Page 52 of Killer's Obsession
I look up at him, searching his face. The face I’ve come to trust. To love, even if I haven’t said the words out loud yet.
“When were you going to tell me?” My voice shakes.
His brow furrows. “Tell you what?”
“That you claimed me as your old lady.”
The color drains from his face, and I know instantly that it’s true. That Pinky wasn’t mistaken.
“Memphis—”
“When?” I demand, standing up now, needing to be on my feet for this conversation.
He runs a hand over his faux hawk, a gesture I’ve come to recognize as his tell when he’s uncomfortable. “A couple of weeks ago.”
I narrow my eyes. “And it didn’t occur to you that I might have something to say about that?” I didn’t, but that wasn’t the freaking point. He didn’t run any of this by me. Like, I didn’thave a choice. That alone only adds fuel to the fire burning inside me.
Asshole!
“I was going to,” he says, his eyes pleading with me to understand. “I just... I was waiting for the right time.”
“The right time?” I repeat incredulously.
He steps toward me, but I back away, needing space. “It was to protect you.”
“Protect me? From what?”
His jaw clenches, and I can see him wrestling with something.
My eyebrows shoot up. “What? There’s more?”
He licks his lips and looks away.
Shit. There is.
“Tell me it all, Killer. I have a right to know about things happening that are about me.” I feel like I’m begging him for something I shouldn’t have to ask for. The goddamn truth.
“I was trying to protect you from the Russians.”
I blink, momentarily derailed. “What Russians?”
“The ones who were working with the Talons.” He takes a deep breath. “The ones your father sold you to.”
My already broken heart drops into the pit of my stomach, and the room tilts sideways. I grab the edge of the dresser to steady myself. “My father... what… what are you talking about?”
His expression is almost… pained. “Your father sold you to the Bratva to pay off his gambling debts. That’s why you were taken, why you ended up with the Talons. They were holding you for a man named Nikolai Sidorov.”
Each word hits harder than the one before. My father. The person who was supposed to protect me above all others. Sold me. Like I meant nothing to him.
“How long have you known about this?” My voice sounds strange even to my own ears.
He hesitates, and that’s all the answer I need.
“You’ve known from the beginning, haven’t you?” I whisper, the betrayal cutting deep. “All this time I’ve been wondering what happened, why I was taken, and you knew.”
He clasps his hands together on top of his head. “Fuck! Baby… I was trying to protect you,” he repeats, his voice strained. “You were in rough fucking shape when we found you. I didn’t think you’d ever come out of my room. Then you did this 360.” He shakes his head like he can’t believe it. “So goddamn strong. I thought it’d break you again.”
“So you lied to me instead?” The anger is rising now, pushing past the shock. “You kept this massive secret about my life from me?”
