“Thank you for helping me … with the house and everything,” I say.
“Don’t mention it. I mean you did help me all these years with my conniving plots, so I guess we’re equal. But … don’t think I’m gonna come here and save your ass when he’s out to get you.”
I smile. “Fuck, no. Don’t ever come back.”
He shakes his head, still smiling as he turns around. “Good luck.”
“Yeah, you too.” He waves at us without turning his head, and Winston goes after him to let him out.
I sit back down and let out a huge breath.
“What was that all about?”
“Oh, Marcus always had some crazy-ass ideas. Helped me get back up on my feet after …” I point at my face. “Well, we just go back a long time. He’s still working with the company, though. That’s why Vladim convinced him to come to me.”
“No …” she says, grabbing my arm while looking at me with confused eyes. “You said you’d die for me. No one’s ever said that. Not for me. Is it true?”
I think about it for a few seconds and then clear my throat after feeling the heat rise. She doesn’t even know how much I’ve been through, what I’d do for someone like her … Someone who accepts me with all my ugliness.
“Lexi … I wouldn’t just die for you. I’d kill for you.”
Chapter 21
Alexis
A week later
He’d kill for me.
The words repeat over and over in my head as I lie in bed next to him, wondering what it all means.
No one’s ever said that.
And it seriously means a lot to me. It’s like marking someone as your fucking spouse to me.
You don’t just kill for anyone, but he’d do it for me.
That means something. Something important.
And it hit me like a brick in the face.
The last couple of weeks have been so … intense. I never stood still. Always kept going, kept living for the moment when it was time to escape.
But now … there’s nothing.
Nothing in my heart but silence … and the rustling of his heartbeat under my ear.
Warmth fills me up as I wrap my arm farther around his chest but guilt flushes over me too. I shouldn’t like this, shouldn’t prefer lying in bed with him. My sister is waiting for me to come back home, yet I can’t bring myself to get up.
None of the doors are locked. The window is even open. I could jump out and run anytime I wanted. In the pitch-black night, no one would spot me.
But I don’t want to go.
And that’s just the thing … what keeps bothering me.
Have I really fallen head over heels for a man who calls himself a monster?
His scars go so much deeper than just his skin, and it scares the shit out of me, but at the same time, it’s making me want to know so much more about him. I want to unravel his brain and piece him back together like a puzzle waiting to be solved.
I can’t get enough of him.
Which brings me back to the same old confusion I’ve felt since I came here.
I knew I was attracted to him. I’ve known it since I met him. Something about us … just clicked. And now, it’s stuck, and I can’t get him out of my head.
Or keep him out of my heart.
I sigh as he rolls over on his side, and I spoon him softly, trying not to wake him in the middle of the night.
We’ve done nothing but talk for days, and the more I get to know him, the less I want to leave.
Is this really the right thing to do? No, of course not. It’s fucking selfish … but I need it.
I need to feel this.
Need to experience what it’s really like to feel loved. Wanted. Desired. Special.
What it’s like to actually be with someone.
Nobody knows this except my sister, but I’ve never actually been with a man. Of course, I had sex with a lot of them, but they were never … boyfriend material. Honestly, I never saw the point. I had too much on my plate to have the time to get a man. Hell, Deangelo was the closest thing I had to an actual boyfriend.
And now … now, I have Viktor, and for some reason, I don’t wanna lose that.
I can’t lose that feeling … the hope that someday I may be able to live a normal life without having to sell my body to random men … without feeling the need to run.
Closing my eyes, I take in his scent and smile.
I don’t want to run anymore.
For once … I’d like to stay.
***
Viktor
In the middle of the night, I shoot up from the bed, screaming in pain.
I grab my face and feel the scars, the ridges … flames still scorch underneath my skin.
“Get it off, get it off!” I yell, rubbing myself.
Alexis sits straight up in bed, her hands on my face and chest, her eyes big as she yells back. “What’s wrong?”