AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I let him go and fixed the cuffs of my jacket, tutting at a dot of blood.
I turned my attention to my security. “Let it be known, here and now, that the woman in that room belongs to me. Hurt her, talk about her, look at her for too long, and I won’t go easy on you. You’ve been warned.”
* * *
I leftMallory at the hospital when I got word that her friends had arrived. I’d let them see her for now as it suited my plans, but soon, she’d have no room for attachments other than me.
I went back to the dump of her little five-floor walk-up. There was something intoxicating about that place. I entered alone, leaving my men in the hall and Max dealing with the aging landlord who lived downstairs.
The scent of cheap cleaning products and greasy meat from the take-out place downstairs permeated the air. But deeper, underneath it, was another layer that was purely Mallory. It was the scent of my sweetest dreams and darkest nightmares.
I could spend hours looking over the humble elements of her pitiful life, imagining her here, striving to survive. I entered her room, enjoying how her scent was stronger there. Soon, this place would be empty, and Molly would have nowhere to go. I’d get rid of all the tat she called clothes and dress her in the finest and most debasing things I wished to see her in. As I left the room, I spotted the corner of a book poking out from under her pillow. Intrigued, I picked it up and leafed through the nearly transparent pages—a journal. I read a page and jolted when I saw my name scrolled at the bottom of the latest entry.
I slammed it shut, dropping it to the floor before I could read more. The sight had tugged oddly at me, burrowing its claws in deep. I drew a long, ragged breath of Molly-scented air into my aching lungs.
Soon, Princess, you can whisper those longings in my ear. I’ll never get tired of hearing them.
“Kirill, I’ve spoken to the landlord. She’ll be out within the week,” Max called from the sitting room.
I stared at the journal like it was a snake poised to strike.“Well done.”
“What will you do with her stuff?”
I turned and looked around the room, bending sharply to grab her journal from the floor and tucking it under my arm. Nothing else in this entire place was good enough for Mallory or the life she’d soon live.
“Burn it for all I care.”
9
MOLLY
Iwoke with a start and Kirill’s name on my lips. Slowly, the room filtered into focus, and I realized I had no clue where I was. A monitor beeped to the side, and I felt a sting in my hand—an IV. The late afternoon light was shining through the curtains at the long windows. I felt like I had slept for a week.
I struggled upright as the door to the room swung inward. Opening my mouth to speak, I immediately started to cough as my dry throat protested. Fede walked through the door and gave me a bright smile. When she saw I was choking, she rushed toward me and handed me a glass with a straw, unseen by my bedside.
“Here, you must be parched. You’ve been sleeping a long time,” she said, sitting beside me on the bed.
I swallowed the water gratefully and cleared my throat. “How long?” My voice was a croak.
Fede frowned and brushed my hair back from my forehead. “Three years,” she whispered.
“What?” I jerked, knocking over the water glass.
Fede shrieked, knocking it off her sodden lap and onto the floor.“Just kidding. You bitch, you got me all wet!” She stood up and brushed her lap.
“Serves you right. How long?”
“I don’t know, like twelve hours. A little more,” she muttered and sank down on the bed. “Don’t ask me to get you anything else.”
“Where are we?”
“St. Katarina, uptown.”
I looked around, alarm filling me bit by bit. “Shit. I’ve been admitted? There go my paychecks for the foreseeable future. I’ll never be able to pay it off.”
Last night came rushing back. The Blue Rabbit and the men in suits. Laughter and dark eyes fixed on me.
It’s Molly.
