Page 81 of Caged in Desire
“Ah, your uncle, you say?” I say, finishing the tie around her ankles.
“Excuse me?”
“So Simon L. Dixonwasyou, then.” My grin this time is sincere since I have her bound in front of me with no way to escape. “And why did you kill Tommy, Simona?” I ask.
She narrows her eyes at me, realization starting to sink in. “He got in my way,” she deadpans.
I stay on my haunches, my eyeline level with hers as I stare at her. “Your way ofwhat,Simona?”
“You!” she yells, pulling harder on her restraints.
I walk back to my chair, sipping my scotch, relieved that I don’t have to act anymore. “I wouldn’t do that. You, for one, should know how practiced I am in shibari. Not that you’ve ever experienced it firsthand.” I pause to take a sip of my drink. “Katarina has, though.”
If looks could kill, I’d be dead before her poison takes her out.
“What? You thought I was actually trying to kill my wife? Tsk, tsk, tsk. That was very silly of you,Simona.Katarina is the love of my life. Sheismy life. There are no lengths I wouldn’t go to keep her safe, and nobody I wouldn’t burn who might cause her harm. Plus, she is a beautiful little thing, isn’t she? And let me tell you a secret.” I pause to lean closer. “She’s got the most amazing little pussy.”
She’s practically frothing at the mouth as my words hit their mark. “You were supposed to marry me!” she screams. “If itwasn’t for that cunt Pavel telling his father about my mom getting knocked up, she wouldn’t have been disowned from theprecious Taranov family. Ishould have been the one to take her place in that stupid contract! Not thatteenagewhore! While I fought to keep food on the table for my addict mother, she got to grow up like a little princess in her gilded palace. She tookeverythingfrom me, and I swore she wasn’t going to take you too. She hasnobusiness fucking around with a mantwiceher age! I know what you like,Henry.I spent the last decade making sure every partner you had was qualified enough for your bed, and there isnoway thatperfectvirgin girl knows what to do to please you.”
I stand, sending a text to Sasha, letting him know to send in Kat for the next stage of our plan. “I guess you’re about to find out.”
Chapter thirty-eight
When Henry, Sasha, and my dad formed this plan, it sounded so straightforward. Lure Linda under the guise of Henry wanting to be rid of me. Give her a sob story about how he was sorry he had fallen for my “teenage whorishness,” then bring her back to a property that Sasha owns to question her, get a confession, and turn her over to the police. Whatever this old house is, it’s creepy. I’m with Sasha and one of his “men,” sitting and waiting for Henry and Linda to show up. I thought briefly about asking Sasha why he owns a house in the sketchy part of town, but I think I finally get the picture. Ireallydo not want to know what Sasha gets up to.
I’m trying to stay strong and stay mad at Linda, but I’m starting to have second thoughts about all this. Maybe she’s not necessarily psycho, just misguided. Or sheispsycho, and that’s really not her fault. I certainly know firsthand how awful our family can be. She might need a mental hospital instead of a jail. I tried mentioning this to Henry, but he wouldn’t hear of it. To him, she needs to be punished accordingly for attempting to kill me. Not to mention the murders she successfully committed.Sasha, similarly, wouldn’t hear of showing any mercy. Ivan, when I tried to broach the subject, mumbled something under his breath in Russian about the police being the least of her worries.
While Sasha, Ivan, and some other very large men wait in one of the back rooms of this house for Henry’s all clear, I try to remind myself that he will handle this, and once it’s over, we can live in peace. I turn my attention back to chatting with Sasha about his plans for the new year. He’s being vague, but it sounds like he might spend a lot more time here, so I’ll get to see him more.
“I had to kill her before she could ruin you by getting pregnant! The last thing you need is a half-whore abomination of a baby, Henry, can’t you see!” Linda screams, and I see red.
