Page 131 of His Darkest Obsession
The color drains from Vassily's face. For the first time since we were children, I see genuine fear in his eyes. He swallows hard and nods quickly.
"Okay, okay,spokoina." He raises his hands, trembling, but I refuse to let him go. "We go kill him. Fuck, just put me down."
Roma moves toward the desk and reaches for the manila folder.
"DON'T TOUCH THAT!" I bellow, still pinning Vassily to the cracked window. "Don't you fucking dare touch it."
Roma freezes, his hand suspended in mid-air. "What could possibly be so damning in there, Tolya?"
I release Vassily, who slumps slightly against the window, straightening his collar with trembling fingers.
"Get the fuck back to the house," I say to Roma. "Now. And stay there."
Roma doesn't move. He just stares at me, trying to understand what could drive me to this breaking point.
And when he still refuses to move, I shout. "ETO MOI PRIKAZ!"
Roma finally nods and heads out the door. The moment it closes behind him, I release Vassily, and shove him away from me with disgust.
"Don't think you're off the hook, Vasya," I snarl, straightening my jacket. "We'll deal with Bennet first, but after that, you and I are going to have a conversation about your habit of snooping around without orders."
Vassily wipes at his mouth, a nervous gesture I've known since we were children. "I was just trying to help the bratva?—"
"Don't." My voice cuts through the air like a blade. "Don't fucking talk right now."
I stride toward the door, my mind replaying every single word from that NDA. It was nothing but clinical language and legal terms that all tried to sanitize an awful reality.
Miels is crying again tonight.
No wonder she changed her name and reinvented herself.
Miels is crying again tonight.
No wonder she has those scars.
Miels is crying again tonight.
No wonder she ran when she saw him again at the gala.
Miels is crying again tonight.
Now, everything makes sense. Every nightmare. Every tear.
Miels is crying again tonight.
I'm going to want to rip Grant Bennet apart limb by limb, starting with his hands.
I promised her I would give her the hands of the monster who hurt her.
It's time to make that promise come true.
41
INDIGO
The café buzzes around us,but I'm struggling to focus on anything beyond the constant low-level nausea that's been plaguing me all week.
"What do you think?" Amara flips her laptop across the table towards me. "I figure I need another couple of edits, but the bones are there."
