Viktor(53)
“Watch me.”
That’s it. Now, she’s gone and done it. “Think you can still leave after hearing all this? Wrong. You aren’t getting away from me, Alexis Kidd. Not this time.”
Chapter 17
Viktor
She runs up the stairs, and I rush after her, skipping steps along the way. Through the hallway and up into the guest corridor. I’m like a fucking bulldozer, ramming everything in my path so I can get to her quicker. Breaking shit is the least of my worries right now. She’s trying to escape, but I won’t let her.
As she runs, she glances over her shoulder, a hint of fear collecting in her eyes. It hurts just to see it, but it hurts, even more, to see her running away from me.
“Stop!” I yell.
But she keeps going until she reaches her guestroom. I catch up just in time. Before she can shut the door, my foot’s already stuck between.
“Move!” she says.
“No,” I say, grabbing the door. “Are you that eager to shut me out again?”
“Just go away,” she says, trying to push me out, but I’m not having any of it.
I shove open the door, which pushes her back into the room, and walk in, shutting it behind me.
“You think it’s that easy to run away from me?”
“You never told me the truth …” she hisses, walking backward. “You worked with them. Your ‘boss’ was Vladim; the same man you say turns girls into servants. And you fucking worked with him. How could I trust you?”
“I never lied. I just didn’t tell you the truth.”
Her eyes are focused on mine, but her feet take one step back as I take one forward. “Because you thought I couldn’t handle it.”
“Because I knew this would happen. You’re pulling away from me, again.”
“Who wouldn’t after hearing all that?”
I cock my head. “Is it really that? Or is it just me?”
“What?” She frowns.
“I know you hate being here. That you’re stuck here with me.”
“Who said that?” she says.
“You did when you looked at me with disgust. When you fucking slapped me across the face.” I point at my jawline, where I can still feel the sting of her rage.
“Be happy that’s all I did after finding out my whole life has been a lie and that I slept with the man who’s partly responsible.”
I like how she calls me a man. “I didn’t … I wasn’t the one doing that to you. Trust me when I say I never wanted to be in that position.”
“But you worked with them,” she hisses. “If it’s true what you told me, that makes you just as evil.”
“Exactly. Which is what I’ve been telling you from the beginning. I’m a monster.”
She makes a face, grinding her teeth as if she wants to say something, but then she spins on her heels and makes for the window. I race after her, capturing her right when she yanks it open.
“So that’s what you were doing in this room …” I growl as I wrap my arms tightly around her waist.
“Let me go!” she says, jerking and pulling at my arms, but I’m not about to let go.
Not this girl.
“And here I was, thinking I nailed them shut tightly enough,” I muse.
“You’re sick,” she spits.
My nostrils flare. “Don’t say things you don’t mean, Lexi.”
“It’s Alexis! How many times to I have to say it?”
“As many times as you want, but I’ll never stop calling you Lexi.”
“Why?” she says, still wriggling around.
“Because I give special names to things that are mine …”
“I’m not yours,” she hisses. “I never was.”
I frown. “Liar.”
“Let. Me. Go.” She won’t stop flailing around, even bringing herself in danger by leaning over the edge of the window. A gust of air swooshes into the room, bringing her scent to my nose. I smell as her hair gets caught in the wind, her head hanging out the window, grasping for freedom.
I lean in closer to her ear and whisper, “Are you that eager to run? That upset with me?”
“You didn’t tell me your boss was the same guy I remember from my childhood!”
“Because look at what happens when I do! You flip out!”
“Of course! Who wouldn’t?” she yells.
“I know I’ve done some bad shit, but it doesn’t change who I am.” I point at myself. “I’m still me. I never changed.”
“You should’ve told me …” she says.
“Should I have called the cops, too, when you and your sister broke into my house? Should I have locked you up in the guest room for the rest of your life? Or should I have dumped you in the basement with the rats? I’m not the only one who’s done some bad shit.”