Page 33 of Marked By His Touch
“Nowhere?” He almost shouts. “I was out looking for you all night!”
“Well—I—” I’m not sure what to say. The truth?
“Well, what, Ava?” Alexander says, tossing his hair back with a shake.
I glance at Zara, who stands by the window, watching us with a playful smirk. “My bed is warm if you need a break from that—disobedience,Alexa,” she says, gesturing towards me.
“Stop hitting on him!” I snap, my voice sharp, my frustration bubbling over. “You’re not helping!”
I’m so tired of feeling vulnerable, of everyone treating me like I’m made of glass. Like I’m too docile to speak up for myself. Like they can do and say whatever they want in front of me.
Zara throws back her head and laughs, a sound as sharp as broken glass. “Don’t worry,slatka. He come around to me, when he tired of you and your games.” She winks at me.
Forget about her, Ava.
Alexander turns his gaze towards me, his fist clenched by his side. “Ava?” He speaks my name like a question as if he’s trying to understand what has happened to the woman he loves.
My mind is a hurricane of thoughts. Tell him or keep it to myself? If I tell him, he’ll help and protect me, but that might mean he’ll keep me away from this. On the other hand, last night was a freakin’ nightmare. I was scared, and I couldn’t handle things by myself.
He’s looking at me, his eyes locked on mine, unwavering. He doesn’t even glance at Zara, who’s lounging in the corner. She’s like a wild animal watching the hunt unfold. I don’t have time to deal with her right now.
I take a deep breath, trying to steel myself.The truth.
“I—-I know what’s going on.”
“Where? What are you talking about?” Alexander says.
“I went out last night,” I say, my words tumbling out, “To that place.”
“You what?” He looks shocked, like I just told him I climbed Mount Everest in a tutu. “What place?”
“Let me finish,” I snap.
He takes a step back, giving me space, but his gaze is intense, studying me.
“Remember the new beauty parlor?”
He nods.
“I saw a girl there, and she looked lost, kind of helpless, and I decided to investigate. The place just looks—off.” I take a deep breath, and he opens his mouth to speak but closes it again, a silent battle raging in his eyes.
“I went inside last night, well, not there, not in the beauty shop. There’s a club under the parlor called ‘Kitty’s Port Bar.’ I think it’s a sex club, maybe a cult, or something like that. I saw lots of women there. I think it’s a hub for trafficking, or maybe a way to bring in big money for Veles, or both.”
My words sound small in the face of this darkness. It feels like the whole world is about to crumble.
“You can talk now,” I say, my voice shaky.
“You went there? Without letting me know.” His voice is sharp, laced with raw, uncontrolled anger. “Fuck, Ava! You could have been killed!”
“Well, I wasn’t,” I say, “but I saw—-things.”
“What do you mean?” Alexander says, his eyes widening. I can feel Zara’s eyes, a cold, intrigued gaze piercing me.
My mind replays the scene. Nikolai’s chilling gaze, his cold, ruthless demeanor. The twisted dance between Cavill and Nadia, the sterile tools laid out on the table. Nikolai’s breath on my neck. The sound of those two bullets exploding into Monroe’s skull.
It’s not that I liked Monroe in particular. He’d tried to kill Alexander and me. But the way Nikolai did it— It was cold. Brutal.
I look into Alexander’s intelligent eyes. It’s like he can see right through me, into my soul. I need to tell him everything. I want to tell him everything.
