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“Is that why you feel the need to copy everything he does?”
His eyes flash with anger.Careful, Emma. Toe the line.“I’mnota copycat. I have a fucking vision for my future. For my empire. And you could be a part of it.”
“You claim not to be a copycat and yet you’re trying to take everything that belongs to him. Doesn’t add up.”
“Are you saying thatyoubelong to him?” I tense and he laughs. But it’s not a laugh that’s remotely pleasant. It’s mocking and condescending. The equivalent of dragging broken glass over concrete. “He’s good at convincing people of that, isn’t he? He did the same thing with Jessica, poor thing.”
I thought I was the one pulling the strings here. But it strikes me suddenly that he’s playing the game just as hard.I might have bitten off more than I can chew.
“I’m not Jessica.”
He smirks. “You think you mean more to him than she did? Let me tell you something: theonlydifference between you and Jessica is the fact that she was smart enough not to get pregnant. You’re just a pretty incubator for his heir. The moment that baby pops out, you’ll go back to being a nobody.”
Don’t take the bait. Don’t take the bait. Don’t take the—
“That’s not true!”
Dammit.
Adrik just laughs. “Of course it’s true. I’ve known the man a lot longer than you have, Emma. You should be a fucking queen. Not the damn broodmare.”
Gritting my teeth, the words fly out of me with indignation. “Iama queen.”
“Really? Where’s the ring then?”
I flinch. “W-what?”
He advances closer. “If he genuinely valued you, if he was really planning on keeping you around after this baby is born, he’d have proposed. He’d have put a ring on your finger and locked you down. Instead…”
Suddenly,Ifeel like the one who’s been drugged. “I… Y-you’re trying to get in my head…”
He tut-tuts softly. “I’m trying to open your eyes. So open them, Emma! Open them and see that the moment your baby is born, he will abandon you for a woman who can really do things for him. Someone like… well, like Jessica, maybe.”
I cringe back, but I’m running out of room to retreat. The cold brick wall looms at my back, damp and foreboding. “N-no… no, that’s not true—”
“It’s absolutely true. You’ve seen that cow? She’s abhorrent. But everyone puts up with her because she’s loaded. She’s connected. She’s got the ear of one of the most powerful men in the city. She’ll be useful for Ruslan. But you? Your use will be wrung out once your womb is empty.”
I turn away from him. “Stop talking.”
He fixes me with a sympathetic stare that makes me feel pathetic. “Why, my dear? Am I starting to make sense?”
Adrik’s eyes are piercing. They bore into my face, peeling away all that confidence I built up in the past few days leading up to this moment.
“I can offer you more than him, Emma.” The tenor of his voice has changed. It has a strangely smooth quality. When my parents forced Sienna and me to go to Bible camp when we were younger, the counselor there used a voice just like this for the serpent in the Garden of Eden.Take a bite, Emma. Just one little nibble.
“Leave me alone,” I mutter.
“Is that really what you want, Emma?” Adrik croons. “You want me to leave you alone—likeheleft you alone?”
I know he’s talking about the club. About tonight. But my mind jumps to the months before now. The day Ruslan decided to believe his doubts over me. All those weeks where he clung to the worst version of me and refused to hear my side of the story.
Hehadleft me alone then.
Who’s to say he won’t do the same thing again?
I tunnel through the memories until I get stuck on one: the image of Ruslan lying on a picnic blanket, both Caroline and Reagan sprawled on top of him while Josh laughs.
I take a deep breath. I refocus.
