Page 146 of Sins of a King

“He deserved to die,” I heard myself say. “It was either him or me, and I choose me. Always.”

Dolinsky chuckled at my back, his arms sliding down so that his hands gripped my sides. His fingers dug into the bones of my hips in a show of lust. But Dolinsky had told me that he valued the sanctity of marriage and wedding vows. He would not sleep with me as long as I was another man’s wife.

It had been a little over a month since I’d been kidnapped from The Rex’s spa. After I’d killed Vlad and proven my loyalty to Dolinsky’s legacy, he’d brought me back to the city. When he finally told me I’d been kept at his secluded mansion in Vermont, it made me feel foolish that I hadn’t tried harder to escape.

He brushed a tender kiss along my jaw. “I’m growing impatient.”

“I know.” Without looking at him, I reached up to touch his face, attempting to reassure him that soon I would be all his.

With a kiss to the top of my head, he let me go and stepped away. “Don’t stay too long out here. You’ll freeze.” The sliding glass door opened, then shut, and I was alone.

I’d lied to Dolinsky.

I didn’t have nightmares about killing Vlad. I had nightmares that I didn’t, and he got his way—finishing what he’d started when he attempted to strangle me.

When I closed my eyes and slipped into sleep, I saw my own death.

Dolinsky and I had breakfast together the next morning, each of us reading a section of the newspaper like any other couple.

Couple.

We weren’t a couple. Not really. We slept in separate rooms on purpose. Dolinsky was strangely old fashioned when it came to courting, and court me he did. Though he’d had me kidnapped, Dolinsky hadn’t tortured or raped me—he treated me like a valuable, beautiful pet, one he was trying to win over to his side. He attempted to seduce me with gifts, luxury, decadent meals, his attention, and seclusion from the rest of the world.

He believed I wouldn’t ever truly be his until I was no longer Flynn Campbell’s wife.

“More coffee?” I asked Dolinsky, rising.

“Hmmm,” he murmured as I strolled by him, sliding a hand across his shoulders. “What was that,moya krasotka?”

My beauty, he called me.

Flynn called me hen.

I shoved thoughts of him away, needing to focus, remain cool and calm. “Coffee,lapochka.”

He put down the paper and smiled at me. “I like that you are learning Russian.”

“Sasha is a good teacher.”

“Is that all he’s teaching you?” Dolinsky’s eyes darkened with jealousy.

I touched his cheek and leaned down to place a kiss on his lips. “That’s all he’s teaching me. Promise.”

Dolinsky huffed and turned his attention back to the paper. A man in lust was dangerous, unpredictable. I’d learned that from Vlad. I had thought I could control the outcome of his demise by enticing him, flirting with him. His desire had turned into a wild inferno, blazing out of control and almost killing me.

I snatched the paper out of Dolinsky’s hand and threw it to the floor. He looked up at me in surprise. I perched on his lap and threw my arms around him. “Am I not more interesting than your paper?” I purred. His hands skimmed up my sides as I traced his mouth with my fingers. He nipped playfully at them, smiling.

“Far more interesting than my paper.”

“The longer we leave Campbell to his own devices, the longer we are apart.” I took his earlobe between my teeth and sucked gently. Dolinsky groaned. “Let’s talk about the plan.”

“You want to know the plan to take down your husband and his empire?”

I ran my fingers through his hair and leaned back so I could look at him. “I do.”

“You.”

“Me?”