Page 135 of His Prince
“I’d rather see you while I kill you,” I reply, and that pushes her over the edge. She reaches out and cuts off my oxygen with her slim hand. Her touch is so much like Katarina’s, flashbacks pulsing through my mind as I remember the way she used to hold me, rubbing her hands down my chest, the way she’d cup my cheeks as she kissed me.
All of it is so vile now.
I never want to think of her again.
But Mila doesn’t let me forget. She lets go and then paces in front of me, her hands flying wildly. “Do you know what my life was like after you murdered her? My life washellin Russia without her, without my family. Everything was taken from me. Foryears,I lived in poverty. I had to sell all my belongings just for a ticket to come here to find Daniil. To find you.”
“I don’t fucking care about your sob story.”
She kicks me again and I grunt, pain sluicing up my shin and into my thigh.
“You should! You should care that you destroyed an entire family, an entire bloodline.”
“It’s what you deserve, what she deserved.”
“Shut up! Shut the fuck up! We didn’t. We deserved none of it. We were only trying to survive.”
“Katarina was a con artist and a murderer. She had to have known who she was marrying. If she loved you, she would have stayed far away from me.”
Mila’s mouth drops open, processing that, and how true my words ring, but then her face hardens.
“The way I had to crawl up from nothing. To put myself back together, all alone. I wouldn’t have had to do that if you hadn’t killedher. If your vile family hadn’t had my parents murdered. But I have nothing. I have no one.”
“She brought it on herself. And so did you. You won’t make it out of here alive.”
She reaches out and clutches my throat tightly once again.
“I have wanted revenge from the moment I knew your name. And I’ll get it. I’ll fucking die if it gets me what I need.”
My vision starts to white out but then she suddenly releases my throat. I suck in air, my eyes meeting Daniil, who is pulling her away, whispering something into her ear and making her cheeks redden.
“I don’t want any explanation. I just want revenge, Daniil. I’ve been waiting years for this.”
“Mila,” he begins, but she ignores him, coming at me, her fingernails clawing down my face. Blood seeps from my pierced skin, and I bite back a groan.
I refuse to show weakness. Refuse.
“You deserve to die slowly. And like Daniil told you, we’re going to find your little Angel and make him pay. Just like my sister did. And once that’s done, we’re going to dismantle everything your family has worked for. Dollar by dollar. There will be no more Ivanov name to be remembered when I’m done with you.”
Out of all of that, the thought of my sweet Angel in their hands hurts the most. But I can’t let it affect me. I can’t show them any weakness. I already did with Daniil and I refuse to do it again. They can’t know how much I love him.
I’ve never loved anyone as much as I love him.
And if I’m honest, I’ve felt this way for months. I just didn’t have the courage to admit it to myself. I never let myself feel as much, but deep down, I know I’ve loved him from the very start.
The way he looks at me.
The way he tastes. The way he makes me feel.
He’s perfect.
I won’t let anyone hurt him.
My eyelids flicker open, and I feel my cheeks wet with blood and tears.
“You underestimate him,” I say, my voice a rasp. “You underestimate my little devil.”
Mila cocks her head and scoffs. “Your little devil is no match for us.”