Oh, this bitch.Any hint of sympathy I may have held for her is gone in an instant. She wasn’t just coming for me. I completely understand Henry’s point of view now. She deserves no mercy. Sasha and my dad see my clenched jaw and nod at Henry, each kissing the top of my head as they leave the building. Whatever they saw in my eyes showed them their work is done here. Henry’s obviously heard enough as well, as he places a piece of duct tape over her mouth.
One of Sasha’s men pulls a bottle from his pocket before yanking Linda’s head back and placing a few drops in each of her eyes. She tries to close her eyes before screaming under the tape.
“What is that?” I ask, happy that this monster is feeling some pain after all she’s inflicted on my family.
The man replies in a thick Russian accent. “To keep eyes open. Will hurt more to close.”
Henry thanks him and pats him on the back as he exits, leaving only the two of us with Linda, who clearly wants to close her eyes but can’t.
Arranging the furniture in the room, Henry moves one chair into the center, facing Linda but ten feet away. She eyes him warily, and I have no idea what he’s going to do next. I’ve seen him almost lose control—on the plane when Ivan offered to take me back. I’ve seen him actually lose control—when he left in a fury to go accuse Ivan of being behind the threat to me and Pavel. Now, he seems veryincontrol, and it’s more intimidating than anything I’ve seen before.
He sits in the chair, patting his knee in a gesture for me to come. I perch myself on his lap with my arms around his neck, and he takes a long inhale of the crook of my neck before facing Linda. His voice is steady, calm, and utterly terrifying.
“I’ll level with you, Linda. You’ve killed multiple people, in cold blood, with no regard for their families or the lives you were destroying. I could give a fuck about any of them. In fact, by killing Pavel Taranov, you allowed my wife to meet her true father much earlier than she likely would have otherwise. So thank you for that, I suppose,” he says conversationally.
He’s rubbing soft circles on my back with one hand and my thigh with the other, and I find myself soothed that he’s safe and here. With Linda tied up and obviously no longer a threat, I feel safe for the first time in too long. I know Sasha and Ivan are outside with their men, and hopefully, this will all be over soon. Henry’s hand starts moving up my inner thigh, and I tense. He squeezes to reassure me, and I relax further into his embrace.
“Your mistake was thinking that you knew better than me, and that you deserved to have any say in my life whatsoever. Your life was forfeit the moment that you decided to try to murder mywife!” His booming voice at the end of his sentence is the only thing that betrays his anger, and I’m still considering the fact that he said “forfeit her life” when he continues.
“The wine you drank contains the same poisonous fruit you’ve been using on your murderous rampage, the same kind you sent to try to take my wife from me,” he says, and Linda screams beneath her duct tape. “That’s right. At most, you have two hours left now, so we’d best get started. Whatever pathetic jealousy you’ve felt is about to be magnified, because the last thing you’re going to see before you die is how beautiful my wife is when I fuck her. If we’re lucky, tonight will be the night we make the baby you were so enraged by. That is, if she’s not pregnant as we speak.”
Before I can even process what he just said, he’s flipped me around to straddle him on the chair, my legs dangling on either side of his. I can feel his dick throbbing underneath me, and despite myself, I squirm, chasing the friction.
“She tried to take you from me,” he whispers. “And she’s going to die for it, soon. She was delusional and wanted me, and I’m ensuring that she’s in misery for every last second of her pathetic existence. We’re going to ignore her completely, and you’re going to take me right now, in all three of your little holes. Because you. Are. Mine. Isn’t that right, little girl?”
I see it now, buried behind the dilated black of his pupils. Henry hasn’t loved before me, and he never would again if I was taken from him. He’s given me every bit of himself, and in return, he demands all of me. He’s killing for me, defending our future family, and I have no doubt he would again. I knew when he told me he loved me and he’d burn the earth for me that he meant it, and now he’s showing me. I’m not sure what it is withinhim that needs to make Linda suffer in this way, but I can see in his eyes that he’s begging me to trust him. It doesn’t matter to me why he needs this. He wants to claim me here, end this nightmare, then put it all behind us so we can go home. I give him the only answer I’ll ever feel, because I am his.
