Page 123 of Requiem
Her expression flickers for the first time. “You don’t know that.”
“I do.”
She stares at me for a long moment after that, a fragility moving behind her eyes before she quickly buries it again.
And then Heather suddenly stiffens beside me, hearing the deadbolt. Every muscle in my body tightens, and then the handle turns.
Alexei steps inside with an infuriating confidence, and Erik follows a step behind, his gaze already drifting toward Adriana.
My stomach turns, but I don’t let it reach my face. I straighten against the cold concrete wall, the chain at my wrist dragging softly as I shift.
Alexei’s gaze moves over all of us before zeroing in on me. He crosses the space between us, each step quiet but heavy, until he’s standing directly in front of me. The bastard is close enough that I can see the faint dark stubble along his jaw, and smell his disgusting cologne.
His fingers come up, gripping my chin as he tilts my face upward. “Not what I expected,” he murmurs, studying me. “You’re quieter than I imagined. I thought you’d be begging by now.”
I hold his gaze and let him see exactly what he wants to provoke but won’t get. “I don’t think begging does much for you,” I say softly. “You don’t actually want submission. You wantreaction. You’re someone who confuses attention with power.”
There’s a small pause, and he tightens his grip. But I don’t stop.
“You escalate when you’re bored or lonely,” I continue, my voice steady, like I’m walking him through a case study instead of standing in front of aman who could kill me right now. “Not because you need control, per se, but because you need to feel something when people give it to you. It’s sad, really. Men like you aren’t born like this. Someone failed you…and now you make it everyone else’s problem. Who was it? Mom? Dad? Who neglected you?” I narrow my gaze. “Who hated you, Alexei Morozov?”
Behind him, Adela shifts, and Heather goes very still.
Alexei tilts his head, studying me more carefully now. “Is that what you think?”
“It’s not what I think,” I reply. “It’s what you’re showing. It’s a fuckingpattern. You’re actually a coward who hides behind his money and men. You scare them not because you’re inherently scary, but because of what your money can do. Without it, you arenothing. They would never have chosen to follow you or listen to you in the first place. And you probably would have killed yourself or ended up in prison by now because of how fucking damaged you are.”
Rage flares across his face for a moment, so fast that it could have been imagined. But it wasn’t, because I’ve hit a nerve. He’s more predictable than he thinks.
His hand drops from my chin, only to come back harder. The slap cracks across my face, snapping my head to the side as pain erupts instantly, my ears ringing while the room spins.
Heather gasps, Adela swears, and I taste blood.
Slowly, I turn my head back toward him, meeting his eyes again without lowering mine.
His hand slides from my jaw to my throat, fingers tightening just enough to restrict air without taking it completely, a controlled pressure meant to dominate without destroying.
“You think you understand me,” he says quietly, his voice colder now. “You do not, girl. And it is a dangerous mistake to provoke me.”
My lungs burn, but I don’t claw at him or panic. “Look at you,” I manage, my voice rough but steady. “I see why you like this. I just prompted a reaction out of you. Not control. You’re a basic, sad little man at your core.”
Air rushes back into my lungs as Alexei releases me, and I drag in a breath, coughing once as I steady myself.
Adela’s voice slices through the tension. “Get the fuck away from her, you sack of actual shit—”
Behind him, Erik has already moved. The punch lands before she can finish, knocking her sideways with the force of it, blood already spilling from her lip.
Heather gasps again, and I lurch forward instinctively, the chain biting into my wrist.
“Adela—”
But she’s already laughing, the sound rough and edged with blood as she lifts her head and spits red onto the concrete toward Erik, grinning like a feral animal. “You have no fucking idea who my husband is,” she rasps, her laugh fading out. “You’re all gonna fucking die.”
Erik wipes his knuckles with a faint smirk as his gaze drifts, and when it lands on Adriana, he winks at her.
Adriana’s head lifts as her eyes lock onto him, fury finally cutting through the fog she’s been trapped in.
“Enough.” Alexei’s attention shifts, irritation flickering across his expression. “I told you not to damage them,” he says sharply.
