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When he started coughing again, I shot up out of the chair and saw myself out– unwilling to spend another moment in my father’s tomb.
I fucking hated the lies and the deception. I hated that power and greed had twisted him into a hateful, uncaring man who put the Zaragoza legacy above the actual family. I hated how much his words still affected me and how small I felt in comparison. I hatedhim.
But what I hated most was that he was right.
Because after last night, after every moment I’d spent in Darya’s company, I wasn’t so sure I’d be able to kill her either.
And there was no room for weakness for acapoin the Zaragoza cartel. None.
Chapter 13
Darya
Waking up alone in Yuri’s bed was about as sobering as waking up in his dungeon. The sheets were cold by the time I cracked my eyes open, but the room was dim from the wood plank over his broken window, and I had no idea what time it was. I raised my arms to stretch and immediately flinched when my bare nipples dragged across the soft blanket.Oh, yeah. I clutched the plush fabric to my chest and sank deeper into the mattress, a flush spreading across my cheeks.
I lost my virginity last night.
My lips pulled into a smile as the memories started to flood back. I lifted the blanket and looked down at my naked figure, seeing the soft bruise marks on my hips and reveling in how much I liked having a mark of his. It was physical proof that what had happened between us was real and not some sick figment of my captive imagination. Something I had dreamed up to dissociate from my cruel reality.
No, I hadn’t imagined the way he’d caressed my skin. Or the hunger in his eyes as he’d looked down at my naked form.
My finger stroked down my belly, and I felt a flutter deep in my core. I bit my lip, wondering how Yuri would react if he knew I was already wet for him hours after taking him for the first time. But then my brows knitted again, realizing I was alone in bed.
Maybe he had just stepped out to make us some breakfast?
Even the thought felt silly.
Flinging the blanket off my body, I sat up and felt the soreness between my legs. It was a good soreness, like a bruise from an intimate kiss. But as I moved to stand, I hissed and yanked my hand to my chest. The bandage was pinked with blood and my palm throbbed. With even a twitch of my finger, a stabbing pain ripped through me and brought back everything that had happened before we’d slept together.
His brother, the blood, my blood.
He had to be with his brother or with Lucia. I couldn’t imagine how scared she must have been. Yuri wouldn’t have stayed in here with me while his family was in tatters and that made my heart swell.
But my eyes wandered to the closed door, and I knew without checking that it was locked. My shoulders dropped as I looked at his clothes strewn across the floor, smelled the fresh soap from the bathroom, and I couldn’t help the hollow feeling as it settled in the pit of my stomach.
It was lust. Of course, it was.
I bolted upright and snatched the clothes off the floor, dropping them in the container near his dresser. The feel of his lips on my neck seared like an unwanted tattoo and I yanked on the shower faucet, determined to wash away everything from the night before. I’d been scared and upset and let that cloud my judgment. And now I would live to regret it.
Or Yuri would kill me anyway because, at the end of the day, I was just his captive.
I scrubbed my skin until the water cooled and then forced myself out of the shower. I pulled on yet another set of his clothes and then garnered the courage to pull the gauze off my hand. Flashing pain radiated with each movement but I was able to clean it and rewrap it before swallowing some pain medicine I found behind the mirror.
It would help the pain in my hand and the soreness between my legs.
Feeling refreshed, I found myself back on the bed facing the door.
I had so many questions. Was Luka okay? Who had shot at them? Was Yuri okay?
And then there was the unspoken question– where did he and I stand? Did he have the same pull to me as I did him?
I waited in that spot until my butt fell asleep and I was forced to get up and pace the room to release my nervous energy. Then my feet got tired, so I got back in bed. I dozed off and woke up in a jolt, looking around and still finding the room empty.
An alarm went off in my mind and suddenly the bed felt like concrete beneath me. Had something happened to Luka? Was anyone even home? Had whoever shot Luka come back to finish the job? My chest was tight with fear, and I kept my throbbing hand close to my heart, cradling it subconsciously as I walked from wall to wall.
Where was he?
There was a soft knock at the door, and I ran to it, not even thinking before yanking it open. Matteo was on the other side, deep bags underneath his eyes, carrying a tray. “Brought you some food.”
