Page 42 of Maxim

I feel tears fill my eyes as I think about my siblings. God, I miss them so much my chest aches.

“You have your siblings to live for.”

“If Father has his way, I’ll never see them again, and if I do, it might be too late. He will kill me if I try to see them again.”

Maxim walks around the kitchen island toward me. He swivels my chair and steps as close to me as he can as he cups my face, making me look him in the eye.

“I can promise you, ???????, that you will be reunited with your siblings if it’s the last thing I do. I need you to remember how much you love them. Don’t let your demons win,” he says adamantly.

His promise catches me off guard. I don’t know if anyone has ever promised me anything other than pain before. I don’t know why, but for some reason I believe him.

“What if I can’t?” I ask quietly.

The corner of his mouth twitches. “You can, and if it gets hard, I’ll be here.”

A small flicker of hope rushes through me, and I can’t help but nod. He’s so confident in my abilities that I feel a little spark of confidence in myself as well.

What if he’s telling the truth? Maybe this is the little bit of hope I have been needing.

One thought swirls around in my mind.

“How do you plan to keep your promise?” The question slides from my lips unbidden.

“What do you mean?” he asks.

“How do you plan to keep your promise when you never leave here anymore? You’re always watching me.” I point out the obvious. He hasn’t left my side since my incident. If he is going to keep his promise, he needs to be out there making plans to get my siblings from my father. He needs to put a little trust in me to keep up my end of the bargain. It will be hard, but I know I can do it.

For them.

Trust.

That’s what this is all about. I need to trust him, and I need him to trust me.

Crazy, right? To think I could trust a man who spent money to own me.

Maxim tips his chin to his chest and chuckles. Something about the sound of his raspy laugh makes my body heat in a way I’ve never felt before.

What the hell is wrong with me? Am I coming down with something? Why do I suddenly want to smile? The feeling inside of me is unfamiliar.

When he looks back at me, his eyes shine with humor, and once again I’m reminded how attractive my captor is. It’s really not fair.

I can’t go there, though. There’s no way he could ever see me as more than the toy he bought at auction. Sure, he is making a promise to me to bring me my siblings, but that could be another way to control me.

No, Olena. Trust the man. It’s the only hope you’ve got.

“I have a plan but you need to promise me you’ll behave,” he teases.

I’ve heard the tone he is using before, but on Szymon. I think…no, it can’t be. He can’t be flirting with me, can he?

“I’ll behave,” I say quickly, maybe a little too quickly if the way his eyes narrow are anything to go by. “I promise.”

Maxim hums as he steps back and out of my space. I watch as he pulls out his phone. Without looking away from me, he presses a button before bringing his phone to his ear.

“Yeah, I know I shouldn’t be using this phone.” He pauses. “Well, this is an emergency. I have a situation I need help with.”

I listen as he fills the person on the other end of the line in as carefully as possible.

For the first time in days, I take a deep breath.