He doesn’t even grunt when my elbow connects with his ribs. Just holds me tighter, my feet dangling off the ground.
“Put me down, you psycho!” I twist in his grip, desperate, feral. My teeth find his forearm, and I bite down hard enough to taste copper.
He doesn’t flinch.
Doesn’t curse.
Doesn’t tighten his hold or threaten me back.
He just… lets me.
Lets me kick and scratch and bite like a wild animal until I’m exhausted and sobbing.
Then, slowly, deliberately, he leans down. His breath is warm against my ear, voice deadly calm.
“You done?”
I’m panting, tears streaming, but I nod.
He sets me down carefully. Steps back. Gives me space.
“You want to leave?” he asks, and his tone is almost… gentle. “Go ahead.”
I blink at him, confused. “What?”
“Door’s right there.” He nods toward it, hands loose at his sides. “You want to walk out of here and take your chances with the people who tried to rape and kill you this morning? Be my guest.”
My hand hovers over the handle.
“But understand this,printsessa.” His voice drops to a whisper that raises every hair on my body. “The second you walk through that door, you’re on your own. Your grandmother’s on her own. And when they find you—and they will find you—I won’t be there to put a bullet in their heads.”
I stare at him. At those eyes that promise violence and protection in equal measure.
“Choose.”
My hand trembles on the handle.
And I run.
19
Anton
The door slams shut.
I stand there like an idiot, staring at where she was.
Where she just…ran.
What the fuck did I just do?
I let her go. I actually let her walk out that door with a target on her back.
I run both hands through my hair, pacing to the window. The pasta’s still warm on the counter—made from scratch, every piece shaped by hand. The kind of effort mybabushkaused to put into her cooking before the Bratva took everything soft out ofmy life. I spent two hours on that shit. Two hours cooking for a woman who just chose death over me. Clever girl.
I should eat it. Waste of good food, otherwise. But my stomach’s twisted into knots I don’t recognize.
This is insane.
