Page 82 of Tarnished Reign

“Lots of women these days don’t particularly want kids, and I never expected to get married anyway.”

“You don’t want marriage either?” This just gets worse. One day, not now, but one day, I most definitely do.

“I said I didn’t. That was back when I didn’t know you existed in the world.”

His words are romantic and sad, but they won’t work because they’re fucked up.

“You want to marry me?” I almost scoff at the level of insanity in this conversation. “But expect me not to have kids ever?”

“I don’t know what I want. To devour you. Own you. Keep you.”

My heart sinks. “Those things aren’t love, Dimitri. They are ownership.”

He watches me, a muscle ticking in his cheek, but he doesn’t speak. Doesn’t correct me.

I turn on my heel and storm across the room.

“Where the fuck are you going?” he shouts.

“Anywhere on this goddamn yacht where you aren’t. Unless that’s forbidden too?”

He shakes his head and blows out a long, exasperated breath, but he doesn’t stop me.

I’m such a fool, and I’m as angry at myself as I am with him.

I storm down the corridor but decide I can’t face his men. I don’t want to be on the deck, where they all mill around being all macho and noisy.

The library room is too small and makes me feel claustrophobic. My stomach rumbles, and I realize I haven’t eaten in many hours. I can’t face anything much. This entire conversation has left me reeling. I need something for my blood sugar, though, so I head down below to the kitchen. I sneak in there some days and chat with the staff while I raid the fridge. They don’t seem to mind.

This time, the place is empty. I putter around the room and stick my head in the fridge, then take out some chocolate mousse. I place it on the counter and open a cabinet drawer, hunting for a spoon, when I see it.

A phone.

Holy moly, what the hell?

Sitting on the work surface, unattended is a phone. Not even stopping to think how crazy this is, I grab it and the mousse before racing to the library. I don’t like the room, but no one goes in there.

Once inside, I pull out the phone. Fuck, it’s locked. There’s a picture on the screen. A pretty blonde. It’s Jamie’s phone. I’ve talked to her lots. Touch ID fails, of course, but then the pin option pops up. I know her date of birth because her birthday is next week, and she was telling me about her plans for hitting twenty-one. Heart in my throat, I enter her date of birth.

Too easy, I think, as I enter the final digit, but it seems for once the gods are smiling down on me.

I almost yell in triumph as the pass code unlocks the device.

Holy shit.

Hands shaking, I dial the only number other than my father’s and Cade’s grandparents that I know by heart and press the video call button.

Sian answers immediately, her pretty face lighting up the screen.

“Babe, what the hell? What’s happening? Where are you? Your father called, and he was so worried. He’s beside himself. He says you’ve left. Just done a runner. He hoped you’d be here.”

I start to cry, sobbing so hard I can’t speak.

It’s all too much. Being taken and the trauma of it followed by the heady high of Dimitri and me finding one another, followed by the crash as I’ve realized he’s way more messed up than I allowed, is too much.

“Oh my God. Adriana. Babe, can you at least tell me where you are?”

“No,” I say. “I’m okay. I’m safe. You can’t tell my father I spoke with you.”

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