Page 59 of Twisted Cage

“Listen to her out there. She’s been gone for a year. You didn’t see where she was. I’m telling you, she’s not ready for society.”

“She’ll be fi—” A whip and thunk echoes through the door, cutting him off.

Silence fills the air. I flick the lock and open the door to Nikoletta’s furious red face glaring at me. Her chest heaves, practically launching her breasts from her dress with every gulp of air.

The knife she used to carve up Elijah sticks out of the wood of the door, eye level—my eye level.

“Does this look ready for society to you?” I ask Nikolaj, pointing at the knife. “The only place she should be going is to a hospital for rabies testing.”

She blows out a breath, sending the errant strands of hair falling on her face out of her eyes. “Of course, that’s what a boomer would say to a woman demanding to have a place in the conversation, you know, a conversation about her.”

I clench my fists, a thin thread of control the only thing keeping me from throwing her defiant ass over my shoulder and hauling her off to her—my damn room for a time-out, adult style. “Boomer? I’m forty-nine, you little?—”

“What the hell is up with you two?” Nikolaj winces, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You’re like a couple of kids snarling at each other. Jesus.”

“She’s not ready for this, Nikolaj. She’s a liability.”

She yanks the knife from the door and pauses with it pointed right at me. “Oh, you can fuck all the way off, Konstantin.”

“You,” Nikolaj says, pointing right at her. “Leave the knife at home. And you,” Nikolaj continues, pinning me with his hard stare. “She’s a liability? Fine. It’s up to you to make sure she isn’t. Handle her.”

Handle her? If he only knew my handling her is the reason she is like this in the first place.

“First, where I go the knife goes.” She lifts her gown and slides the knife into the sheath strapped to her thigh. Next to it, another knife.

Hell.

The hand-tooled leather bites into her skin just enough to remind me how soft and round those thighs were when I was fucking her on that altar.

They look even softer now.

Thicker. Mouthwatering. Fuck.

Before I can stop it, the vision of my fingertips digging into her flesh flashes in my head, making me grit my teeth.

Feral. Just remember she’s feral now.

Except, I’m pretty sure I like her this way more. Fucking her would be a blood sport—violent, angry, and absolutely devastating in the best fucking way.

Our mutual rage colliding would shake the souls under this city from their resting places until all peace has been obliterated.

“And second, handle me? What the fuck, Nikolaj. Whose side are you on?”

“Yours… always yours, which is why you’re going. But right now, you’ve been too busy snarling to keep in mind what you have to lose in this. You have…” Nikolaj glances at his phone. “Six hours to get your shit together and remember what’s at stake here. The minute you arrive at the party, the clock starts ticking. The Petrovs will know you’re back before your head even hits the pillow tonight.”

“A list of every attendee. That’s the deal, Nikolaj. You want me to keep her safe, I need a list of every single person who’ll be there from guests to bathroom attendants. Within the hour.”

Nikolaj narrows his eyes but nods. Our relationship still suffers the growing pains of a man who grew up with me as an authority figure, his father’s best friend, protection and counsel to his family. With his growing power, my authority transitioned into something different. Our playing field leveled somewhat. For now.

However, as he rises, even if under my guidance, he’ll seize ultimate control and my life will be in his hands.

In some ways, it already is.

He steps up to her then, his gaze sweeping over her from head to toe. His expression forlorn, like he finally sees the little girl who looked up to him so much is gone, leaving a woman—a hardened one at that—standing in her place.

“You turned into a lioness when I wasn’t looking. Learn how to control that power so it doesn’t control you.” He cups her cheeks then and kisses her forehead. “Be smart, Lettie.”

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