me with a disturbing amount of relief that alleviated the grip on my lungs.
When he lifted me, my eyes opened, and I blinked against the harsh light. Yulia dashed from the room after Ronan growled something at her.
Rainbow-colored vomit stained my sunflower dress and Ronan’s Tom Ford suit. I wondered if this was how I would die, poisoned by black tea in the devil’s arms. I wondered if hell would feel as welcoming; if it had an accent, sharp incisors, and inked hands.
Madame Richie’s laugh resounded in my mind, sending a chill down my spine that disturbed me so much I said between weak pants, “With how much I’ve puked around you, you’d think you would take the hint.”
“Ne govori.” Don’t talk. It was soft but brusque.
He set me on the couch in the drawing room. As weight pulled on my muscles, I moved to lie down, but, on his haunches in front of me, Ronan held me in a sitting position by the back of my neck.
Yulia, whose dry expression conveyed she believed I was being dramatic, handed Ronan a glass of water and a white pill he tried to put in my mouth. I shied away from his hand and shook my head.
“Voz’mi tabletku.”
My head pounded. I didn’t have the energy to try to decipher the rough Russian.
“English, please.”
A fleeting pause in his eyes vanished with something volatile. “Take the fucking pill, Mila.”
He drugged me once before, and I should have learned my lesson. Although, with my puke on his shirt, my name on his lips still lingering in the air, and the closeness of his gaze, I let him put the pill in my mouth before I forced it down my sore throat with a drink of water.
His phone rang, and he stood to answer it. I took the opportunity to lean my head against the armrest and close my eyes to alleviate the ache behind them. A pat to my face made me groan and open them again.
“Ne zasypay,” he told me.
“English,” I reminded him.
After a second of awareness that told me he didn’t realize he’d spoken Russian, he clenched his teeth and walked away to continue terrorizing whoever was on the phone. My eyelids were so heavy I allowed them to close again, but the peace was interrupted by another pat to my cheek.
I glared at Ronan as best as I could manage. “Stop it.”
Phone to his ear, his gaze bore into mine. “If you fall asleep, I will spank your ass.”
We stared at each other for a long second. If he hadn’t done so for throwing tea in his face, he wouldn’t punish me for falling asleep after I was poisoned. Although, for some reason, I let him have the threat and forced my eyes to stay open.
A moment passed, and he released me from his gaze and walked to the front door. He returned with a familiar face: the doctor I met my first night in Moscow. The one who tried to warn me. This home seemed so remote, I had no idea how he managed to get here so fast. My imagination played a scene of the doctor in the underworld boarding a train called Satan’s Express. Nothing would surprise me anymore. While the two men shared Russian words, Kirill kneeled in front of me, shined a light in my eyes, and checked my pulse. It seemed I’d come full circle, but this time, I knew the devil was in the room.
When Kirill pulled an IV bag and a needle from his briefcase, anxiety pulsed through me in waves. Tired muscles shook as I forced myself to my feet, and, swaying slightly, I nonchalantly announced, “I’m going to my room.”
Kirill frowned and said something to Ronan, who, with an ounce of dry amusement, caught me by the waist and pulled me back.
Weakly struggling against him, I said, “Really. I feel fine.”
Ronan forced me onto the couch. “We’re going to discuss your habit of lying later.” He lowered to his haunches in front of me and brushed a piece of vomit-covered hair from my sweaty face. “Right now, you’re going to let Kirill treat you.”
“I don’t want to do this,” I breathed frantically. “Can we do it tomorrow?”
The look he gave me said, No. He nodded at Kirill to continue before saying to him, “Sdelay vse pravilno s pervogo raza.”
Kirill swallowed thickly. I didn’t need to know what Ronan said to know he’d just threatened him.
I tensed and closed my eyes tight, but