Page 98 of No Longer Mine

“Like yours?”

He straightened at my question. “What else do you remember?”

“Do you really cut off people’s appendages?”

He let out a harsh laugh. “Are you sure you really want to know?”

I nodded, eyes big, as I watched him go back to his perch in the corner of the room.

For a long moment, he just stared at me. Then, finally, he exhaled, leaning back against the chair, a shadow of exhaustion in his features.

“I do what I have to,” he admitted. “My hands are stained, and there are things I can never take back. But I don’t hurt people who don’t deserve it.”

“What about me? Do I deserve to be hurt by you?” I whispered into the dark.

“Never,” the answer haunted me until I fell back asleep.

I woke up to bright sunshine shining through all of the windows in my bedroom. I didn’t know whether to curse Dimitri or thank him. It felt good to wake up to the sun shining on my face, but I wasn’t ready to wake up just yet either.

The smell of waffles and something else met my nose before the door was pushed open. My eyebrows jumped as Dimitri entered my space once again. He held a tray out in front of him. A steaming pot of coffee was in the corner with a whole spread of breakfast in the center.

I went to push myself up in the bed, but it was no use. No matter how I turned or moved, my body ached and the movements pulled my stitches. He placed the tray on the bedside table, and my cheeks went warm as I remembered him pulling all of my toys free.

Do you think of me when you fuck yourself?

He wrapped his arms around me and helped me sit up. There was no way I could look him in the eyes. Especially since I was still wearing the nightgown he’d put on me. You could see my hardened nipples through the thin material, which had nothing to do with the temperature in the room. It had everything to do with the hard, dangerous man before me being gentle.

Dimitri didn’t say anything about the way my breath hitched when his hands brushed my bare arms. He didn’t smirk like I expected him to, didn’t tease me like he usually would. Instead, he adjusted the pillows behind me, his movements careful.

“Eat,” he ordered, his voice low.

I swallowed hard, reaching for the fork. “You made this?”

He snorted with his gaze averted once more. “I ordered out. I don’t know if I trust my cooking skills. At least not in your kitchen with nothing to work with.”

I closed my eyes in embarrassment. “I haven’t been to the store in a while.”

“That’s okay, we can order those too if we need to.”

We. It sounded so strange coming from his lips. I nodded as I dug into the elaborate spread before me. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and tapped the corner of the tray where there were two pills in a small plastic cup. “Take your meds. I need to answer this.”

I watched him go with longing and confusion.

Chapter Forty-Three

Dimitri

“Yes?”I answered.

“We have some evidence,” Alexei said giddily into the phone.

“What do you mean?”

“Besides your video, we have some evidence. Flash drives, ledgers.”

My thoughts jumped to Scarlett in bed and the flash drives I’d placed on the desk in her library beside our father’s notebook.

“Where did you get this?” I had a sinking feeling in my chest.