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He just continues to stare at me with his mouth hanging open.
“Dima!” Ilarion barks, pulling him out of his state of shock.
“Right,” Dima mumbles. “Right. Talk later. The situation is contained downstairs, by the way. Every Bellasio man on site is dead.”
He shakes his head and turns to oversee the men as they bind and gag Benedict. Ilarion waits until they drag him out of the room before he turns to me. “What thefuck, Taylor?”
He wants me to cower and crumble in the face of his anger. But I won’t. I’m riding this high of having the upper hand for as long as I can.
God only knows when I’ll get another chance.
“I told you before: I’m not some shrinking violet. I can take care of myself. More importantly, I can take care of my family.”
“It’s not your responsibility to—”
“She’s my sister,” I interrupt furiously. “Of course it’s my responsibility.”
“Like fuck it is,” he growls, stepping forward. He’s so close to me now that if he leans in just a fraction of an inch more, the tips of our noses will touch. “Who brought you?”
“No one brought me. I stole Mila’s gun and shot her in the foot. Sort of. Then I stole her Hummer and made her drive me here.”
“Do you really expect me to believe that?” he asks coldly. “On second thought, never mind. Foolish. Fucking foolish. Why the hell did you think you belonged here?”
I gesture incredulously at the trail of blood on the carpet. “Are you blind?That’swhy! I just saved you!Bothof you!
Ilarion runs a frustrated hand through his hair. “You’re out of your mind.”
“That’s a weird way to say,Thank you.”
He splutters with rage. “Thank y—? No.No.Get the fuck downstairs. Now!”
He grabs my hand and twists me towards the door, and I swipe my nails at his face. We’re about to thrash into our own battle when we both hear a scream that stops in our tracks.
“Stop it! Both of you!”
Guilt and shame flood through me when I realize that I’ve completely forgotten about Celine’s presence. I yank my arm from Ilarion’s grasp and turn to face my sister.
She’s looking between the two of us with an expression that’s one part shock, two parts disbelief, and ten parts anger. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen her cheeks go quite that red.
“You realize that I’m in the room, too, right?” she demands. “I’m the one who was kidnapped!”
“Celine…”
She turns to Ilarion, expecting him to finish his sentence. But for once, he seems at a loss for words.
“Okay. Clearly, I’ve missed a lot,” she whispers, her voice trembling. “And I know this is an intense situation. But I’m here, I’m safe, and everything is okay.”
“No, it’s not, Cee,” I say, grabbing her hand just to remind myself that she’s alive and everything is okay. Or rather, that itwillbe okay—once we rescue our father and get our family the fuck away from Ilarion forever. “You can’t trust him. He’s not who you think he is.”
“Tay—”
“Please, listen to me.”
“Iamlistening to you,” she insists. “You’re the one who never listens to me.”
I drop her hand. “What?”
“I’ve told you before: IchoseIlarion. I trust Ilarion. And that means that whether you like it or not, you’re going to have to accept the fact that I’m with him.”
