Page 28 of Crowned

There’s no window in here. It’s not like I can escape somehow. “You’re really going to watch me pee?”

“Lilia, I’m counting to sixty, and whether you have peed or not, we are going back to the car.”

I feel a jolt of surprise as he says my name in his deep, precise voice. That hits different toNumber Elevenor evenmilaya. For the second time that day, I tug my underwear down in front of a man and sit on the toilet.

We stare at each other, and absolutely nothing happens.

“You’re not going,” he accuses.

“Give me a second, this is weird as hell,” I mutter under my breath, wriggling around on the seat. I can’t believe I have to pee in front of a man again. I open my mouth to say,You’re just like Dad, before I realize Konstantin will wonder why the hell my dad was watching me pee.

I look around for something to distract myself and my eyes land on his scar. Whatever caused that wound, it must have been painful, and from what I’ve seen of his migraines, he’s still suffering.

“What happens when you get a migraine?”

Konstantin regards me in silence.

“Mybabulyagets migraines and there are pressure points that can ease them. Ask me to help you next time.”

His damaged eyebrow creeps up his forehead at the phrasenext time. “The next time I have a migraine you will be dead or back in America.”

Because I will have revealed where the diamonds are? If so, maybe I’ll be dead, but I won’t be in America. I don’t believe for a second he’s going to let me go. I’ve humiliated him too badly.

“High-pitched noises bring on your migraines, don’t they? It’s the same withBabulya. She can’t stand noise and light when her headaches get bad. The whistle of the kettle is excruciating. Even the doorbell ringing she described like shards of glass stabbing through her skull.”

“Just pee, Lilia.”

“I’m trying. It’s putting me off, having someone stare at me,” I huff. I gaze around the bathroom stall, trying to read the French graffiti. “Did you really expect to find a loyal and loving wife through that messed-up pageant?”

“Lilia—” he growls in a warning tone.

“I need a distraction, Konstantin. Please.”

His handsome face is suffused with annoyance, and he casts his eyes to the ceiling briefly. “The pageant was wicked and criminal, but my life is wicked and criminal. I needed to see who could survive in my world. Most of the contestants would fail, but I suspected there would be one or two who would realize what I was offering them and put their hearts into it, and I was right. The final half dozen women were promising.”

“Which one did you want the most?”

He smiles his sleek, devilish smile. “She was exquisite. Long, golden hair. A proud heart. Nerves like fucking iron and the face of an angel. Her beauty was perfection against those sparkling pink diamonds. All she had to do was reach out and take my hand.” The smile drops from his face. “But she chose death instead of life by my side, so she wasn’t the one, after all.”

I remember the mixture of shock and delight on his face as the wind blew our hair around our faces on the edge of that cliff. He held out his hand to me, and I didn’t know if he intended to kiss me or kill me. “You would have married me if I’d stepped away from that cliff edge and into your arms?”

Konstantin runs his tongue over his teeth, considering this. “After everything you did to the three of us, I would have been crazy to take you as my wife. So yes, I would have married you.”

I burst out laughing. “Really? You’re crazy, you know that?”

He returns my smile, leaning back against the wall. “I love a challenge,milaya. I always want the best of everything, and despite what I thought, the best woman isn’t a tame dog.” His gaze arrows into mine. “A pity you ruined everything by stealing from me.”

My laughter dies away. “You ruined it by taking seventeen women prisoner and murdering one of them.”

“But then I never would have met you. Elyah thought I was insane for putting my hands on you, considering what my last bride was. I ignored the warning signs when it came to her. I trusted her when I shouldn’t have, and I never tried to earn her loyalty.”

I’m still not peeing, but both of us seem to be enjoying our conversation too much to care. “How would you earn mine?”

He puts his head on one side, gazing at me. For a long time, he doesn’t say anything, and I realize he doesn’t know what to offer me. Disappointment washes over me, but I quickly shove it aside. I don’t want Konstantin to understand me inside and out. I want to run and never see him again.

“By giving you what no man ever has. His total and utter respect and devotion.”

I swallow hard and force my face not to reveal anything as my heart thumps hard in my chest, every pound echoing withyes, yes, yes. “Respect and devotion? Please. How about,Sorry for locking you in a cellar?”

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