Page 67 of Innocent Prey of the Bratva

And I have no choice but to tell her the truth.

“Yes.”

“You knew I was Jennie’s friend? You saw me at the wedding?”

“Yes.”

Violet stares at me, unmoving, her breath coming faster now.

“You’re a freak,” she finally says, voice sharp and broken all at once. “A fucking psycho. You stalked me—and then kidnapped me—and now you act like some savior? You were watching me this whole time and still had the audacity to accuse me of being a spy?”

Her words hit like knives. She isn’t wrong.

I step forward, cautiously. “I knew off the bat you were innocent,” I say quietly. “But I didn’t care. I didn’t want to let you go.”

Her eyes glisten, fury and betrayal warring in them. “You’re the reason this is happening to me,” she hisses. “You’rethe reason I’m being hunted like an animal. You made me a target. You dragged me into your sick little war. All of this…it’s because of you.”

I open my mouth, but nothing comes out.

“I should have never trusted you,” she says, backing away. “You’re not protecting me, Kaz. You’re keeping me trapped for your own obsession.”

The door creaks open.

Arina steps in, halts the second they hear Violet’s words, and steps right back out, muttering something under their breath as they shut the door behind them. Even they know not to get involved in this moment.

Violet’s voice breaks now. “Was any of it real? Or was I just…entertainment to you? Something you could watch and want and then take?”

I move closer, slowly. “Everything I feel for you is real. I just didn’t know how to handle it. I still don’t. But I’ve never lied to you about what I am.”

She turns away, tears streaking down her face now. “That’s the problem,” she says, almost to herself. “You didn’t lie. You just…destroyed everything anyway.”

“Violet, please….”

“No!” Violet’s voice cracks open the silence like a gunshot. She whirls to face me. “I’m sad you’re hurt. I’m sad you’re bleeding all over. I’m sad, Kaz. But I shouldn’t even be here!”

She shoves at my chest, her fists weak but trembling with emotion.

“I was fine before you! I was living. Breathing. Peaceful. And then you showed up and you ruined everything!”

Her scream ricochets through the room, loud and sharp, and I just stand there, frozen, taking it like a punishment I know I deserve.

“I hate you!” she sobs. “I hate you, Kaz!” She storms toward the exit.

I move then—fast. I cross the distance between us in one step, grabbing her by the waist, spinning her around, and pinning her against the wall. My body cages hers, and my forehead crashes against hers.

“No,” I growl. “You can scream. You can slap me. Say I’ve ruined your life—but don’t you ever say you hate me.”

Her breath hitches, lips parting.

“You can’t kiss me like that,” I whisper roughly, “or touch me like you do—be scared for me like you are—and claim you hate me. That’s not fucking fair, Violet.”

She blinks at me, fury colliding with confusion and unbearable hurt.

“I don’t care if it’s fair!” she cries, fists pounding against my chest. “I’m not supposed to care! I’m not supposed to feel this much!”

I catch her wrists mid-punch and press them over her head, pinning them against the wall. My mouth finds her jaw, her throat—desperate, demanding, a man completely undone.

“I feel you, Violet. In my fucking bones. And I know you feel me too.”