Page 104 of Fake Fae-Ancée

Bates bowed slightly, offering her the briefcase. "All signed and safely stowed, milady."

"Excellent."

Her gaze fell on Nox. The assassin had frozen in his seat the moment Anastasia had entered the prison. I realized he had been staring at her, his dull eyes starting to sparkle as if she were a piece of birthday cake with a sparkler on top. He hurried to rise from his seat, chair scraping against the concrete floor.

"You." Anastasia’s voice was surprisingly tender as she took a step toward him. "This wouldn’t have worked without you, Nox. I owe you."

"You don’t owe me a thing, Sunshine," he said, sounding hoarse. I squinted at the strange scene playing out in front of me. The black storm cloud of an assassin who wanted to kill me, mind you, and the bitch-queen from hell exchanging — endearments? At this point, at the latest, the last pieces of the puzzle fell into place.

"Isn't it a bit desperate to win back an ex?" I groaned out with half a laugh. "Hiring a hitman to eliminate the competition?"

Nox growled, but Anastasia patted his arm and the assassin sank back down on his chair.

"You're no competition." She strutted back in front of the cage and looked down at me. "Just a stain to keep off the name of the Kalinin family."

"I see." I grinned, biting away the pain of the Witch-iron's touch.

Anastasia smiled. "It's not just about Yuri finally getting a proper woman. It's about undoing his mistake."

"Then why make me sign the papers in the first place?" I asked. "Why not just kill me?"

Anastasia's smile widened.

"Oh, we will kill you. But it's not like anyone has to know he's divorced when I marry him."

Rage and fear both rose in me like nausea, but the magnetic pressure of the cage pushed me relentlessly to the ground and I could only gasp.

Anastasia huffed a laugh and turned back to Nox.

"Keep an eye on her," she said, " Wait until I give the order."

And what order might that be? A chill ran down my spine. I was in real deep shit.

Nox, having shot back up from his chair, nodded and sank into a deep bow before her.

"Whatever you wish, milady."

Anastasia regarded him, then turned and, with a brief nod to Bates, who followed silently, strutted out of the room.

The door closed with a metallic bang.

Kai

"So,I think I’ve figured it out."

"Shut up," Nox growled.

I didn’t. Nox wouldn’t hurt me as long as Anastasia wouldn’t tell him to. And I had found out how Nox ticked. I had only a brief timeframe to exploit that. So I fucking kept talking.

"Anastasia probably doesn’t give a damn if she’s queen or not. If she did, she’d probably be striving to marry the current king, right?"

"Shut. Up!"

I crawled further toward the bars of my cage, disregarding the sting of the Witch-iron.

"She’s smitten with the prince," I said, panting against the strain of the wretched metal. "Or maybe she thinks she is. But you wanna know what I think she really wants?"

"No." Nox was still sitting motionless in his chair facing the cage. He looked past me, trying convulsively to ignore me.

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