Page 92 of Dmitri

No. No, no, no, no.

“I’m so sorry, Daelyn. There’s no excuse to have done that to you. I don’t even remember when I could have—”

“It wasn’t from you,” I blurt out.

He goes so still I think he’s a second away from exploding. “What?”

It’s too late to take it back now. And honestly, I don’t want to lie to Dmitri. Of all the things I could let slide in my miserable life, Dmitri believing he hurt me when he absolutely didn’t will not be one of them.

“It wasn’t from you.” My shoulders droop because I’ve just dug my grave deeper by admitting that.

“Who did it then?” Dmitri’s tone is level. Too calm. “Who, Daelyn?”

“It’s no one.”

“Bullshit.” He storms over to me and cups my face. “Give me a name.”

Slipping away from him, I shake my head. “It’s no one.”

I’m not giving up Kaleb’s name. Dmitri can glower all he wants, but I’m not giving him Kaleb’s goddamn name. I’m too scared Dmitri will go after him and what will happen then?

In a desperate attempt to tell him something, I count on my fingers.One. “I’m a bad person.”Two. “I was sent to ruin you.”Three. “I like desserts.”

His eyes widen.

Message received.

Chapter 25

Dmitri

I’m at a loss for words. I can honestly say that’s never happened to me before. Daelyn just gave me two truths and a lie, and I knowexactlywhat the lie is. She told me the other night that she hates desserts.

She’s a bad person. She was sent to ruin me.

Daelyn succeeded in her mission because this cannot get any worse. And when I find out who’s hurt her, I’m going to kill them.

Instead of walking out the door, I’m closing the space between us and crouching down so she sits taller than me. I want her to feel like she’s got some power here, and I’ll shrink myself to seem smaller if it’ll help.

No words are said. She won’t even look at me. It gives me a chance to really examine Daelyn and work shit out in my head. The little veins around her eyes are broken. Either she’s cried or screamed too hard. There’s also a blood vessel in her right eye that’s busted, bleeding red towards her iris. Could have been caused by lack of oxygen or strenuous activity. Vomiting too hard can sometimes do that. Or asphyxiation. Which definitely relates to the handprint around her throat.

I close my eyes and count to ten. The fury flooding my system will not get an outlet here, so I need to control it for Daelyn’s sake. The last thing I want to do is go off the rails and destroy her room in a fit of rage, because it’ll only terrify her more. She’s been through enough as it is.

There’s a bandage on her finger and another on her arm.

I can’t believe I was so lust-crazy for her when I came inside that I hadn’t noticed those things. Even as I wrapped abelt around her wrists and fucked her from behind. Dark room be damned, I can’t blame the lighting for this unforgivable mistake. I was too focused on getting my dick wet to notice her well-being before taking what I craved. That I’ve become a mindless monster is reason enough to walk away and never see this woman again.

Except that’s not happening. From this night forward, I’m keeping her with me. If Daelyn won’t tell me the name of the walking dead man who hurt her, I’ll drag it out of her another way, because for her to get those marks means she went against orders somehow. They’ve used cruelty and pain to force her back in line. They tried to hurt and scare her.

I’m a bad person. I do bad things. She said those things the other day with guilt pouring from each word.

And she’s protecting the monster that’s sent her to ruin me.

I can’t be mad about it, because I’ve protected enough monsters too and I know how sharp that double-edged sword feels…

“Dmitri, come eat,” Mom orders from the other side of the door.

I can’t move from toilet. “I’ll be out in a minute.”

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