“I don’t understand.”
“Are the rumors true? You said Dimitri never held you captive. So where were you all these years? No one has seen you.”
“I don’t have to explain myself to you. I just need to stay in here where I’ll be safe.” She grips the bars of the cage so tightly her hands turn white.
I kneel down so I’m eye level with her through the bars. “You’re not safe, Katya. Not from me. I took you to hurt Dimitri. You’re going to help me with that.”
“No. I won’t hurt my brother.”
“You don’t really get a choice. Answer my questions.”
“No.”
She’s a lot more defiant than I thought she would be. Truthfully, I didn’t know anything about her to even know what to expect but I can say that I definitely didn’t expect the woman right in front of me. Both beautiful and yet defiant. There’s an innocence in her eyes but also pain. Trauma like she’s lived through something no one should ever have to live through.
“You said you weren’t a captive. So where were you all these years?”
“Inside. In my room.”
“In your room? So your brother did hold you captive.”
She shakes her head roughly. “No. I chose to be in there. I didn’t want to leave. My brother is not an evil man.”
I give her a slow, drawn out smirk. “You truly believe that? Then why has he tried to kill me on multiple occasions? Why have I heard stories of the way he treats his wife? Locking her up in a cage. Your brother is not a good man.”
“Then neither are you. You put me in here.”
“Yes, but I kidnapped you. I never claimed to be a good man. Whereas, your brother pretends with you if you think he’s good. He is not good. He’s the opposite of it.”
“You’re just trying to get in my head and it won’t work. I won’t turn on my brother.”
“In time you will. I know it.”
She pulls her hands away from the cage and sits back, staring at me, studying me. It’s unnerving a little bit. Katya doesn’t act like most people, I can tell that right away. What exactly has she been through in life? And why do I care so much? Already, I can tell that Katya is a woman I want to study. Want to get to the bottom of.
Women for me have been fun distractions. Good for a fun time and then I move on. A lot of the dancers at my nightclub I’ve brought home to my bed but I’ve never met a woman I wanted to marry. No woman I wanted to burrow deep inside of her brain and get to know.
But with Katya, I want to burrow into her brain. I want to know all her secrets. The more secrets I know, the more I can use her against her brother.
“I know my brother is not perfect,” Katya says. “But he’s always been good to me. You won’t make me think otherwise.”
“Just tell me if the rumors are true.”
“Then you’ll leave me alone?”
I tilt my head to the side. “So you can remain alone in this cage? Is that what you want?”
“I feel safe in it,” she whispers.
“Really? I… didn’t see that coming. Most people would not feel safe inside the cage I put them in. Most would be clamoring to get out.”
“It’s just who I am.”
“And who are you?”
“You kidnaped me. Don’t you know?”
“I’ve heard the stories,” I say. “About how much your brother loves you. How much he has strived to protect you. I figured if he loves you that much, he’ll go to the ends of this earth to save you. I want to drive him fucking insane trying to get you back. Call it a punishment for all the times he tried to kill me over these past few months. So, I know your brother must care for you. But I want to know more.”
