Page 14 of Shattered Cradle (Makarova Bratva Duet)

I’ve tried so hard not to see it myself.

I take a step forward. “Olivia,” I whisper, tilting her chin upwards to face me. “Did he give you a name?”

“What?”

“A name,” I repeat. “His so-called goddaughter. Did your brother mention the girl’s name?”

Her forehead wrinkles as she tries to remember. But I can already tell what the answer will be. “No… No, I don’t think he did.”

“Because there is no such girl,” I say as gently as I can. “It’s a sick lie to make you believe that Hargrove has a personal stake in this vendetta. He does—but not in the way he’s telling you.”

“Why would he choose to frame you?”

“You said it yourself—he’s good, I’m bad. It’s easier for the world to accept me as the villain than him.”

She looks out the window and sighs. “I don’t know. I don’t fucking know.”

“You know I’m telling you the truth.”

Her eyes snap to mine. “How do you figure that?”

“Because when you opened the door and saw me waiting for you, you didn’t run. You didn’t scream. You walked straight to me. Almost like you were already waiting for me to show up.”

A blush creeps up her cheeks, but she’s trying hard to fight it. “Don’t read too much into it.”

She turns away to hide her face from me and reintroduce some distance between our heated bodies.

I don’t blame her. The proximity was getting dangerous.

“What are you doing here?” she asks. “What are youreallydoing here, I mean. Because convincing me you’re the good guy doesn’t seem worth all this trouble. You made it clear you don’t give a shit about me.”

“I thought you should know who you ran away to.”

“I was trying to run to my family,” she snaps. “They brought me here.”

“Cozy new place for the whole gang, eh?”

She throws me an annoyed glance. “It’s not my first choice, either. But you’ve ruined that house for them. They don’t want to go back to it. They all think you’re a monster!”

“And that bothers you?”

She stops short. “I—that’s not what—”

“You think I’m a monster, too. Or at least, you did. Has something changed?”

She chews at her bottom lip. “I… It’s hard to explain. I’m not defending you, it’s just… Shit, maybe I have. But every time I try, I sound insane! Delusional. They look at me and they don’t see their sister or their daughter; they see some naive, brainwashed idiot with a bad case of Stockholm syndrome.”

Her chest rises and falls with labored breathing. I can’t help but follow the movement. She looks so fucking good, despite the fact that her cheeks have hollowed a little.

“Do you like me now, Olivia? Do youloveme?”

“It’s not like that.”

“Then what is it like?” I ask, inching closer to her.

She grits her teeth but stands her ground. “Do you just enjoy antagonizing me?”

I smile as her body trembles. It’s slight. But I’m paying attention.

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