Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 83818 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83818 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Now I know why it was so easy for Isabella to kill her brother, Javier. If I had a weapon and half a second, I’d pull the trigger so damn fast. I hate this man in front of me. The boy I grew up with, my brother, who was my confidant and partner in crime, is gone. I barely recognize this monster.
“Don’t even think about lying to me, Renata. I know. I had eyes on you every minute you spent in New York. It’s why I knew you were a traitor. I didn’t miss the way you look at him. I saw the way you fell for him. I know.”
God, how does he know? And how will I ever escape from this?
“So I’m going to make a deal with you.” He sits in the chair and leans forward, his arms resting on his knees, his soulless eyes boring into mine.
He won’t defeat you.
He won’t.
I have to stay strong. I have to keep my head on straight. So what if he knows I fell for Ollie Romanov? So what if that’s why he took me back here?
Still… what does he hope to gain from having me here?
He hasn’t killed me because he needs something.
What?
Carlos presses his thumb to my throbbing cheek. My pulse threatens to choke me, but I don’t move. He leans closer, his voice cold and cruel. “This is what you’ll do. You’re going back to your precious Romanovs in The Cove. They’ll likely brutally punish you themselves, thinking you betrayed them, but the poor fools won’t even know the half of it.” He shakes his head. “You’ll pretend I don’t exist. You’ll pretend you wanted to confirm my death here in Columbia, and you did.”
My pulse is racing so quickly that I can hardly hear from the pounding in my ears.
I glare at Carlos, my cheek throbbing and my eyes watery. But my voice is steady and filled with resolve. “You underestimate me, Carlos. I won’t let you use me like this.”
Carlos leans in closer, his voice a dangerous whisper. “Oh, but you will. Because if you tell them anything… anything about me at all, I will murder the man you love in front of you.”
One thing I’ve always been exceptionally good at was knowing when someone was lying. My mother used to call it my superpower. I was so skilled at it in fact, my father would call me into meetings with his friends and show me off like a circus act. People I knew would eventually learn that lying to me never worked. I knew there was no Santa Claus before I went to school, and I knew the truth about the birds and the bees much earlier than a child ever should as a result of this strange but undeniable talent.
And one thing I know for absolute certain: Carlos isn’t lying.
My jaw drops. I quickly close it, but it’s too late. He saw my reaction. I know he thinks he struck a bullseye when his eyes light up.
“I don’t love anybody,” I lie through gritted teeth. I’m an outsider in every world I’ve ever touched... at least they think I am. The daughter who betrayed her family, the lover who deceived her allies, the sister who let the devil take root in her own flesh and blood. My only home is a prison of my own making.
He shakes his head and laughs maniacally. It chills me. “I watched the way your eyes light up when he walks into a room. I saw the way you pined for him when he’s not there. I heard you ask for him. I saw you stare after him.” He spits on the floor. “You’re in love with a fucking Russian pig. Father would’ve killed you for less.”
Also not a lie.
I look away, caught between the knowledge that he’s found me out and the ultimatum he’s issued.
Everyone will think I’m a liar.
Isabella. Her husband, Lev.
Ollie.
I close my eyes against another rush of emotions.
Carlos is cold and cruel, a vivid reminder of the brother I once loved, but another beast waits for me…one whose darkness I fear just as much as I crave. He’ll find me.
I have to escape and leave all of them. I have to find a way out of here.
I have to start over.
All over.
There’s no going back, no safe harbor. All I can do is run until there’s nothing left of the girl I once was.
I reach a tentative hand to my cheek and work my jaw. Not broken. Good. It’ll mend.
“You will find out what they know and report back to me. And when you are done—when you’ve done everything I’ve said here, we’ll take the next step.” He smiles. My stomach swirls with nausea. “I may even forgive you.”
Lie.
He won’t. Forgiveness to him is as foreign as kindness. He’d have to have a heart.