Page 33 of Captured By the Russian Wolf

"I know who your husband was," I said again, my voice cold. "Alexei Morozov. The man who betrayed my family. The man I had executed."

Her breath came in shallow, uneven gasps, and I could see the panic rising in her eyes. This was it—the moment her lies had finally caught up with her. I watched her, every movement, every twitch of her hands, as she tried to gather herself. She wasn't going to get away with it. Not this time.

"Nikita…" she whispered, her voice fragile, broken.

I stepped even closer, looming over her as I let the silence stretch out. I wanted her to feel it—the weight of the truth crashing down on her. I wanted her to know exactly what she had done.

"You thought I wouldn't find out?" I repeated, my voice a low growl. "You thought I wouldn't learn the truth?"

Her lips parted, but no words came. She didn't have a defense. There was nothing she could say that would make this better. She had been lying to me from the start. Everything between us—the trust, the intimacy—had been built on her deception.

"I—" she started, but her voice cracked, and she closed her eyes, the shame written across her face.

"Tell me why," I demanded, my voice rough, biting. "Tell me why you're really here."

Her eyes snapped open, meeting mine with a flash of desperation. "I… I didn't know how to tell you," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "At first, I thought I could… I thought I could just walk away, but then?—"

"Walk away?" I spat, cutting her off. "You thought you could walk into my life, use me, and then walk away like nothing ever happened?"

Her body tensed, and I saw the guilt flash in her eyes. She couldn't lie to me anymore, not when I was spitting out the truth. But she still wasn't giving me the one thing I needed—the one thing that would make any of this make sense.

"I need answers, Lily," I growled, my hands itching to grab her, to shake the truth out of her. "Why are you here? Why did you do this?"

She flinched at the harshness of my voice, her shoulders trembling as she stared down at her hands, avoiding my gaze. The seconds ticked by, and my patience was wearing thin. I was done waiting. Done giving her the benefit of the doubt.

"I wanted to get revenge," she finally said, her voice shaking.

I didn't move, my body rigid as her words sank in.

"Revenge?" I repeated, incredulous. "Your husband betrayed me, betrayed my family. And I had him killed."

Her face paled, and I could see her struggling to keep her composure. She was teetering on the edge, and I was right there, ready to push her over.

"But I didn't know why," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "No one told me what happened."

Her words hung in the air, and I stared down at her, the fury simmering inside me. "Why?" I growled. "Why? He sold me out, Lily. He betrayed my family. He deserved to die."

Her eyes snapped up to mine, filled with a mix of fear and her own anger, her own hurt. "And what about me?" she asked, her voice trembling. "What do I deserve?"

I leaned down, my face inches from hers, the anger boiling. "You tell me, Lily," I growled, my voice low and menacing. "What do you deserve for lying to me? For deceiving me?"

Tears welled in her eyes, but I didn't care. I wanted her to feel the weight of her betrayal, to know that she had crossed a line that could never be undone.

"I didn't know what to do," she whispered, her voice shaking. "I didn't know how to stop…"

"Stop?" I spat, my voice harsh. "You could have stopped at any time. You could have told me the truth. But instead, you kept lying, kept playing this fucking game."

She shook her head, her tears spilling over, running down her cheeks. "It wasn't a game," she whispered, her voice breaking. "I didn't mean for it to go this far."

I straightened, taking a step back as I looked down at her. "And what were you going to do?" I asked coldly. "How were you going to get revenge?"

She didn't answer right away, her eyes flicking away from mine as she struggled to find the words. But I could see it in her face, in the way her lips trembled and her body shook. She had fallen into her own trap, and now there was no escape.

"I thought… I thought I could poison you," she finally admitted.

I froze, my entire body going rigid as her words sank in.

Poison.

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