Page 22 of Darkest Deeds

I meet his glare, and the same eyes from my memory stare at me, but instead of stormy, they’re volatile.

“Niko,” I choke out. “You’re here.”

“Yes,” he answers. “But then again, you already knew that, didn’t you?” I open my mouth, but he doesn’t stop for an answer. “You’ve seen me. You got my gift.”

It isn’t a question. We both know what he’s referring to. The second I saw that orange blossom in my car, I knew only one person could’ve left it. On some level, I guess I’ve been waiting for him ever since.

“No, I didn’t,” I say, wringing my hands.

He sighs heavily. “Don’t lie to me, pchelka. I’m not here to play games.”

I almost crumble to the floor when his old nickname for me rolls off his tongue.

“How do you know I’m lying?”

“You always twist your fingers when you lie.” He motions toward the hands that are currently knotted like a pretzel in front of me. “Any man worthy of calling himself Bratva learns to read people beyond their words. Mouths lie, but body language betrays even the most skilled deceiver.”

Ignoring his veiled insult, I latch onto one word he said. One word that reminds me who I am, who he is, and where we are. But mostly, it reminds me a threat doesn’t have an expiration date.

Bratva.

Shit! Ethan will be here any minute.

“You can’t be here, Niko. Dmitry will find out.”

He smirks. “Oh, I’m fairly certain he already knows.”

“I don’t understand. He was there. He knows what happened after…” The rest of the words get stuck in my throat, and I look away. “How have you continually walked into Seven without someone putting a bullet in your head?”

“Ava, you may have become a woman, but your mind is still a child, isn’t it?” He sighs, and I think I catch a glimpse of the old Niko, my Niko, until he lifts his chin. There’s no pity in his eyes—only a raging darkness cultivated by years of deception. “Wrath is a fickle woman with no loyalty, and greed will fuck an open wallet every time. But the worst one, pchelka? That’s pride. Pride traces your cheek with one hand and then drives the knife in with the other. But then again, you know all about that, don’t you?”

There’s so much to explain. So many webs to unweave. But I know there’s no time. Ethan is on his way, and before long, our party of two will become a threesome.

And I know from experience, Niko doesn’t share.

“Someone is coming to—I mean, I won’t be alone for long. You have to go.”

A hum of disapproval vibrates in his throat. “I thought after all these years I’d get a warmer welcome than this. After all, I did pay a thousand dollars for you.”

A thousand dollars.

I gasp. “Oh God, You’re the man who bought the—”

Holding up a chain with a key dangling at the end, he swings it between us like a pendulum. “Bondage room,” he finishes, walking toward me. His gait is confident, but his metallic gray eyes are predatory, like glassy pools of impending death.

When there’s only a breath between us, he cups my jaw, lifting it to meet his stare. I remind myself the Niko I knew would never harm me. No matter what he thinks I did, he couldn’t torture me. I repeat those words in my head as his fingers press hard into my skin, dangerously edging toward painful.

“Let that sink in for a minute,” he continues, flashing a smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “You’re mine for an entire hour. A full sixty minutes to do whatever the fuck I want. I don’t know about you, but I haven’t thought about anything else for the last eight years.”

“You can’t seriously want to restrain me, Niko. Not after…” I swallow, fighting to say the words out loud. “Not after everything that happened.”

“After what you did, give me one good reason I shouldn’t.”

In my mind, I have a dozen of them, but not one passes my lips. Instead of pouring my heart out to him, I turn my chin and stare off to the side.

Niko chuckles, the sound low, deep, and wicked. He twists a strand of my long hair between his fingers. “I always did find your silence endearing, Ava,” he whispers in my ear right before grabbing a whole handful of my hair and jerking my head back until I’m forced to look up him. “Well, until it landed me in your father’s underground prison for something you did.” Without warning he slams us both against the wall. “I wonder how quiet you can be now?”

I open my mouth to scream, but any sound is stopped when his thumb presses against it, trailing down until it roughly caresses my bottom lip.