Page 39 of The Games of Madmen

She has the lithe, muscled body of a fighter, but those bruises don’t scream an injury from sparring. They’re something else.

“I’m not sure,” I grumble, hating how much she’s getting under my skin when I had every hope of forgetting her.

We brood in silence as our waitress keeps our drinks coming for the next couple of hours. The crowd grows larger with the DJ they’ve hired doing a great job at keeping everyone dancing. Everyone but us of course. As soon as Alyona prances past, Rodion darts out of the booth after her. She lets out a shriek when he hooks his arm around her waist and hauls her back to where we’re sitting. He manhandles her into the booth and sits down, blocking her in. I slide around until I’m directly on her other side.

She’s trapped.

“What do you want?” she demands, her voice harsh and angry. “Jeremiah will lose his mind if he sees me with you.”

Mr. Insecure has a name.

“Us…” I drawl out, arching an eyebrow. “Why?”

She huffs and shoots me a scathing glare. “Because you made it clear we fucking know each other, Z. He’s not stupid.”

So?

Was he jealous?

“Answer some fucking questions and we’ll let you go back to him,” Rodion grinds out. “Don’t bullshit us. You know we can see through it.”

She squirms between us, clearly frustrated with her predicament. Join the damn club. I’m not happy we have to have this conversation either.

“Who gave you the bruises?” I demand, cutting to the point. “Was it him?”

She narrows her eyes at me, wickedness gleaming in them. “Jeremiah? Yeah. He’s my boyfriend. We’re into some freaky shit.” The deceitful little tease licks her lips and looks away.

“We didn’t fuck you up. Is that why you left without so much as a goodbye?” Rodion snarls, his eyes ablaze with fury.

She leans closer to me, sensing his impending meltdown. Since when does she cower from Rodion? Out of habit, I clutch her bare thigh to comfort her.

“Ouch,” she yelps out, her hand flying to mine.

Rodion reaches beneath the table to grip her wrist and pull it away. My hand slides down to reveal a nasty teeth-print bruise on her thigh. Rodion’s eyes lock with mine and hate burns in his stare. Hate for whoever did this to her. Even after all the shit she put us through…even now…he still wants to protect her. I know the feeling.

That bite isn’t from being kinky.

We don’t shy away from leaving marks on our lovers’ skin. But they’re seductive impressions to show ownership. However, the bruise on her skin is different. It’s a sadistic mark of punishment, spiteful and cruel, meant to cause pain, not pleasure.

“So you left us to come find some pathetic little cockroach who likes to knock you around?” I demand, unable to reel back my disgust. “Make it make sense,krasotka.”Gorgeous.

“It’s not like that.”

“Why’d you leave?” Rodion bites out, bitterness in his tone. “Why’d you leave us, dammit?”

The waves of tension between the three of us are brewing into an awful storm. Catastrophe is coming. I can feel it. Complete and utter destruction.

“Because I had to,” she cries out in frustration, voice wobbling with emotion. “Because there was no other way. That world would have destroyed us and you know it.”

Rodion and I exchange confused looks.

“What world?”

“Your world,” she chokes, hastily swiping away a tear.

“Alyona,” I rumble. The pain inside my chest makes it hard to breathe.

“I have to go,” she hisses, voice shrill. “Please, I beg of you, just leave me alone.”