Page 42 of Merciless Sinner

“I’m sorry.”

Briefly, he presses his forehead to mine. “No, you’re not. You’re only sorry you got caught. If you’d gotten free, you would have headed for the hills and never looked back.”

He’s right, so when he steps back, I don’t try to deny it.

“You can’t run from the Bratva, Olivia,” he adds. “And you can’t run from me. Now that I’ve found you, there’s nowhere you can go that you can hide from me.”

His warning sends a chill rushing to every nerve ending in my body.

“Can’t you just let me go? This life isn’t for me. I don’t want to be part of it.”

He gives me a cynical smile and reaches into his pocket to pull out a small velvet box. A ring box.

My insides knot as I realize what that must be.

He opens the box, revealing a beautiful engagement ring. The diamond glistens against the light, along with the delicate platinum band it’s set in.

My mouth drops. I’ve only ever seen such decadence on the rich and fabulous who frequented Monte Carlo flashing their wealth and fame from head to toe.

Virgo reaches for my hand slips the ring onto my finger, smiling brighter as it fits like a second skin.

“You are mine,” he informs me. “Mine.”

“I don’t want to be.”

My words sound cruel to my own ears, and they create a psychotic look in his eyes that terrifies me.

Seeming to regain some sense of his humanity, he moves back and simply looks me over.

“You can stay in here for tonight’s punishment. I’ll figure out what to do with you in the morning for therestof your punishment.”

“I said I was sorry.”

“And I toldyoubefore not to lie to me. Let’s see if you’re feeling more loyal in the morning,” he grates out in a harsh voice.

“You fucking asshole,” I lash out, rattling the chains again. “You can’t leave me in here all night.”

“Watch me.”

Virgo turns and walks away, straight through the door, leaving me to my thoughts and his engagement ring on my finger.

The door slams shut, the light switches off, and the next sound I hear is the key in the lock.

The weight of my worries sinks me deeper into the darkness, and this time when my tears threaten to fall, I let them.

God.

Everything is complete shit, and I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing anymore.

I feel like I took a left turn somewhere along the road of life and can’t find my way back to fix it.

I can’t findanyway back, and I don’t even know whatbacklooks like for me.

I’m freaking out and making crazy mistakes. On top of that, I’m stuck with a man who wants to keep me and claim me as his.

I hate to think of Petr now, but I recall what he said about Virgo. That he would only be interested in me if he decided to claim me. Even if I didn’t know I’d been claimed.

I got confirmation of that just now.

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