Lethal Torture

ZINAIDA

My world is too dark for love.

Which is exactly why Luke Macarthur is the wrong choice to protect me.

But I have a leak. And that means hiring from outside.

I expect him to turn down the job. I want him to turn it down.

He’ll have your back.

I hate how dangerously seductive I find those few words.

Sooner or later, people either betray me, or become a weakness to be used against me.

It’s the price I pay for being Zinaida Melikov.

So why doesn’t Luke run the first time he sees what he’s dealing with?

But keeping a poker face for half an hour is...

ZINAIDA

My world is too dark for love.

Which is exactly why Luke Macarthur is the wrong choice to protect me.

But I have a leak. And that means hiring from outside.

I expect him to turn down the job. I want him to turn it down.

He’ll have your back.

I hate how dangerously seductive I find those few words.

Sooner or later, people either betray me, or become a weakness to be used against me.

It’s the price I pay for being Zinaida Melikov.

So why doesn’t Luke run the first time he sees what he’s dealing with?

But keeping a poker face for half an hour is one thing.

Living in the murky darkness of my world for months on end is quite another.

There’s only one way a good man like Luke leaves my world: in a body bag, buried by forces much darker than he will ever be.

Luke Macarthur might well be the killer Mak says he is, but he’s also as wholesome as apple f***ing pie.

And a wholesome man has no place beside damaged goods like me.

LUKE

There’s no way I should take this job.

I don’t sleep with clients. Ever.

And Zinaida Melikov is the most dangerous smokeshow I’ve ever laid eyes on.

But someone is definitely trying to kill her, which is the kind of mystery I can’t resist.

And I need danger the way some men need to breathe.

She’s a renowned psychopath.

Except I know she isn’t.

I saw her mask slip.

It was barely a split second, the briefest loss of control.

Most men wouldn’t have noticed.

But I’m not most men. I’m trained to see what other men don’t.

And in that moment, I saw past the dead eyes. Past the performance, the mask, and the game.

I caught a glimpse of the woman who lives behind the masquerade.

And now I can’t stop thinking about her.

Learning Cards for All Ages