He leads me into the family room and softly orders, "Sit down."
I obey, wiping my tears off my cheek while my father paces the room, his expression growing angrier by the minute.
It isn't too long before the elevator doors open and Brax storms into our penthouse like a warrior summoned from hell. His broad shoulders tighten. He clenches his jaw and tosses an angry gaze at me.
I squeeze my thighs together, my heart rapidly pulsing out of control.
He's here.
He came for me.
His gaze drops to my arm. For a breath, I swear he softens. But the softness curdles instantly into something else.
Suspicion.
It slaps me in the face.
This is completely wrong. He's supposed to rush to me, gather me into his arms, curse Valentina's name, then vow to protect me.
Where's his horrified, devastated, and shaken to the core expression?
He doesn't know she did it yet.
Dad lunges toward him, voice thick with his Russian accent, snarling, "We've got a problem, and you're lucky I'm letting you breathe right now!"
And I'm back in the game.
Brax fires back, "Oh, we definitely have a problem!" His voice shakes with fury.
It's his passion for me,I tell myself.
Dad moves toward him, and I slip between them, letting my breathing hitch perfectly. "Dad, don't do something stupid." I press my body closer to Brax, hoping he'll feel the heat of me, my fear, and perfectly crafted vulnerability.
"Get out of my way," Dad warns.
I back into Brax farther. "More violence doesn't solve anything!"
He pivots away like I'm poison. "Don't touch me!"
The rejection slices deeper than the knife I used on myself. I stumble from shock.
Dad yanks me back, snarling, "Your wife slit my daughter's arm."
Brax jerks his head, startled.
Bingo!
You'll be mine soon.
His tone changes to ice. "She's lying."
The word guts me again.
What is going on here?
I try to hold onto the role, to the tremble in my voice. "Brax, I didn't do anything, I swear. She—she saw me on the street and just lost it. She pulled out her pocket knife, and before I recognized who she was, she slit my arm!"
But Brax spits, "Bullshit."
