Throne of Vengeance (Throne Duet #2) - Rina Kent Page 0,34

‘Let me go.’

“You should know by now that the harder you fight, the more ruthless I become, so stop it.”

I open my mouth and bite his hand. Kyle groans but doesn’t release me.

“Go ahead, Rai. Do whatever you like. You can bite me, shoot me, or bury me in a construction site, but that won’t change the decision I made. Do you know what that decision is?” I shake my head frantically against his palm, and he lowers his head so he’s speaking in a low tone against my lips. “We made vows, and I intend to keep them. Till death do us part.”

No.

Why can’t he understand that this isn’t only about me? It’s about the brotherhood and his unforgivable betrayal. If Sergei or any of the others find out about what he’s done—and what he’s planning to do—they will execute him Bratva style. I gave him a way out no one would have offered him. I gave him the chance to leave the brotherhood alive, but he just bounced right back.

I buck against him, trying to hit him in the crotch, but he releases my mouth and catches my knee. “I think you got me beaten enough for one day after you betrayed and poisoned me.”

“I didn’t poison you.” They were sleeping pills, and I read the instructions a thousand times before I slipped them in his drink.

“You only handed me over on a platter so Vladimir could do the job for you.” His voice is calm, but I sense the rage beneath it. “You betrayed me.”

“You betrayed me first. You stabbed me in the back first! So excuse me if I stopped your master plan and stood up for myself!”

I wiggle against him with everything I have. I’m well aware that he’s stronger than me and can subdue me easily, but I don’t stop squirming until I free my wrists. I punch him in the chest where he’s already injured, and when he winces, I use the chance to push him down and get on top.

Unlike what I expected, he doesn't fight me or try to wrestle me down. I’m breathing harshly, the sheets tangled around my feet as my thighs splay wide on either side of his taut abdomen. My palms are fisted in his shirt, nails digging into his skin, but Kyle’s hands remain inert on either side of him, as if he doesn’t want to touch me in this state.

It’s for the best, because I feel like I’m one breath away from combusting, and my voice translates the pent-up energy. “Pretend this is seven years ago and leave without looking back.”

“I’m not doing that again.”

“Why the hell not? You did it just fine before.”

“I can’t do it again.” The quiet in his voice, the vulnerability in it shatters my walls one by each damn one.

“You said I’m nothing. I heard you talking on the phone and you said you’ll leave me behind, so do it!”

“Those were lies to misguide my insider.”

“Do you expect me to believe that?”

“Do you think I would’ve come here and risked death if you were nothing?”

“Why can’t you just leave?” My voice breaks and an onslaught of tears blurs my vision. “I already let you go.”

“But I didn’t.”

God, he really needs to stop saying shit like that because I can’t hold in the influx of emotions hitting me out of nowhere.

“If you stay, they will kill you.”

“They?”

“The elite group of the brotherhood.”

Both his palms wrap around my hips, and it feels familiar, his touch, the sensation of his hand on me. “Not you?”

“I’m part of the brotherhood, Kyle.”

His grip tightens on my hip. “My question was clear. Will you do it?”

“Why can’t you just leave?”

“You just answered your own question. I can’t just leave.”

My fist tightens in his shirt and the first tear falls on to his cheek. The vow I made to Mom to never cry in front of others, to never show weakness to any other human being starts crumbling right in front of me.

I can’t even stop the tears because I’ve been so brutalized in the course of one day. Not only was it the goodbye, it was also the unbearable depression that came with it.

And I guess I’m exhausted. I’m just too exhausted, and that allows me to freely admit that a large part of me is relieved

That relief burns.

Because even though he’s here, he has to leave so he can stay alive.

Kyle flips me so I’m lying underneath him, and I squeal, holding on to his