A test? Or trust?
I shouldn't. Should wait for him to return. But I need to use the bathroom, and ours is blocked, waiting for someone to come fix it. There's another bathroom just down the hall. I've seen it on my nighttime excursions. Surely thirty seconds won't matter.
I slip into the corridor. Empty, quiet, the faint smell of clove oil and cigarette smoke that permeates this place. The hallway is cooler than Alexei's room, raising goosebumps on my bare arms. I move quickly toward the bathroom I remember.
"The Rosetti whore. Wandering alone."
My blood turns to ice, every muscle locking. I turn slowly, assessing the distance between us, the angle of his approach, the fact that I'm fucking unarmed.
I reach for my knife out of habit, then remember. I left it under the mattress. Too comfortable. Too fucking careless. The kind of mistake that gets you killed in my world.
Kaz leans against the wall like he's been waiting. Like he knew I'd come out eventually once Alexei left me alone and unlocked. His eyes are cold, calculating, nothing like Alexei's winter storms. Where Alexei burns cold, Kaz is just empty.
"Kazimir."
"You remember my name. I'm flattered." He pushes off the wall, approaches slowly. The hallway suddenly feels smaller, the walls pressing in. "My cousin went to the kitchen. Left you alone and unlocked. How careless of him."
"He'll be back in a minute."
"A minute is a long time. Long enough to snap a pretty neck. Long enough to end this embarrassment that's infected our family."
I don't back away, won't give him the satisfaction. But I silently curse myself for not bringing my blade, for feeling safe enough to be careless. My body doesn't respond to his proximity the way it does to Alexei. There's no heat, no pull. Just the cold calculation of threat assessment.
He's close now, too close. His cologne is sharp, chemical, assaulting my senses. Nothing like Alexei's warmth.
"You won't touch me."
"No?" His hand comes up, traces along my jaw with mock tenderness. My skin crawls at the contact, so different from when Alexei touches me. "The men are taking bets, you know. How long before Alexei comes to his senses. How long before you have an accident."
I force myself not to flinch. "For every drop of my blood you spill, my brothers will spill a thousand of yours. Have you met Luca? He's going to adore meeting you. He has a real way with words." I heave out a bored sigh. "In any case, if you were going to kill me, you'd have done it already."
"Maybe I'm savoring the anticipation." His fingers tighten slightly on my jaw, and nausea rises in my throat. "You're pretty. I'll give him that. But not pretty enough to die for."
I force a bored smile onto my face. "And you're not dangerous enough to be worth fearing. Guess we're both disappointed."
"You think he loves you?" Kaz's voice drops, soft and poisonous. "Volkov men don't love. We possess. We destroy. It's in our blood."
"I'm not looking for love, Volkov. Besides, you don't know him."
"I know him better than you ever will. I grew up with him. With Mikhail." The name lands like a blade between my ribs. "Until he died. Bled out, drowning in his own blood."
My stomach turns, bile rising in my throat. My hands start to shake, the physical manifestation of emotional destruction.
"Eighteen years old, chest carved open by your psycho brother's blade, trying to breathe through the blood filling his lungs." Kaz leans closer, his breath hot and sour on my face.
The image burns into my mind. Mikhail, the boy who wrote about me with such tenderness, dying afraid and confused.
Each detail is a fresh wound, visceral and specific.
"I know all about your family's weaknesses," Kaz continues, showing he's done his research. "The way you Rosettis cling to each other like drowning rats. How do you think your precious Marco will feel when he learns you're spreading your legs for a Volkov?"
"Enough." The word tears from my throat.
"The truth hurts, doesn't it?" He grips my chin harder, forcing me to meet his eyes. "You're temporary. A distraction. When Alexei remembers who he is, what he owes his family, what he owes Mikhail's memory, you'll be nothing but a cum stain he washes off his sheets."
Footsteps echo from the direction of the kitchen. Quick, purposeful. The sound makes my pussy clench involuntarily. My body recognizing Alexei even in my distress.
Kaz releases me, straightening his cuffs with casual precision. The menace smooths into pleasant neutrality as Alexei rounds the corner.
