"You were trying to call Sarah," he says. It’s not a question.
"I..."
"You were trying to tell her you were kidnapped."
He laughs, a dark, humorless sound. He gestures to the ruined flowers on the floor.
"Look at that, Ivy. Look at the reality."
He forces me to turn, to look at the carnage of red petals and shattered glass.
"Out there, you are prey. Out there, Nikolai Sokolov will peel the skin from your bones just to send a message to me."
He leans down, his lips brushing my ear.
"I am the only thing standing between you and the abyss. Do you understand that now?"
I look at the roses. I think about the card.Your father spoke highly of your assets.
I realize, with a sickening jolt, that he’s right. My father sold me. The world wants to consume me.
And Silas... Silas is the monster who kills the other monsters.
I turn back to him. I grab the front of his shirt, bunching the fabric in my fists.
"Don't let him take me," I beg. The words taste like ash, but they are true.
Silas’s expression softens, just a fraction. A dark satisfaction settles in his eyes. He has won another piece of me.
"Never," he vows.
He scoops me up into his arms, crushing me to his chest.
"We’re leaving," he says.
"Leaving? Where?"
"The penthouse is compromised. It’s not safe anymore."
He walks toward the elevator, stepping over the broken glass.
"We’re going to the Estate."
"The Estate?"
"My family home," he says grimly. "In the Hamptons. It has walls. It has guards. It has a basement where no one can hear you scream."
He looks down at me, and a ghost of a smile touches his lips.
"And it’s where we’re going to spend our honeymoon, Mrs. Vane."
The elevator doors close, sealing us in.
I rest my head against his shoulder, listening to his heart. It beats steady and strong, a rhythm of war.
I am terrified of where we are going. I am terrified of him.
But as the elevator descends, taking me away from the red roses and the threat of the Butcher, I realize something even more terrifying.
