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“You are being fucking ridiculous,” he mutters. “You are better than this.” He takes his attention off me and gives Mikhail a dirty look.
Mikhail keeps his eyes on mine. His hand brushes over his mouth, and his jaw hardens. He doesn’t say a single thing to me, and I don’t blame him. I don’t want to say anything either.
Once I’m out of the ropes, Max lifts me up by my elbows. “Arms up, Sloane.”
I do as he says, and he puts his hoodie on me. It falls to my knees.
Mikhail stands there dumbfounded, and I cross my arms.
Max leaves my side and walks over to Mikhail, grabbing him by the arm to take him away from me, but I can still hear them.
“I understand you. I do. Believe me. But if you want her to help you, this will get you nowhere.”
“Max,” he says with a saddened voice. A voice that sounds foreign to me.
“Don’t you fucking dare ‘Max’ me. You disappoint me.”
“I’m sorry.”
I tilt my head and widen my eyes. Right in front of me is someone who’s able to put him in his place. Not only did he do it, but he also did it as easily as if he just had to snap his fingers.
“Shit,” I mutter.
He looks at me up and down while I stand by the couch with my arms crossed.
“Sloane,” he says with a half-smile. “I’m really sorry about all this.”
I look at Mikhail, and he throws his head back and runs both his hands down his face in frustration.
“Max,” he starts, but he quickly shuts him up.
“No, Mikhail! God, what has gotten into you, man? He wouldn’t want this. Neither of them would, and you know that. Youwillbe kind to her. Youwillshow her the little grace and decency you have left in your heart. You will have nothing if you don’t. You’ll lose yourself the same way Kirill did.”
Kirill.
When Max says the name, Mikhail’s eyes drill anger into his as if Max has no right to even speak about him. I watch them converse as if it’s a movie playing right in front of me. Their dynamic is hard to understand, but I kind of love it.
Max saved me, and I love watching Mikhail get torn down.
CHAPTER16
SLOANE
Max brought me back to my room that night, and I haven’t left since. There’s an awful taste in my mouth after everything that happened. Mikhail wants to show his authority, I get it. But it’s gotten to the point where he needs to get on with whatever his plans are. If he wants to kill me, he needs to do it. If he wants my help, he needs to ask for it.
It’s odd being here. One moment I’m enjoying my time like I never have before, and the next I’m left expecting the worst of my fate.Is this what Stockholm syndrome is?
Whatever it is, it doesn’t excuse Mikhail’s actions. He almost forced me to kill someone that night. He’s threatened my life so many times I can’t even count them on my fingers.
Mikhail’s heart is cold. I don’t understand him. I can’t even stand the mere thought of him.
I didn’t do anything wrong. Sure, I may have tried to escape, but what else would he expect from me when I found that notebook? Anyone with a brain would’ve run, just like I tried to.
He’s making my life a living hell. “My worst fucking nightmare,” as he once told me. He’s scum. And to be honest, he terrifies me. Before, I thought I was scared of him because of his looks, but it’s his actions and demands that make my skin crawl now.
So why can’t I stop thinking about the way his touch feels against my skin? I shouldn’t find anything about him attractive. What the hell am I doing? Leave it to me to be attracted to the psycho. I’m an idiot. I should be repulsed by him, but I’m not. I find him enticing. I want to push him to see how far he’ll let this go.
While I can’t see much of a human inside him, I know there must be one underneath all his hurt. No one is born a bad person. I truly believe Mikhail can be kind—he just doesn’t have anything or anyone to live for. His heart is drowning in pain, and he survives through it somehow.
