Marlen reaches into a high cabinet and pulls out a bottle of whiskey. He tops up the soda water with whiskey, then puts the bottle back. He goes back to the fridge for ice, and I can see he’s dragging this out on purpose to annoy me.
I stay still, waiting, not showing him that it’s working.
Marlen picks up his glass and turns to face me, leaning his ass against the kitchen counter. He takes a sip, and his eyes roam up and down my body. I take a deep breath, staring at him andtelling myself not to notice how the shirt wraps around his thick biceps or how thick and sturdy his thighs are in those pants that were cut to fit his form.
He cocks his head to the side.
“I won’t be contacting your family, Stefania. I don’t want them to know that I have you. They are going to be kept in the dark for as long as possible, so they believe you are missing,” he says, watching my expression, waiting for my reaction.
“Why?” I blurt out, unable to hide the shock.
“Because my goal isn’t exchange. It’s torture. Imagine the psychological pain they are going through, searching for you, running in circles with no idea where you are or if you’re even still alive. They’ll experience fear, heartbreak, torment, pain… and I want that to last. It’s the first stage of this revenge. Then, when the time is right, my brother will plant evidence to suggest that you were taken by someone much more powerful than they are and that this ruthless family has tortured you beyond recognition. And dumped your lifeless corpse somewhere where the rats can gnaw at your decaying flesh.”
For the first time in my life, I am speechless.
My jaw has dropped open, and I’m staring at this man, this monster, in utter disbelief.
A devious, malicious smile spreads over his face as he studies me.
“You’ve gone very pale, Stefania,” he muses.
“You’re a fucking monster. A real one. I said it before, but I didn’t realize the depth of how evil you actually are!” I shout, shaking my head as fear creeps into my bones. After he’s played out this tortuous game, what use would he possibly have for me?Why is he even keeping me here? Why not just get rid of me? “You’re a demon from the pits of hell, Marlen,” I snap.
My words don’t have any effect on him at all. He shrugs, sipping his drink, raising one brow at me. “Girl, you have no idea what drove me to become this man. Everything I do is for a reason, and your family and their allies gave me damn good reasons to seek this revenge. They deserve every ounce of pain I’m going to cause them. Don’t for one second think thatI’mthe monster without knowing all the facts,” he whispers, dark and dangerous, sending a cold bolt of warning through my bloodstream.
“What are you going to do to me?” I whisper, not sure I want to hear the answer.
“I haven’t decided yet,” he shrugs.
Disgusted by him and what he plans to put my family through, I slowly back out of the kitchen without taking my eyes off him. When I’m free of his stare, I run upstairs to my bedroom and close the door, leaning against it and pressing my hand against my heart to try and slow it down.
“What the hell…” I mutter to myself. “He’s… he really believes his actions are justified,” I say, suddenly realizing just how convinced he is of his own words.
I step away from the door and walk to the window. He doesn’t plan to let me go, and from my investigations around this place, there’s no way for me to escape. I need another plan. A plan that doesn’t end up with me dead in a ditch with rats gnawing on me.
What in the world did we do to him? My brothers? The Abashins? What happened to him to make him so angry with them?
With a sinking heart, I realize I only have one option.
I need to win him over.
A seemingly impossible task for a man who doesn’t appear to have a heart. But hemusthave one, to be so upset by whatever wrong was done to him. He’s angry, offended, or hurt. So he has a heart. He feels things.
And that means that I can get through to him.
I can show him I’m not the enemy, and maybe I can make it pleasant for him to live with me. At some point, he’ll drop his guard, and I can escape.
Besides, I really want to know what happened to him. I want to know why he’s so angry.
At dinner time, I would usually go downstairs to fetch my plate from the kitchen and eat alone in my room. Instead, I pick it up and carry it to the dining room where Marlen is sitting, eating his food.
He looks at me, and his brows knit tightly together, but he says nothing as I sit opposite him.
Picking up my fork, I smile, relax my shoulders, and tell myself I’m just having dinner with a friend.Just be yourself, Stef, even if you have to fake it around this guy. Your natural, normal, happy self is what’s going to get you through all of this.
“The sunset was incredible tonight. I watched it from the library. I love the wide windows up there, and they look right out over the front of the house on one side and the garden on the other, so you get the full view,” I say happily.
Marlen raises one brow and clenches his jaw. The scar across his jaw pulls, and again I’m thinking about how gorgeous he is.
