Page 39 of Cruel Love

I slowly step into the room. Markov’s workshop is always dark and bleak, illuminated by little more than his computer monitors. He and Luka stare at a screen as security footage plays out. A crowded nightclub. A young woman dancing on a pole in the corner with several men sitting around her. They smile and drink and throw money. All except for one.

Gio.

I must have made a noise because Luka’s head jerks back.

“Sofia…”

He lays a comforting hand on my arm. I try to blink but I can’t pull my eyes away from Gio’s dark features.

It’s him. My ex-husband.

I haven’t seen him in nearly a year, but I never forgot every single line of his face. Every pitch of his voice. I couldn’t close my eyes for weeks without seeing his angry scowl behind my eyelids. It’s him, but…

“He looks different,” I say.

“How do you mean?” Luka asks.

I shake my head, unable to answer.

After a minute, Gio stands up from his chair just as the dancer finishes her act. He walks behind the chairs of drunken patrons and into the back, following close behind her wide stride.

Markov points at the door as it closes behind Gio. “He went into the back around midnight last night,” he says.

“When did he leave?” Luka asks.

“He didn’t.”

I stare at the screen as another girl takes her place on the stage. “He’s still there?” I ask.

Luka lays a steady hand on my back. “Did they check the alley exit?” he asks.

Markov nods. “He never came out and there are no ways out underground. Gio is still there.”

“Sofia…”

I look up from the screen, feeling Luka’s hand grazing my cheek. “Excuse me,” I whisper.

He lets me go as I walk away. His warm fingers slip from my skin, leaving me cold as I wander into the hallway. Soft whispers fade off behind me as my pulse takes over in my ears.

I find my way upstairs to our bedroom. I sit on the edge of the bed in the dark and stare at the wall.

Gio.

I’ve plotted revenge against him since I was five years old and he claimed me as his property.

She is mine.

Don’t touch her.

Daddy said she was mine so you can’t touch her.

She is mine.

I close my eyes, fighting the darkness to find the light hidden somewhere inside.

Hidden within the little boy in the garden shed with the silver eyes.

He reaches out to me and I smile.

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