Page 153 of Shattered Cradle (Makarova Bratva Duet)

“And you’re the one who ran right back the first chance you got.”

“Because I thought I could trust you!” she explodes suddenly. “I believed you!”

I raise my eyebrows in surprise. She’s no longer trying to hide how she’s feeling. In fact, I’m amazed she lasted this long.

But I don’t belittle her for her vulnerability the way I once did. We’re long past that.

Instead, I take a step forward and surprise her by resting the palm of my hand against her cheek. “You should trust your instincts.”

“Apparently, I don’t have any,” she snaps, trying to jerk her head away from me.

I don’t let her escape. “Look at me, Olivia.”

“No.”

She sets her jaw stubbornly and pointedly looks away.

So I run my fingers, light as a dreamer’s breath, across her throat. Gooseflesh pimples her skin immediately. I feel the shudder just underneath her skin.

“Your body gives you away every time,kiska.”

“Stop…” she breathes.

“Stop what?”

“Stop manipulating me.”

“Is that what I’m doing?”

She blinks at me and nods slowly.

“Then what would you sayyou’redoing?”

She frowns. “What do you mean?”

I tip my head to the side, watching her. “Are you not here to distract me?”

She freezes in slow, creeping horror when it hits her—I knowwhat she’s doing.

Her eyes go wide. She twists around and rips open the door. She’s expecting to see Yulia and the girl, no doubt, but they’re long gone.

Everything that happens from this point forward will happen very, very quickly.

Demyan and Jennifer round the corner and join us.

“They left,” Demyan informs me.

Jennifer’s eyes are focused on Olivia. “Liv, are you okay?”

She lunges at her former sister-in-law with new fire in her eyes. “What the hell are you playing at? What are you all playing at?”

“We’re not the ones playing games, Olivia,” I interject coolly. “We’re simply caught in someone else’s. And it’s time for it to end.”

“How much of a head start are we giving them?” Demyan asks impatiently.

“You knew the whole time?” Olivia interrupts with a gasp.

“I know everything that goes on in this house,” I growl. “Including the fact that my mother turned off the security cameras. She made it look like a malfunction, but I know when my shit has been tampered with.”

---