Page 19 of Wicked Villain

Foolishly, I glance back at the door and realize this whole thing has been a game.

God, I’m so stupid. Everything felt easy. Because it was.

All done on purpose. No guards. No lights. No one to stop me.

Except him.

How crazy to think I could walk away from Lev Karsavin when he’s practically stolen me from my family.

I almost laugh. He let me think I could escape.

He saunters closer, all muscle and darkness, then tosses the cigarette into the grass.

“Well, well, little mouse. Aren’t you going to run?”

Run?

Yes. I will. But not because I think I can escape him. I’ll run for pride. For dignity.

Because I promised my sister I would try.

So, I do. I try.

I launch into a sprint, and that’s as far as I get. The launch.

I don’t know how he manages to move so fast, but suddenly, one thick arm is hooked around my waist.

My immediate response is to punch and kick, but both are fruitless on a man like him. I make contact with solid muscle that I’m sure hurts me more than it does him.

In one swift move, he flips me around and shoves me against the wall.

I gasp, but the air stills in my lungs when he catches my throat and leans in close.

“Interesnaya malen'kaya myshka,” he muses, calling me a mouse again. I hate it. It implies weakness. But fuck, where is the lie?

“Let me go.”

“Not likely.”

“Bastardo.” I try to slap him, but he’s got me locked down and pinned solid. I can’t fight against muscles and concrete.

Lev responds with that demeaning laugh again. As if I’m a joke. I guess I am to him.

He tightens his grip on my throat, fingers digging into skin, and inches closer. Far too close. Musk and sandalwood tickle my nose, along with the scent of danger.

I wish I didn’t know that scent, but it’s the kind you don’t forget.

“I wonder what you thought.” He grins wide. “That I might have sent you back here to kill you, or fuck you?”

God in heaven. I’m not going to survive this. He looks fucked up enough that he might do both those things to me.

The devil presses his nose to mine, and the skin-to-skin contact sends a shiver of heat racing through my veins. Every nerve in my body awakens as if I just got a shot of adrenaline. The unexpected sensation throws me. I don’t even get the chance to scold myself. He pushes harder into me and angles his face so his lips are seconds away from meeting mine.

It’s then I realize I’ve completely lost. He has me right where he wants me, and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it.

These may well be my last moments on earth. And he’ll kill me because he thinks I am the prized daughter. Corrado D’Auria’s precious princess. That’s what the other guys called Gabrielle.

I wonder…