Page 59 of Hell Hath No Fury

“Like you have the first goddamn clue how to be honest.”

“I don’t have anything left to my name,” he retorts. “But one thing I do have is my word.”

“Why would we believe your word is any good at this point?”

Frowning, he retorts, “I’ve never lied to you—not directly.”

Antoinette’s body goes rigid, and Mickey moves to stand, but I wave him off, wanting to see what Antoinette will do with this ridiculous statement. “How can you fucking say that? You lied to me for months.”

Dmitri gives her a bored look, this time lifting only one shoulder as he responds, “Sure, my actions reinforced the lie, but I never actually told you a lie. Others put the ideas in your head, and then I followed your lead.”

“Are you trying to insinuate that our fake life together was my fault?”

“Well, no, not really,” Dmitri sputters, suddenly not appearing as confident as he was. “But it didn’t take too much direction to keep you on the path.”

Antoinette turns to Mickey, waving a hand toward Dmitri as she says, “You can kill him now.”

Mickey’s eyes light up, and he’s already on his feet as I interject, “Nope. No, you can’t.”

The old man gives me an annoyed look but returns to his seat without arguing, and I take a deep breath as I search for some patience.

Then Antoinette mutters, “You make it out like you fucking believe you saved me or some insane bullshit like that.”

“But Ididsave you,“ he replies shortly. “I pulled you from the water when I was under no obligation to do so. And then, when they would’ve attempted to come for you, I prevented it. I protected you from a fate far worse than being stuck married to the likes of me. A fate far worse than death even.”

“And what?” Antoinette spits out. “Do you want me to fucking thank you for it?”

“Of course not.”

“Then what’s with the idiotic explanation?”

He stares at her blankly for a moment, then looks away. “I’m the enemy, I get that. But I want you to believe I won’t hurt you.”

She gives him an incredulous look, her eyes burning with rage and shock. “You won’t fucking hurt me?”

“That’s right. I give you my word.”

She tilts her head, then says, “You do realize that means you also can’t hurt anyone I care about because that would fucking hurt me?”

His serious expression falters a bit, but then he recovers and nods. “Yes.”

“Especially Darius,” she states clearly, leaning forward in her seat to stare him dead in the eyes.

He winces slightly but continues to meet her gaze, unwavering. He swallows visibly then nods again, this time with more certainty. “Yes, this is my vow.”

Their gazes remain locked for a few long moments, but then Dmitri blinks. Antoinette shoots out of her seat in a rush, walking briskly to the back of the plane where she throws herself into a chair, facing away.

I follow her slowly, giving her some time to collect herself before I take the seat next to her. “What is it? What’s the problem?”

“I don’t know,” she whispers, her arms wrapping around her middle as if she’s trying to comfort herself. “Everything just feels fucked, and I don’t know how to fix it.”

Sighing, I scoot in next to her, leaning close so she can hear my hushed words. “You can be grateful to be alive while still condemning the man who saved you.”

“I know that.”

“Do you? Is it something else then?”

She stares at the floor, hugging herself even tighter. “All my feelings are jumbled. I don’t even know what to believe anymore.”

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