Page 81 of Beautiful Villain
I stood and turned to Dunn.
“We let him think he won,” I said.“We let him get drunk on it.”
Dunn’s jaw tightened.“And Mikayla?”
“We get her out.”
“Without trading?”
I stepped closer, lowering my voice so the words stayed between us.
“She was never on the table,” I said.“Not even when I lied to myself and pretended she was.”
Dunn held my gaze for a second, then nodded once.
“Alright,” he said.“We do it your way.”
And somewhere out there, Archie Popovich was about to buy himself the biggest mistake of his life.
34
Mikayla
The door clicked shut behind Archie.I waited until his footsteps faded before I moved.
Then I breathed—something close to relief, but not quite.
I went to the window first.It was locked, fastened with a heavy latch.I tested it again, harder, but it didn’t give.Then I found the sensor in the frame without trying.Of course he’d put one there too see if I breached the window and tried to escape him again.
The bathroom was next, but that wasn’t much help either.I had the distinct feeling that Archie had put a lot of thought into the room he would give me.Because the window in the bathroom was more a skylight in the ceiling, one that I couldn’t reach unless I grew a few feet over night.Not bloody likely.
Everything in my room was sealed.
He’d done it properly this time.
The old Mikayla would’ve folded.Would’ve curled up and waited to be erased, then promptly forgotten.That girl died somewhere between a vineyard at sunset and Gianni’s hands at my waist, pressed against glass.
Gianni.
The name felt like a bruise on my heart.I gripped the sink and looked at myself.My eyes were puffy, my mouth a flat line.All I saw was a woman who gave someone her softest parts and got cut open for it.
I hated that I still missed him.
I took my time searching the room again.I wanted to know if there were any cameras, any hidden devices.There were no visible cameras—but Archie didn’t like being obvious.He liked you relaxing into the lie.
My bag sat where I dropped it.One sad little backpack.My whole life zipped shut in a duffel.
I let out a slow breath and dropped back onto the edge of the bed, suddenly too tired to keep standing.My thoughts tangled in on themselves, loud and relentless, until at some point they blurred into nothing.I must have drifted off, because the next thing I knew, there was a knock at the door.
Before I could even push myself up, the handle turned.
The door swung open and Archie walked in.
“How are we settling in?”
“Don’t act like that interests you even one bit, Archie.My comfort is not your priority.”
“Still sulking, I see,” he said, a faint edge of irritation slipping through his usual calm.
