be damned.
“Astra and Borya always shared a special connection because they shared the same childhood experiences.”
Oscar doesn’t need to spell it out. Both children fell prey to the vile ways of adults who should have never been allowed to have kids.
“Alek and I suffered at the hands of weak mothers and abusive stepfathers. But I’m sure you know how Alek’s story ended.”
Yes, it ended when Alek killed his stepfather.
“Our childhoods have far from a fairy-tale ending, but we owned it. It shaped us into the people we are today. We made a pact, refusing to be like our parents. We were going to be strong and feared, but most of all, we were going to be rich.
“Everything you see, we built with our hands,” he says, failing to mention the lives they destroyed to get where they are. “And we were, as they say, living the dream until, well, you came along.”
“You seem to be forgetting the fact that I never wanted to be introduced into your world. I had a life before all of this!” I cry, refusing to shoulder any of the blame.
“Don’t play the victim,” he snaps, slamming his fist onto the table and sending the silverware clattering to the floor. “You had both Alek and Saint wrapped around your little finger. Look what you made them both do!”
I keep my cool, realizing now is the time to plant the bug.
As Oscar takes a moment to compose himself, calling out to the maid in Russian over his shoulder, I subtly dig into my back pocket and find one of the bugs in the gum packet. It’s tiny, but the raised surface allows me to slide it off the wrapper and onto my finger.
With one fluid motion, I discreetly stick it under the table. By the time Oscar turns back around, he’s none the wiser that Pavel is hopefully listening in.
“I didn’t make them do anything,” I say, wanting to pick up where we left off. “Alek isn’t a coldhearted snake like you. Yes, he has done some disgusting things, but he’s also done good.” I surprise myself with the outburst because I actually mean it.
Oscar doesn’t seem touched by the sentiment.
“I don’t know what’s so different about you. But there is something…look what you did to Saint.”
Guiltily, I lower my eyes, unable to forget his self-sacrifice.
If Zoey and Pavel hadn’t intervened, he would be dead because my safety has always been more important than his.
“But you’re going to show me.”
“What?” I retort, slowly meeting his stare.
Oscar leans back in his chair. “I want to know what about you made two fearless men drop to their knees and surrender everything they have for you.”
“There is nothing!” I cry, annoyed at hearing this notion yet again. This is the reason Oscar brought me here weeks ago. He wanted to know what made me so special and how I was able to capture Saint’s heart.
But I don’t have an answer because I don’t know. Love doesn’t make sense. Falling in love in the most dire of circumstances shouldn’t happen, but it did. I can’t explain it because with Saint, it was almost inevitable.
From the moment our lives crossed, something happened. At first, it was cruel and ugly, but now, I need it to breathe. And being away from him is cutting off my air supply, and it won’t be long until eventually, I’ll stop breathing.
“He cries for you, you know. At night, in his sleep, he whispers your name. Over and over.” A wicked grin blooms as he knows what his revelation is doing to me.
