“I know your father’s an asshole. I know people don’t simply walk away from their old life and start over from scratch without a good reason. I told you, I’m smarter than the men.”
I looked away, down at the floor. It was stained with years of grit and grime and cooking oil. “Darren will be the same. Not exactly like my father, but close enough.”
“I don’t think so. They’re playing the same game, but they’re in entirely different leagues.” She stood up suddenly, like a snake uncoiling. I stared up at her and my mouth opened slightly. “This is about something much bigger than you. I know it’s hard to see but Darren’s playing a game on multiple levels. Do what you want, but understand that in the end, you’re just one more person on a field littered with bodies.”
The door to the kitchen opened and Darren stepped inside. Maeve’s lips quirked, as if she’d expected him at that exact moment. She turned and nodded to him, her heels making a clipped sound as she stalked past. Darren watched her go without comment before staring back at me.
Her words pinged across my skull. You’re just one more person on a field littered with bodies. She was right—this game was way above my head. Darren was making moves on multiple levels, and I was only one tiny piece.
And yet I mattered. I was important, at least to myself. I couldn’t worry about what Darren wanted or the direction of the Oligarchs or any of that stuff.
All I could do was worry about myself.
Right now, I felt trapped in a cage with a lion.
He came closer, face neutral. I couldn’t read his expression.
I didn’t want to.
“You ran away.”
“I needed space.”
He pulled back Maeve’s chair but didn’t sit. “What about that conversation made you upset?”
Anger flared, bright and hot. “You seriously think I’m going to marry you?”
He smiled and sat down.
I mentally slapped myself. He wanted to rile me up. That was his whole game—get me angry and see what I did. It was the same thing I tried to do with him, and yet he was so much better at it than I was.
We were on two different levels.
And yet Maeve hadn’t told me to stay away from him. She hadn’t said I should try to escape.
She seemed to think marrying him was the best course of action.
It made a twisted sense. If I married him, I’d have access to power unlike anything I’d ever seen before. I could use it to crush my father if I wanted—or I could use it to make the world see what a fraud and a bastard he really was.
There were no limits to what I could achieve.
All I had to do was marry a man I despised.
This monster with good intentions.
But what did they say about the road to Hell?
“I think you’re going to consider it because you’re a smart girl. You understand the position you’re in.”
“Kidnapped by a monster.”
“Exactly.” He showed his teeth again, perfect and straight. I thought of his hands on my skin as he kissed me in the back of that car. Then the way he pulled me to safety and made sure I was okay. The concern in his eyes. The anger.
“You’d think that’d be reason enough for you to keep away. Who’s to say I won’t try to stab you in your sleep?”
“I’ll keep you chained up if that becomes a possibility, but I don’t think you’re that kind of girl.”
“You don’t know me. I’ll cut you to pieces in your sleep.”
“Maybe you will.” He slowly sat down and leaned toward me. “Or maybe you’ll find you like being my wife. You’ve missed the good life, haven’t you?”
“Go to hell. You’re not going to convince me to marry you just because you live in a fancy house.”
“I didn’t think I could, but what about all the other perks? The parties, the friendships, the connections. You like my family. You enjoy my sisters, even if Erin’s a little strange. Don’t you miss having that in your life?”
I closed my eyes, because he was right. I did miss having a family more than anything in the world. My father was dead as far as I was concerned and my mother lived in Vegas, and I was all alone in the world. I thought Cassie was family, and Roman could be too, but I was wrong about that. Cassie loved me—I truly believed she did—but Roman was like Darren.
Twisted and broken and ruthless.
“That’s not enough.”
“There can be more.” He leaned closer. Filled my vision entirely. “That moment in the car. That kiss.”
“You should forget that happened.”
“I can’t.” His hands darted forward, grabbed my knees. I sucked in a breath and nearly toppled backwards off my stool. He pulled me toward him and I stumbled, taking on off-balance step before falling into his lap.