Page 97 of Phantom Flower

He smiled, satisfied.

“It was difficult, you know. I obviously could not reach you where Dimitri keeps you. So getting you here was the only option I had. I also knew you would not bring him with you.”

My hands were shaking in my lap. I forced my voice out anyway.

“There are bodyguards outside,” I said quickly. “If they hear a gunshot, they will come running. You will not even make it out the front door.”

Daniel’s smile did not fade.

“Who says I will use a gun?”

He stood up and walked over to the marble island. I heard the sound of a drawer opening. When he turned back around, he was holding a large kitchen knife.

He sat down again, this time with the knife resting on his knee instead of the gun.

“This is just in case of an emergency,” he said, waving the gun in the air. “If you try something stupid.”

I was shaking so hard I could barely breathe.

“You will not get away with this. Even if you kill me… Kento will—”

“Kento will what?” Daniel cut in, laughing. “You think he gives a shit about you? He is barely around. When was the last time that brother of yours even looked at you? He shows up when it is convenient, and disappears again.”

I opened my mouth, but what was I supposed to say? He was right.

I had no one.

But then something crossed my mind.

Blue eyes.

Dimitri’s eyes.

I thought about the way he looked at me when he thought I was not paying attention. The way he woke up before the sun just to find a flower for my hair. The way he cooked for me even when he was exhausted. The way his voice softened when I had nightmares, the way he held me.

He cared about me, right?

He could not just be playing. He could not.

Could he?

My eyes burned. Tears welled up before I could stop them. I hated how fast they came. I hated that I was crying in front of Daniel, but I could not hold them back. The thought of never seeing Dimitri again. Never hearing him call me “little fairy.” Never feeling his arms around me when the panic gripped me. It made me so scared.

I did not know what came after death. I did not believe in anything nice waiting on the other side. But if there was nothing… I did not want to disappear from the only place that Dimitri was.

“Dimitri…” I whispered. “He… he would care. He would come for me. He—”

Daniel laughed.

“You think he cares about you?”

I looked up through blurry eyes.

Daniel’s smile was cruel.

“He has been protective, sure. But that is because he sees you as property. A pretty little thing he has claimed. Once that property is destroyed, you will hold no meaning to him. Do you really think a man like Dimitri Morozov is going to mourn some boy he fucked a few times? He will be annoyed that someone took his toy. That is all. He will move on. Find someone else to break and rebuild the way he likes. And you?” Daniel leaned in slightly, eyes empty. “You will be nothing worth remembering.”

My chest felt like it was caving in. More tears spilled over. I wiped at my face with shaking hands, but they kept coming.