Page 43 of Innocent Prey of the Bratva

Because of me.

I stay rooted where I am, half-hidden in the hallway shadows, listening.

Waiting.

Maxim’s words hang in the air—you’ll have to let go eventually—and for a heartbeat, all I can hear is the dull pounding of blood in my ears.

Then Kaz finally speaks, his voice rough and low.

“She was ruined,” he says, “the second she looked at me with those eyes.”

My breath catches.

Ruined?

I don’t even know what that means—what he means. Is he blaming me? Blaming himself? Or both?

I don’t understand any of it.

But what I understand even less…is the sting I feel in my chest when Maxim says Kaz will have to let me go. And Kaz doesn’t argue.

He doesn’t fight it.

He will let me go.

And that should be a good thing. I should feel relieved—ecstatic, even. The idea of walking out of this twisted mansion, of getting my life back, should be everything I want.

But….

But then why does something in me ache at the thought?

Why does some small, traitorous part of me not want to leave?

I don’t have an answer. Only the tight pull in my chest as I take a slow step back, slipping away from the doorway and back down the hall before they realize I ever heard a word of it.

Chapter 10 – Kaz

I knock on Violet’s bedroom door at noon the next day, trying not to look as nervous as I feel.

When the door creaks open, she’s already up, standing in the middle of the room with a towel wrapped around her hair and suspicion in her eyes.

“I came to apologize,” I say quietly. “For last night. I shouldn’t have ended dinner the way I did.”

She crosses her arms, silent.

“I was hoping you’d come somewhere with me,” I add. “Just…for a drive. Outside the estate. Nothing more. A little sightseeing.”

That gets her attention. Her brows lift slightly. “Outside?”

I nod. “Yes.”

She hesitates only a moment, then says, “Okay.”

That one word—it does something to me. Something unreasonably warm. She could’ve said no. She’s had every reason to shut me out since the day I brought her here. But she didn’t.

“I’ll wait for you downstairs,” I say, stepping back. “Take your time.”

And then I walk away before I do something stupid like smile.