“Belov’s, of course,” she says. “Do you really think I go around pulling knives on sleeping women just for kicks?”
“You seemed to be enjoying yourself.”
She gives me a chilling smile. “I know how to play a part.”
“Is that what you’re doing now? Playing a part?”
“Always.”
I look at Leo to gauge his reaction, but he seems to be perfectly at ease with anything and everything this bitch says or does. I feel like I’m going insane. Does he not see what I see?
“Leo, you have to let me go.”
“Have to?” he repeats, raising his eyebrows. “No, I don’t have to do anything.”
“My son needs me.”
“Actually, he needs me. His father.”
I shake my head. “You’ll only use him like you used me. And anyway, I don’t see why you need me at all. You obviously have your whore.”
A smile splits through Brit’s face instantly. “Oh, honey, don’t feel threatened. I can share.”
“Brit…” Leo says gently. Then he sighs. “I have to go. I have things to discuss with Jax and Gaiman.”
She nods. “Of course. Don’t worry. I can handle things from here.”
She sidles up to him, hips swishing, and presses her hips to his. Leo stands there and allows it. The acid in my chest flares painfully.
“Have you changed your mind?” she murmurs, just loud enough for me to hear.
His answer is immediate. “No.”
She raises her hand to his chest and runs her fingers along his pecs. “Then be careful out there, big boy.”
His expression is flat, impatient, but he doesn’t push her away like I want him to.
“Come with me,” he tells her.
They head out of the room, leaving the door slightly ajar. Enough that I can see them talking, their bodies close, voices lowered. Brit’s eyes flicker to me for a moment, but she doesn’t hold my gaze. Her expression suggests that I’m nothing more than a minor inconvenience that needs to be dealt with.
She reaches up and squeezes Leo’s arm. He says something; she smiles. He looks pissed, but she seems to be enjoying herself.
Especially when she leans in and kisses him softly on the cheek.
As chaste a kiss as it might seem, I can sense the threat she poses, the message she’s trying to give me.
If Leo senses that, he doesn’t show it. He turns and leaves without so much as glance towards me.
Brit walks back into the room and clicks the door shut. I know there are men posted outside the room, but that doesn’t make me feel any better about the fact that Brit’s the only one in here with me.
I’ve been alone with her before.
It wasn’t fun.
“So… how’ve you been?” she asks nonchalantly.
“He seems to trust you.”
She raises her eyebrows, and the smile on her face gets a little wider. “I’d say so.”
“Is he right to?”
“Is that concern in your voice?”
“I know what you’ve done…”
She sighs and rubs her temples. “You’ve met Spartak Belov. Tell me, do you think a man like him likes being argued with? Do you think he likes being defied?”
“So you were just doing his bidding?”
“Now, you’re starting to understand.”
“I don’t remember him being there any of the times you tortured me.”
“Tortured you?” she repeats incredulously. “Oh, honey, you think that was torture?”
She waves her perfectly slender hand in my face. Even her nails look manicured and fresh. How does this woman pull off such flawless beauty and still manage to be terrifying?
“I’ve tortured people before. What you experienced was nothing of the sort. A spa day in comparison.”
“I should be grateful, then? Is that what you’re saying?”
“I’m saying you need to stop thinking of yourself as a victim,” she retorts firmly. “People who see themselves as a victim end up as one. You want more than that, don’t you?”
“Is this the part where you give me your whole backstory?” I ask. “Justify every bad choice you’ve made and paint yourself out to be the unlikely, misunderstood heroine?”
She snorts. “Fuck no. I’m no heroine, nor do I pretend to be. I’m just trying to survive.”
“By hurting other people.”
“How many times must I remind you that I saved you? It isn’t my fault you got into the wrong car.”