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“Shhh.” He releases one of my wrists and presses his finger against my lips. “You will do as I say, Paige. It’s your only choice. There’s nothing else for you but this.”
I refuse to look him in the eye. A chill runs along my skin and seeps all the way down to my bones. Trembling, I curse myself for being fooled. He’s a criminal. And what did he do to that other woman? I look past him to the sky above his head, holding back tears. Not of fear but of rage. I refuse to move. I’ll stay right here and die.
Andrei keeps hold of my other wrist and yanks me roughly to my feet. He won’t look at me as he drags me back toward the mansion.
A look of reproach tightens Natasha’s mouth as she watches me through the window, being half-dragged and half-carried back into the room through a French door. Her gaze cuts like broken glass, as if my actions were a personal insult. I wonder if Andrei will punish her. And then I wonder why I would even care. These people are criminals.
Scowls and silence greet us as I’m tossed back into my chair. The feigned levity from earlier is gone.
“You will stay in that chair.” His tone is barely controlled. He turns on them. “She stays there. You bring the dresses to her.”
Natasha nods and refuses to speak to me. Her punishment is to be treated like one of the maids. She takes a brisk step toward a rack and waits for me to choose.
“I want the most expensive dress.”
Natasha rolls her eyes and doesn’t conceal a sneer. It’s what she expects. She waits for the seamstress to hand her a dress with a heavily beaded bodice and a skirt made of yards and yards of pristine tulle. I almost regret what I’m about to do.
I stand slowly as the trio silently dares me to run again. That’s not my plan. Not anymore. I grab a pair of scissors off the table and slash at the dress before anyone can stop me. Pearls fall and bounce across the floor as the seamstress shouts in Russian. I slash again, putting a huge hole in the skirt. I yank at the slash until it becomes a gaping hole. My heart pounds in my ears as I turn the dress into a rag.
In silence, they watch me mutilate the beautiful dress. The seamstress continues to lament loudly, but nobody lifts a finger.
The ruined dress pools around my feet. “I want to see the next most expensive dress.”
Andrei frowns at me. “You won’t do that again.”
I try to laugh in a reckless way to prove that I can be dangerous too. But I don’t sound dangerous. I sound like an ill-behaved child shrieking. I grab a random dress, and the seamstress yelps as the blades of the scissors shred the silk into pieces. I pull and tug, making the seams snap and echo in the ballroom.
Andrei steps forward as if to rescue the dresses. “Leave us,” he orders. His cruel gaze dares me to move.
“Leave you alone with her?” Natasha stares at me incredulously. “And the scissors?”
“Now,” he says in an even voice that brooks no argument. “All of you.” He stands in front of me. His breath hits me in the face when he speaks. “Not you. You stay.”
As they file out, my legs begin to shake, but I hold the rest of my body still.
“Your tantrums won’t stop this from happening.” He stares at me in silence longer than what would be normal, and I look away first. “Be a brat, Paige, and you walk down that aisle naked. In fact, don’t choose a dress, and I’ll make you go naked now.”
“You wouldn’t dare.” My mouth tightens as I wait for him to do something. I don’t know how I ever found him attractive. If I had known this would happen, I would have left him bleeding on the floor. And if I had done that, I would’ve ended up dead.
A loud gasp escapes my lips as Andrei places his hands on my shoulders. He moves quickly, too fast for me to react as his hands slide down my arms and grab the scissors I tried to conceal in my sleeve. He holds them up in front of me before he tosses them away. He acts as if I shouldn’t have tried to save myself.
He presses his body hard against mine. I shut my eyes, waiting for the pain to start. What did he do to that woman? Did he rape her? Is she still even alive? I can’t help but cry.
“Make it quick, you bastard,” I hiss.
His grasp doesn’t loosen but softens ever so slightly as he allows me to cry. Being weak and foolish, I lean my head against his chest. My tears leave wet marks on his pressed cotton shirt.
“I only want obedience,” he whispers against my hair. “Whatever happens next is entirely up to you, Paige. Now, tell me. What do you want to happen next?”
I slump down into a chair. I’ve betrayed myself, but what else could I have done? I’m not brave enough to willingly be hurt. And my family … I want to live to see them again.
“I want to pick a dress,” I say quietly.
Andrei steps over the ruined dresses on the floor and pulls one from the rack. “You will change right here. Where I can watch you. And if you even think about ruining this one or running away again …”
If this is my punishment for being a brat and destroying two dresses, then perhaps I should be grateful.
“Strip,” he commands, but I don’t move. I look over at the large windows and around the vast room. I feel exposed and try to step behind a rack, but he pushes it out of the way.
