“No, nothing like that. If you follow me, I’ll show you to your room.” I cock my head to the side, gesturing toward the door.
“What? In this house?” she stammers.
“Yes, in this house. Where I live,” I sigh, getting impatient.
“You want me tolive with you?” The disbelief in her voice is stark.
“Where the fuck else were you going to live, Stefania? Would you prefer I lock you in a basement?” I snap.
“Actually, maybe, yes!” she blurts out. “I don’t want to live with you.”
Stefania is standing now, her hands on the curve of her hips and her brows knitted together.
I chuckle. “Do what you want, Stefania, just remember the alternative if you change your mind about co-operating. And if you are going to be so ungrateful about having your own room in my home, perhaps I should make you share my bed with me?”
Her mouth drops open in shock. “Why are you doing this? Don’t you care what your sister would think of you?” she snaps at me.
The questions set off a fire inside me.
“My sister?” I shout. “My sister, whom the Abashins stole from me? You want to point the blame, call me a monster. You all want to pretend you’re so innocent, so kind, so generous. Your gall is unbelievable, girl.” My patience disappears in a flash. Forcing myself to bite back my anger, I reach out and grab her arm. “I’m sick of your shit,” I snarl, dragging her out of the dining room and up the stairs toward the bedrooms.
Pushing open the guest room door, I shove her inside.
The Abashins and Shevchenkos have made me out to be the monster, the cruel one. So fine. I’ll teach them all a lesson.There are consequences for messing with my family and me. There are consequences for making us look bad while you’re the assholes who are playing dirty. Messing up my brother’s event, blaming it on disgusting reasons, and accusing him of doing horrible things. Stealing my sister. I won’t stand for it anymore, and it starts here.
Stefania will pay. She’ll learn the lesson first.
Standing in the doorway of her bedroom, my eyes stab into her. She glares back at me, but there is a nervous hesitance in her. Stefania can see the darkness in me.
“Just remember, you are worthless to me, girl. I didn’t even want you. You are nothing. If things don’t go well with you, I’ll discard you like the nothing you are and move on to the girl I meant to take.” I spit my words with vengeance and anger. Hatred spills from me, aimed at her brothers, her family, her allies.
Stefania stares, wide-eyed and in disbelief, and says nothing.
Stepping back, I grab the door handle and slam it closed.
There’s no reason to lock it. She has free roam of the house. There’s no chance she’s escaping this prison.
Walking away, my body feels heavy with the emotions I’m carrying. So much negativity, so much hatred and anger. I want to purge it all. And I will. It’ll just take time. Bardil will redirect her family’s search. They’ll never find her, and while they search, their anguish will grow; they’ll begin to fear the worst. Their psychological torture is just the beginning of this game. By the end of it, they’ll be weakened wreckage, like a ship torn ashore by a storm. Broken and ravaged by time and elements beyond their control.
They’ll learn, right in the end, never to mess with me again.
I owe it to my brother to make right what they did to him. Accusing him of human trafficking is horrific. Putting that on my family name to try and shame us, to try and chase away our allies… It’s disgusting. If they want to play dirty, I can play dirty too.
It’s going to be a long game, but it’s going to be worth it.
And it all starts with her.
Chapter 4 - Stefania
Two days of absolute boredom and misery.
So far, I’ve managed to avoid him like he’s literally carrying the plague. I don’t want to see him. I don’t want to talk to him. I want to go home.
He leaves the house early in the mornings to go out, dressed in a suit that looks way too good on him, and climbs into his car in the front driveway, which I can see from the library window. I like to keep tabs on when he comes and goes because whenever he leaves, I start hunting for a way out.
There are so many things about this situation that are annoying me. Firstly,mostannoyingly, why does he have to be sohot? I hate being attracted to him. But at least it’s just an empty physical, shallow attraction that means nothing. I’m pretty sure that the longer I’m around him, the more I’ll dislike him, and eventually he won’t seem attractive at all. That’s what I’m counting on. Actually, I’m counting on being out of here as soon as possible, so it won’t even matter.
Secondly, he’s so damn rude. In the brief run-ins I’ve had with him, he’s been cold and nasty to me, like I personally wronged him in some way. He’s so hellbent on being a complete asshole instead of viewing this as whatever business negotiation thing he wants to carry out. Although the first night I was here, after I mentioned Talia, he almost exploded with rage. It was intense. It was the first time I actually felt fear being around him. A glimpse at what this man is really capable of.
