Page 148 of Cruel Romeo

I start rummaging through my drawers for stuff to sell. Jewelry, designer clothes, anything that can fetch a buck from a pawn shop.

I’ll need to say goodbye to Sammi Banks, too. Gotta get myself a new name.

My heart clenches at the thought. All I’ve built, gone. My life, my friends, my job. Every piece of freedom I scraped together.

But that’s the beauty of freedom. You can always scrape together more.

You just need to find the strength to take off.

I start packing and think about places to go. Another state—better yet, another country. Maybe somewhere warm,crowded, where I can get lost in a sea of faces and won’t be asked too many questions.

I drag a shaky hand through my hair. Try to slow the panic clawing at my throat. “Step one, money. Step two, papers. Step three… Disappear.”

Saying it out loud makes it feel almost possible. Like I can string together these tiny steps and somehow build an escape route out of this mess.

The penthouse is silent. It reminds me that Petyr is long gone.

Luka is probably still outside, but the walls are soundproof. He might not know that Petyr thinks me a traitor and he’s not supposed to let me through.

Either way, I have to try. Before my husband comes back.

He can’t find out what I’m doing. If he even suspects, it’s over before it begins.

I press a hand to my belly. My baby is there, small and defenseless. One more piece that I won’t let Petyr use for his sick games.

“I won’t let him take you,” I whisper to the tiny life growing inside me. “I’ll keep you safe, no matter what.”

And this promise, I swear I’ll keep.

61

PETYR

I don’t look back.

I stalk past Luka with the single-minded intention of getting out, without trading so much as a word with him about her. I go down long, empty hallways that seem longer and emptier because I’m walking them by myself.

But it doesn’t matter that I don’t turn. She’s all I can think about.

Her wide eyes. Her trembling mouth. I can still taste the fear in her voice, raw and broken, when she asked me if I knew.

Pain,something inside me corrects me.It wasn’t fear. It was pain.

I reject that voice. Because if I let myself start believing her lies again now, I’ll never get out from under her spell.

I’ll find myself turning on my heel and going back in there like none of it matters. I’ll pull her back into my arms and never let go.

But I have to let go. It’s the only way I survive.

I can’t risk Dimitri’s life again because of my selfishness.

“Blyat’.” I drag a hand through my hair. I need to break something with my own two hands. I have to hit something. Wreck someone, ruin them. Someone who isn’t Sima. Despite the threats I made about sending her back to her family in pieces, I know deep down that I’d never hurt her. Even if she deserves it.

So I need to hurt someone else. Give this fury somewhere to go before it consumes me from the inside.

I stalk out of the building. One of the security guards glances up when I pass, but whatever he sees in my face makes him look away quick.

Good.I don’t have the patience for people right now.