Page 10 of Malevolent King

“You don’t have feelings, Nikolai,” Sofia accused, watching me warily. “Why are you still chasing me? You’re free, aren’t you? You should get out of here before my father’s men hunt you down.”

“You’re my insurance, remember? I don’t plan on leaving New York, and I’ll need something to make sure your father doesn’t lose his head. Kirill, too, for that matter.”

I needed to get away from De Sanctis and back to the city. Kirill thought he had me in check, but with Sofia as collateral, his cunning deal with the Italians was shot. If he wanted to play dirty, I was more than happy to oblige.

“I’m not your insurance. I’m the anchor that’ll drag you down. Follow the river, and you’ll come to a road. Get away now, before more men come.”

I blew out a harsh sigh. “Lastochka, this isn’t how our story ends,” I drawled, taking another step forward. Fuck, it was cold. “It ends when I decide it ends.” I splashed through the water, uncaring of how it soaked through my boots and up my jeans.

“Let me go, goddamn it!” Something in Sofia seemed to snap. She was red-cheeked, and her eyes blazed murder. It was an enthralling sight. “I’m so sick of men telling me where to go and what to do and taking away my choices.” Her harsh words were at odds with the glitter of tears in her dark eyes.

My little prom queen was having a moment. I enjoyed the sight of her filled with churning emotion. It was far better than the cool, aloof mask she’d worn the last few times I’d seen her.

“That sounds like a problem. And the answer is no. If you’re appealing to my better nature, don’t waste your time. I don’t have one.”

She gave a small scream of frustration and then changed tack.“If you keep me with you, you’ll get caught. You think my father hasn’t planned for this very situation?”

Her meaning dawned on me. “It didn’t even occur to me he’d have chipped you. Thanks for the heads-up. I’m doubting you want to be rescued at all.”

Fuck, I was tired and off my game.

My place in the world had slipped overnight, my future had become murky, and I was making mistakes. It was common practice in the bratva to insert a tiny microchip under the skin, so if an important person was taken and held, they could be found. My brother had used it on his now-wife long before she’d had any idea such a thing was possible. But Sofia wasn’t ignorant of the ways of the dark criminal underworld she lived in. She’d have known she was being chipped and agreed to it, or at least not cut it out herself.I had to get rid of it.

Sofia’s beautiful face contorted. If looks could kill, I’d be long gone, but then her eyes widened before she could unleash her wrath on me. She swayed, and I realized her feet were struggling for purchase on the rocks. Her face turned from anger to fear, and she went under.

I dove below the water, lunging across the distance between us and reaching for her kicking legs. I grabbed her foot as she kicked wildly, just beyond my reach. One of her heels connected with my face, hitting me hard in the chin but giving me the chance to grasp her more firmly. I pulled her toward me by her leg and headed for the surface.

She struggled against me the entire way, like the live wire she was. Breaking the surface, I yanked her face up. She coughed and struggled, hacking up a lungful of water. I got my feet under me and dragged her toward the river’s edge.

“That was dumb,” I muttered angrily as I lifted her into my arms, the water tugging at both of us. “Don’t you care at all what happens to you?”

I looked down at her face, so close I could see the droplets caught in her dark eyelashes. She blinked at me, arching her back to take the pressure off her wrists behind her.

“That’s why I had to try to get away,” she whispered.

I lowered her to the ground by the river’s edge. “Well, it’s a shame you’re so bad at it. You’re proving to be the most annoying fucking insurance. I should’ve brought good ol’ Gino. Where’s the tracker?”

I pulled my stolen blade from my boot, and her gaze fixed on it.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Her expression was mulish, her attention on the knife.

I twirled it between my fingers. A little circus trick, and she looked away.

“So, you want me to search for it, then?” I asked. “I’ll tell you the truth. I’ve been looking for an excuse to touch you. Thank you for giving me one.” I carefully placed the knife between my teeth and closed the distance between us.

“You’re a pig,” she muttered, turning her face away from me.

Her dismissal pricked at me, pissing me off.When I touched her leg, she tried to move away. I shifted my knee across her thighs, pushing her to her front. She went still. I couldn’t resist sliding my hand up the back of her thighs. She froze, and her fingers curled into the muddy ground.

My hand headed under her black wrap skirt, clasping my knife tightly. The sound of the blade pulling at the material of her pantyhose was as loud as a siren. “We need to get something straight, prom queen.”

For the first time since I’d touched her in the garage, I felt her listen. I let the blade trace a line against her panties, pricking the fabric. Then I replaced it with my palm, settling it threateningly on the mound of her cheek. Fuck, I wanted to cut her pantyhose off and feel the skin of her ass against my palm. I bet it was smooth as cream, and would turn rose pink if I smacked it.

Sofia was completely still. The smells of the river rose around us. There was a tense note in the air. A feeling rising between us I didn’t know how to describe.

I squeezed her ass cheek in my palm. “I know you’re strong. I know you’re loyal to your family. I know you’re a good, good girl. But being difficult right now is dangerous, and I know you’re smarter than that.”

She jerked as my hand left her ass and worked down her thigh. The way she was lying under me right now put her in the perfect position to rip her pantyhose and sink inside her. I could be nine inches deep before she could even scream. I could press her face into the ground, gag her again, and fill her up with all the cum her little pussy could take before sending her back to her father, naked and dripping. A fitting punishment for Antonio De Sanctis’ audacity in taking me.

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