Page 94 of His to Own

“Or I’ll cut your penis off.”

He snorts. “You’re a feisty one.”

“Everyone says so.” Adriana flutters her eyelashes. “I just tell it like it is.”

“That’s going to get you in trouble one day,” he comments.

“Hasn’t so far.”

“That’s because you have the protection of your father. That could change.”

I look at Maxim more closely. Is he saying he’s going to kill my father?

“I have his protection now,” Adriana says. “So I think I’m fine.”

Maxim looks her over. “How old are you?”

“Almost seventeen. In just a month. It will be my birthday. You better be there, Elena.”

“I’ll try,” I answer.

“And then in just one more year, I’ll be eighteen. I can’t wait to be an adult. I can go where I want. Do what I want.”

“Not unless Father makes you get married,” I remind her.

She waves a dismissive hand. “That’s not going to happen. If he tries to force me, I’ll just run away. I’ll do what you and Lana were too afraid to do.”

“Adriana,” Mother calls, motioning her over. Adriana walks away with attitude.

“That girl is going to get herself in trouble,” Maxim says. “I pity the man she gets married to one day. He’s going to have his hands full.”

I can’t help but smile from Maxim’s words and of course he notices.

“Is that a smile, I see?” he asks, pointing at my face.

I instantly flush and stop smiling.

Maxim leans in closer to my ear. “I’m tired of this distance between us. You said you hated me but I don’t hate you, Elena. Tell me what I can do to make you not hate me.”

“Maybe if you stop keeping me in the dark for a change,” I snap harsher than I mean to.

The stunned expression on his face is obvious. It’s a rare sight when I can surprise Maxim. “What has gotten into you? I like when you’re a bit more feisty but right now, you’re just bitter. What is going on?”

“Elena,” my mother calls, interrupting me and Maxim. I sigh and walk away. I can feel Maxim’s eyes on me but he doesn’t follow for a change.

“Yes?” I ask after I reach my mother’s side.

“I want a picture with all of my daughters. Lana is coming over now. Go stand by the bannister. Go.”

Adriana is happy to pose for the camera while Lana gives me a pitying smile. She knows how much being the center of attention bothers me.

Mother takes the photo of all three of us, then looks down at her phone. “Mmm. Lana, have you been skipping your Botox treatments? And Elena, you need to go back to the hair salon. It’s looking rough.”

Lana sighs. “Yes, Mother.” She takes my hand and pulls me away from our mother and to a more quiet part of the house. “She’ll never change, will she?”

“No.”

Lana’s eyes search my entire face. “Are you all right? After the day you came to my house, I wanted to make sure you were ok.”