Page 29 of Crowned

“We’re well past sorries and explanations,milaya. I don’t want that from you, and you can expect nothing of the kind from me.”

“Elyah gave me his devotion and I never fell at his feet.”

“Elyah saw a damsel, not a woman. He underestimated you, and I underestimated you, too.” His eyes fill with challenge and…warmth? Shock slams into me as I realize that cold, cruel Konstantin is giving me what no man ever has.

Respect.

For my mind. For my abilities. For standing up to him at the peak of his power and brutality. What would it be like to have his devotion as well? I imagine taking my place at his side, not as his vessel or his subordinate, but as his equal. My gaze drops to his hands. I can picture them cupping my swollen belly and whispering that he will protect our child with his life.

I take a shaky breath and push a hand through my hair. Why can’t I just freaking pee?

“What was it you wanted to tell me? Is it about the diamonds?”

I lick my top lip, thinking carefully. “My situation has changed since I escaped your pageant.”

His gaze narrows. “How?”

I open my mouth and hesitate. Careful, Lilia. “Things are…complicated.”

“How?”

“I won’t go back to being someone’s unthinking doll,” I say quickly. “Being smacked around for having a miscarriage.”

Konstantin’s brows have drawn together but he says nothing.

“I don’t want that and you…” I rub my forehead as if it pains me to say this. “You don’t either. You want an equal, and we both know I’m it.”

“There’s just one problem, Lilia.”

“I know. The diamonds. Well, I won’t give them back. My pride won’t allow it after everything you did to me and the other women. But…what if I keep them and you keep me?”

I fight with everything I have to keep a straight face. With my underwear around my ankles, sitting on the toilet in a freezing cold restroom, I’m giving the performance of my life.

Konstantin’s eyes widen in shock. His lips part and he’s about to say something, but then a wall slams down behind them. “Just fucking pee, Lilia.”

I sigh and drop my head as if he’s dashed my last hope. A few moments later, after managing to use the toilet, I stand to pull my underwear on and wash my hands in the tiny, cracked basin.

Konstantin is gazing at me with an unguarded expression, something like regret tinging his features. I think he might be imagining something like I was painting for him a few moments ago.

I rummage around in my handbag, my movements casual like I’m hunting for lip gloss. My fingers close around a long, slim tube.

I turn to him and put my hand on his sleeve, my eyes huge and sorrowful. “Konstantin, what you said about earning my loyalty…”

He’s too busy staring into my eyes and wondering what might have been to notice when I lift something to my lips. The object is just a few inches long and it’s hollow and tapered at the end closest to my mouth. I bought this in Trieste. Just for Konstantin.

I blow through the tube. Hard.

A high-pitched shriek rends the air. It’s not loud, but it’s viciously sharp.

“Fuck!” Konstantin grabs his skull and doubles over, gasping in pain. The whistle is more powerful than the screaming of a woman in pain, a sound that Konstantin finds excruciating. His knees buckle beneath him, and he hits the floor.

I like him down there on his knees, sweating and swearing and clutching his head. “You really think you can ever earn my loyalty? You’ll be groveling for a thousand years before I give you one little piece of my heart.”

I run past him and burst out of the bathroom. My hair is flying around my head and my face is wretched with anguish as I come face to face with a startled Elyah and Kirill.

I point behind me and cry, “Something’s wrong with Konstantin. It’s his head.”

Their boss. Their friend. They push past me to get to him—but both of them immediately realize their mistake and turn back.

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