fists.
Joanna’s tone softened as Kirill lurked right behind her. “Then my da kidnapped me from Kirill. He tricked me. And your brother was waiting for me. He wanted to own me.”
Her voice began to tremble, and Kirill comforted her, sweeping a hand across one shoulder to squeeze her upper arm. She lay her cheek briefly against his hand.
He comforted her as she told such a monstrous tale.
I didn’t want to see him as human.
Not at all.
He was the monster of my nightmares.
Not my brother.
Joanna looked at me, her lips flattening. “Bastiano stripped me naked in front of my da and his soldiers. They all watched as he felt me up and”—she cringed—“he crudely examined me like I was a piece of meat—”
“Stop!” I shot up from the chair, backing right into Arkady who halted my retreat. “No more. I can’t hear anymore.”
I dashed angrily at tears while my face crumpled, and I was tempted to turn into Arkady for a reassuring embrace . . . but who was he?
What did I know of him?
He probably wouldn’t have saved me in the first place had he known who I was.
I sobbed down a hard breath, whispering, “Please stop.”
Standing, Joanna rose to reach a hand out to me.
She touched me softly on the arm. “I’m sorry.”
I snatched my arm away from her. Her kindness wasn’t welcome.
How could I trust any of this?
If it were true, did my father know? I had to believe he did, and perhaps that was why he’d never followed through on any plans for payback.
I stumbled as shock shattered all my previously held beliefs.
Arkady steadied me.
“What now?” I turned to him. “What happens to me now?”
A cold mask shuttered down over what I thought might’ve been a flicker of compassion. “That remains to be seen.”
“She has worth being the Leone printsessa,” the pakhan decreed. “Especially if her papa should seek retribution against Kirill.”
I whipped around to look at the older, most grim man.
Deep-set detached eyes met mine and held firm. “You rescued her, Arkady. You decide.”
A ghost of a smile flew across Arkady’s lips. “Da. I will see how much of a prize she is.”
“What?” I reeled as another bolt of shock staggered me.
I never received a solid answer to my question—what happens to me now?
Half an hour later, the bulk of the Bratva left. I noticed a soldier remained on the premises that time, as if I constituted a threat against the underboss. Or perhaps Arkady thought someone was coming after me, but how would that even be possible with my whereabouts unknown?
After the house emptied, he allowed me to shower.
He didn’t afford me any privacy whatsoever. No. He lounged against the doorway, watching the entire time as the hot water splashed all over me and I spread suds across my body. I’d expect nothing less from a bully like him, but I refused to hurry my shower.
When I exited the stall, he stood only a couple of steps away. The muscle in his jaw twitched, and he handed me two towels. I wrapped my hair in one while dripping naked on the floor.
Let him watch.
I’d go for his jugular if he tried to touch me again.
As I dried off, his unfathomable blue eyes cruised over me. A spark of thoroughly male interest deepened the color as his gaze lingered on my breasts.
Despite his seeming disregard of me, it was impossible for him to hide the growing bulge centered at his groin. Then he came closer, sweeping fingertips down my cheek, and I didn’t go for his jugular.
I didn’t even move as my breath halted.
“Your swelling is down. Does it still hurt?” His deep gruff words washed over me, and the mere touch of his calloused fingertips raised goosebumps on my flesh.
“A little.”
Nodding, he reached around me. The action surrounded me in his strong body and the musky scent of his light cologne.
He emptied two ibuprofens into my palm and watched while I swallowed them down.
When he dropped to one knee, I pliantly propped out my leg without being asked but I held the towel tightly to keep it from flapping open. I didn’t want him viewing the thin lines of scars and cuts on my thighs.
He took off the Band-Aid then . . . then he blew across my flesh.
A hot zing flushed through my entire body, and I nearly squeaked when he ran strong fingers along the inside of my calf to the back of my knee.
Ohhhh.
His broad shoulders swam in my vision, and I