Page 69 of Savage Princess

I feel a knot of ice forming in my belly at that, and my hands clutch at the arms of the chair despite myself. I don’t know for sure if he’s telling the truth, if he’s only saying it to put me on edge—I have no waytoknow. All I can see are the men holding their hands of cards, and I don’t know what any of it really means—how to read any of them.

“You know,” Vasquez says conversationally, still watching the game through the window. “Diego Gonzalez no longer wants you for himself. He believes after so much time with Volkov, your innocence must be gone. After what I saw in my office today, I am inclined to agree.”

His fingers flick out, and I feel them brush against my hair. It’s all I can do not to flinch away. “So he has other plans for you. A different buyer. It is not necessary that you be untouched, the way it might have been before. So if Volkov loses—”

Vasquez’s fingers curl around strands of my hair, lifting them to his nose as he inhales. “I will enjoy you for a few nights, until he comes to collect you or sends someone. And I willverymuch take pleasure in that, I think. After all, it’s only Volkov who has had you, yes? You are still very new to all the things that a man can do, especially one who is not concerned with how you might feel about it. I think I will enjoy that very much.”

I press my lips together, fighting back the surge of bile that rises up in my throat at the thought of this man’s hands on me, ofanyonetouching me who I don’t want, who isn’t Levin. My throat tightens, and I suck in shallow breaths, trying not to show how very afraid I am. How much I wish I could break down and sob.

I have faith in Levin. He’ll win.

I don’t say a word. I think Vasquez is the kind of man who wants me to plead and cry, who hopes I’ll beg him for mercy, that I’ll bargain with him. I refuse to let him see me fall apart like that. I turn my face away, watching the game through the window, as if his words don’t mean anything to me. As if I’m not the slightest bit afraid of what he’ll do to me.

I can play my own kind of game.

I watch the players drop out until it’s very near the end. I truly don’t know if Levin is going to win or not. Vasquez stays, eventually retreating to the back of the room. I can still feel his presence behind me, looming like a bad omen. But I sit there, fingers clenched around the arms of the chair until my hands go numb, until the last hand is played.

It takes me a moment to realize that Levin has won. I don’t react at first, sitting there in stunned silence. And then I hear footsteps and feel one of the guards hauling me out of the chair as his hand clamps around my arm, and my stomach twists with fear.

Is Vasquez going to keep his promise?

I have no idea if he is or not. I swallow hard, keeping my chin up as I’m marched out of the room and down the hall, back to Vasquez’s office. The man himself follows behind, and then a few moments later, the doors open again, and Levin is brought in.

I refuse to ask what’s going to happen next. I refuse to do anything except expect that Vasquez is going to keep his word, even if I know that the chances that something else will happen are far from slim.

“I won.” Levin’s voice is cold and hard. “So you’ll let us leave, then. And the flight out?”

Vasquez’s lips twitch in a smile, and for one horrible moment, I think he’s going to say that it was all a trick. That he has no intention of keeping his word.

The seconds tick by. One, two, three, and I fist my hands at my sides, trying to keep the panic at bay. I can feel how tense Levin is next to me, and I don’t look at him. If I do, and see the truth that I’m afraid of on his face, I might break down.

I’m so horribly afraid.

And then Vasquez lets out a breath and smiles—agenuinesmile, or as much of one as a man like him could ever produce. “You will be taken to a hotel tonight; the room will be charged to me,” he says calmly. “With protection. And tomorrow, a flight to Boston will be arranged from my personal hangar. This is your prize, Levin Volkov.”

He shrugs, the smile still lingering on his lips. “You won it, as you said, fair and square.”

Elena

“Do you really think he’s going to let us leave tomorrow?”

I wrap my arms around myself as I look at Levin, the door of the hotel room firmly closed and locked behind us. Now that we’re alone and out of Vasquez’s mansion, I can feel the trembling starting, rippling through me as if I’m cold to the bone, even though the room is pleasantly warm.

The hotel we’ve been taken to is one of the most luxurious in the city, a five-star establishment. We were escorted through a marble and gold lobby, brought to the elevator, and up to the twelfth floor, where Levin was informed that if we needed anything, we could call to have it sent up, and that the door would be guarded until tomorrow, when we would be taken to Vasquez’ hangar. There’s no leaving, but ostensibly, there’s also no one who will be allowed in. That is—if this is really for our protection and not because Vasquez has us trapped and at his mercy.

Even with that fear lingering over us, I’m not insensible of where we are. The room we’ve been taken to is a suite, with a bed that looks bigger than a king situated in the middle of the back wall, heaped with soft-looking blankets and pillows. A door that leads to a bathroom that I’m sure is every bit as luxurious. The other door leads to a sitting area with soft couches, a gorgeous view of the city, and a fireplace and wet bar—and I have absolutely no intention of letting Levin sleep on one of those couches.

If we really are going to Boston tomorrow, this could be our last night together. I want to make it count.

“I don’t know.” Levin rubs a hand over his mouth. “We should be prepared for anything. From what I know of Vasquez—he’s a man of his word. He likes to play games and toy with those who want something from him, as we’ve seen. Still, he’s not a dishonorable man—at least not in the way that men in this world are considered dishonorable. I think tomorrow, we’ll be on our way to Boston. But it’s good to be prepared, just in case.”

I nod, swallowing hard. Every time I hearBoston, my stomach coils in knots. I’m supposed to want to go there, to get back home, but all I can think of is that it means losing Levin. Once the plane touches down, this is over.

Sometimes this has felt like a dream, other times like a nightmare. But all of it has been an adventure—and it’s beenouradventure. I don’t want to let go of that.

I don’t want to go back to a normal life, to be expected to behave like an ordinary twenty-one-year-old girl. I’m not that any longer.

“Speaking of Boston—” Levin clears his throat, rubbing his hand over the back of his neck, and I feel my heart drop into my stomach.This is it. This is the moment when he tells me it’s over. That there’s nothing else between us.

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