Page 78 of Cruel Promise

“Then I’ll get him to treat you like equals. Think about it, Maxim. It’s the smart move. Use Nikolai to your advantage rather than killing me.”

“He’ll never agree. He’s too fucking stubborn.”

“He hasn’t talked to me yet. Let me try. I know you want peace. I can see it in your eyes. You think, that if this works, it could be a smart idea. So, let me try.”

I’m pleading for the man who bought me. What kind of person have I become? Nikolai will hurt other people—unless I can get him to stop.

And if he were to stop, he could be a husband I could see myself caring for one day.

Maxim stares at me for a long, long moment. Then he nods once. “Fine. Follow me.”

He leads me down a hallway to a door at the end, which leads to a set of stairs, which leads down to a single door. When Maxim opens the door, I see Nikolai, his hands in cuffs chained to the ceiling.

He’s bloody and bruised and barely recognizable.

But he recognizes me. “Ava?”

“Hi,” I whisper.

Nikolai looks between Maxim and me. “What are you doing here? What is she doing her?”

I step forward. “I’ve come to save you.”

Chapter

Eleven

NIKOLAI

Ava’s words don’t make any sense.

“You’ve come to save me,” I say.

“Yes.” She steps forward, her blonde hair giving her a halo in the fluorescent light. She looks out of place in this room of blood and torture.

“You don’t belong her.” I look at Maxim. “You fucking bastard. You just couldn’t leave her alone, could you?”

“She came here. She wanted to talk.”

“Can I speak to my husband alone?”

Maxim gazes at her for a moment—too long of a moment. Then he leaves, shutting the door behind him.

“You shouldn’t be here,” I growl. “I will kill Maxim for taking you. For using you against me.”

Her eyes take me in. I know what she must see: my skin flayed away in some places, cuts so deep you can almost see bone, blood everywhere.

Maxim kept me alive, though. I’m nowhere near death, and yet it feels like it has already taken me.

“I came here myself,” Ava says. “Maxim didn’t kidnap me. He’s not using me against you. I meant what I said, Nikolai. I’ve come here to save you.”

I scoff. “No one can save me. Maxim won’t just let me walk out through that front door. You wasted your time. And now, you’re in a house full of fucking bikers who’ll hurt you. You should be back home, safe.”

She crosses her arms. “Locked up, you mean?”

“Yes.” No use pretending anything otherwise.

“I don’t even know why I bothered,” she mutters to herself. “Nikolai, I really did come here to help. But if you don’t want it, I’ll leave right now. Maxim won’t hurt me. He’s made that very clear. I’ll just walk out that door and leave you to die in here. I’ll start my life somewhere else. Maybe with someone else.”

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