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“You see, Rosalie, the perfect woman should be beautiful.” He dropped her hair. “Strong. Resilient. Most of all, obedient. My former colleagues think I left the organization my father helped build because I was angry about his untimely death, but you, my dear, were the catalyst for my departure.”
He tapped her on the nose. “When I learned about the beautiful, intelligent woman trying to stop my plan—and then proceeded to do so—I had to possess her, but first I had an organization of my own to build and business to attend to in Germany.”
“Like killing your grandmother after your father’s funeral?”
“I couldn’t leave a connection between us.”
Was that a hint of emotion in his voice? “Were you and your father close?”
“Father’s death was…” He pursed his lips. “Hard on me.”
“So you took your anger out on Anya.”
His mouth twisted into a nasty smile. “After I made you pay for the unsuccessful outcome of my operation, you continued to haunt me. I only killed enough to satiate my desire until I could make you my own.”
“I heard you were punished by your superiors for that unsuccessful outcome.”
His lips twisted as he pulled a knife from his coat pocket and waved the serrated blade in her face. “Do you remember how this felt?”
Her scar blazed its answer. “Why didn’t you just kill me?”
He ran the side of the blade down her jawline. “You needed to be punished like I was.”
She swallowed rising nausea and called on the strength Cannon marked her with. “Was your father punished too? Is that how he died?”
“No.” His tone turned as sharp as his knife. “He was the one who punished me.” He tapped the dull edge of the blade against his chest where the pacemaker sat under his skin. “He thought the heart defect I was born with made me weak. Devon’s kidnapping was my chance to prove myself. My superiors didn’t order me to be tortured. My father chose to do it because a woman…” He spat on the floor. “A merewomanbested me. You’re the reason he cut and beat me for three days. The reason I snapped and killed the man I respected. The laws of retribution said I had to pay you back in kind.”
Malgor twisted his wrist. The tip of the blade nicked her chin as he raised the gun to her temple. “Your blood is so red,like a rose. I enjoyed watching you bleed when I stabbed you almost as much as I’ve enjoyed controlling you these past two years. Thanks for the memories.”
The soul-deep words Cannon had marked her with sang in her head like a battle cry.
“Stop giving him control of your memories.”
Malgor’s breath hitched as if he felt the strength crest within her too.
“My dear Rosalie, I love a woman with a fighting spirit.” He raised his eyebrows and snickered. “They’re more fun to break.”
“You’re such a coward. I bet you didn’t even have the balls to shoot my father and stab me yourself.”
“I did have someone else handle your father. It was easier. But I couldn’t pass up the satisfaction of punishing you with my knife—it was worth the effort.”
“And now you have me.” She didn’t waste her breath begging for Julia’s release. Her only play was to keep him talking until she could figure out a way to get his gun. “Why did you bring Cannon and his family into this? Why Red Snow Hospital?”
“While watching you work from afar to find me was pleasurable, it was time to meet face to face. Our two-year anniversary seemed fitting.”
“As did Devon and Bella’s engagement party?”
“It all worked out quite well.” Malgor moved the blade from her neck and studied it. “When I discovered that their party coincided with our special date, I knew exactly where to play our new game. The open position at the hospital gave me the perfect cover in Red Snow. Arranging a meeting with Theodore, getting him to recommend me for the job, and then killing him was easy. Fucking his daughter was fun, but I had no desire to cut and kill her since she didn’t look like you.”
He licked her blood off his knife’s blade. “I knew you couldn’t resist the temptation of a ransomware attack. How did it feel to be sitting in that ER after I brought the place to its knees?”
Disgust clogged her throat, but she swallowed the grime. “Why did you have to terrorize so many people in Red Snow? You could have just snatched me off the mountain.”
“Attacking the hospital and every play that followed was all part of the game, my dear. I adjusted my strategy as needed, but the plan was for us to work together so we could get to know each other before you retired to serve me.”
“Work together?” She forced herself not to dwell on theserve mepart. “Cannon got in the way of your plan, didn’t he?”
He slid the blade between her breasts like a lover’s caress.
