Page 187 of Ruin Me With Lies

“What changed?”

“Two years ago, IthoughtI’d seen it all, experienced it all, felt it all,” I admit.“Turns out, I hadn’t.How wrong I was.”

He raises a brow, just slightly.“What happened since then?”

“I fell in love.”

“Ah.Raya Michel.”He takes a drink of water.“The girl you got on your knees for, and have spent half a year chasing around the globe.”

Hmm.Does he expect me to believe he doesn’t know that her real name isn’t Raya Michel?The man who knowseverything?What’s he playing at?“Soraya.Yes.”

Pavlov leans back in his chair, studying me.Something flickers beneath his blank mask.

“Would you do it again?”he asks.“Would you get on your knees right now and beg me not to kill you, just to see her again?”

In a heartbeat.“Yes.I would.”

There’s no humor in the chuckle that leaves him.“All these years, you’ve been such a pain in the ass.Now look at you, all pliable.Willing to kneel.Willing to beg.”He tilts his head, voice colder now.“Maybe I should killherinstead.Out of spite.That’d be the perfect punishment, don’t you think?”

A destructive mixture of panic and rage slams into me, violent and instant.I shoot to my feet and sweep the chessboard with my forearm, send the pieces flying.And then I lurch forward, stopping just short of grabbing the fucker by the collar.“I don’t give a shit if you’re a god on earth, if you control the wind and the fucking sea, but if youeverlay a finger on her, Iwillfind a way toendyou.”

Within seconds, half a dozen armed men materialize.Stone-gray tactical gear and full-face digital masks, the screens flashing a pulsing red.

Pavlov, unperturbed, flicks his wrist, dismissive.“All’s good.He’s just a fool in love.Leave us.”

The guards hesitate.But then their flashing digital masks shift from red to a still blue.And one by one, they back off and disappear.

Pavlov gestures to the chair.“Sit.”

I don’t move.“Give me your word you won’t hurt her.”

“I won’t give you shit,” he replies with unflappable calmness.“Both of your lives are mine to play with as I please.Youdefied orders.Shelured you here.And like a lamb to the slaughter, you came.”

No matter what I just threatened, the truth is, if he decides to kill her, there’s not a damn thing I can do about it.

That in mind, I sit down and switch gears.“Do whatever you want to me.Just don’t hurt her.”

He steeples his fingers again, watching me for a beat.“Alright.How about this, I’ll spare her life in exchange for Vegas.Your power.Your properties.Your empire.”

“Easy deal,” I say.“Thought I already proved I’m willing to do that when I knelt before Vale.”

He scoffs.“Come on now.We both know you’ve got a shit-ton of airtight contingencies—usincluded.Vale wouldn’t have owned a damn thing except the six-foot hole he’d end up in.”He leans forward, voice dropping.“Out there are the puppets.In here, the masters.NowI, Pavlov Niiveaux-Byrd, the one who knowsallyour secrets,allyour backup plans, where every last hoard is buried, am asking you: would you really trade itallfor her?”

Considering how hard I’ve worked, how much I’ve sacrificed to build it all…it should take me some time to think about it, to double and triple check that I’m sure this is what I want.But…it doesn’t.Not even a minute.“I would.”

My response seems to irritate him.“For some woman you barely know?Wholiedto your face the entire time?”He slams his fist on the table.“Whatthe fuckis wrong with you?”

His sudden outburst stuns me for half a second.Where did all the unflappable calm go all of a sudden?

“What’s wrong with me is that she made me feel more alive and at peace in the short time she was with me than I ever have in my thirty-eight years of living,” I fire back.“You think I’ve been hunting her down all this time for shits and giggles?Nothing back in Vegas, none of it, comes close to what I felt when I saw her again today.”I hold his stare.“So yeah.You can have it all.”

“You’re weak!”Nostrils flared, he jabs an irate finger in my face.“You’re fuckingweak!”

With that, he shoves to his feet and starts pacing.

Thrown by his anger, I lean back and sip my whiskey, watching him unravel.A minute ago, he was all calm, cool, and in control.Now he’s losing his shit because I’m willing to walk away frommyempire?

His reaction’s off.Disproportionate.This is the behavior of a man in the throes of losing a battle.But who on earth could that battle be against?He and his wife have the world in their palms.