Page 31 of Betraying Family Vows
I should be grateful he didn't kill me after I ran.
Instead, I'm here. With him.
Still breathing.
Still his prisoner.
Still furious.
"Is this like last time, or can you tell me where we're going?" I ask, knowing the answer.
Silence. His jaw works, flexing and releasing as he stares ahead at the dark road.
And what's weird about him, his silence feels worse than if he were screaming.
You can't fight silence. You can react to screams. But this? It'll drive you insane.
A streetlight catches on his tattoos, illuminating the designs running from his hands up his forearms.
After another ten minutes of stillness, he finally speaks.
"Do you always run when you're scared?" he asks, eyes never leaving the road.
"I wasn't scared."
"Liar."
I turn toward the window, watching the shadows of olive trees blur past. "You've killed people. I'd be stupid not to run."
"And are you stupid, Athena?"
"No," I snap. "That's pretty fucking rude."
He shrugs.
"Then explain why you thought drugging me at my brother's wedding was a good plan."
Without taking his eyes off the road, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a phone.
I instantly recognize it.
Shit.
It's the burner I'd been using.
"Explain John G."
My stomach drops. "Give me that."
He ignores me, slowing the car and cutting the wheel sharply onto a smaller road.
"Tell me about him. Now."
"He's nobody."
Dimitri laughs, low and dark. "Nobody doesn't set up elaborate kidnappings of men like me."
"Maybe you're not as important as you think."
