AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She doesn’t answer Lik, ignoring both of us and focusing on her food and her favorite show.
“Did you leave today?” he insists. He walks behind the sofa, settles behind her, and puts a hand around her throat from the back. He slides it up slightly and pulls until she has to stretch her neck backward and look up at him.
“Princess,” he sing-songs, taunting her. “I asked you a question.”
The contempt in her eyes is unmistakable. She’s probably imagining his head exploding into a firework of bloody pieces after shooting him.
“No,” she croaks, her neck so stretched she can barely say the word.
“You’re awfully quiet since we sent you a message telling you your girlfriend was back from New York early,” he teases her.
I slept in my car last night, right in front of Rachel and her fiancé’s house. And what a great surprise it was to watch their car come back at five a.m. No wedding dress, but a lot of arguing. I didn’t waste a minute taking a picture and sending it to Rose. I have to show her my threats are serious, or she would have left this flat the first chance she got.
I walk past Lik, going to the hallway, and slap him at the back of the head as I do so.
He gets the message right away and lets her throat go.
When I return with a duffel bag, Rose eyes it with apprehension.
“Don’t look so scared it’s your outfit for tonight,” Lik sneers.
“Fuck’s sake,” she mutters as she gets up. She clears the coffee table of her takeaway and brings everything to the kitchen. I watch her check the time on her phone and lean against the counter beside her while she washes some cutlery in the sink.
“Did you really stay here today?” I ask her quietly while Lik takes everything out of the bag. She is going to lose her shit, and I’m here to make sure she behaves.
Her eyes dart to me, but she stays silent. Is she honestly playing my own tricks on me? By the dining table, Lik nods at me and I address myself to Rose again.
“Come. You need to get dressed.”
“I don’t want to,” she murmurs, almost ashamed.
Her voice is soft like silk, something that never happens. It’s usually raspy, broken. Her eyes are still on the cutlery in the sink, her hands holding the counter as if to keep herself steady. She’s wearing a sweater of mine I must have left here. Too big for her, drowning her body in the material.
Guilt pulls at my gut, and I have to swallow bitterly a couple of times before I can focus again. She sounds like when we were kids, when she had to go to Bianco’s office so he could torture her.
It’s my turn to ignore her. If I talk, I’ll tell her not to do it. My vengeance is more important than her feelings—the money, my promise to Lik that this could be my last job. I can’t let her take over my heart.
I walk over to Lik, and we both face her, waiting for her to come. Eventually, she gives up and crosses over to us. She observes everything on the table for a long minute.
“Assholes,” she finally huffs.
“It’s not for our personal enjoyment,” I tell her, though I will very much enjoy seeing her dressed in lace and a leather harness.
I give her another minute of hesitation before moving things forward.
“Get changed,” I demand, keeping my voice calm. Knowing her, she will no doubt get me angry very soon and I need to hold onto my inner peace for as long as possible. People tend to associate my silence with internal control.
I get angry. I just don’t need words to kill someone.
She grabs the black, sheer lace bra that will show her nipples and the dark lace thong that comes with it.
“I hate you,” she growls, her eyes annihilating me.
“But do you know who won’t hateyou?” Lik jeers with a huge smile on his face. “Your girlfriend for not getting her killed.” He amusingly reminds her that we’re ready to kill someone she loves to find the Volkov brothers, and it works wonders.
She shuts up and goes to grab one of the harnesses but my hand lands on hers. “I’ll put this on you. Just go get changed.” I feel the slightest tremble in her fingers and let go straight away. If I keep my hand there, the tremble will turn into a spark, and electricity will start traveling from her skin to mine.
She leaves for the bedroom, and I turn to Lik. He’s holding a small golden chain in his fingers, rapture making him bite his plump lip. “This is going to look beautiful on her.”
