10. Chapter Ten
Chapter Ten
Sasha
I stare down at the knife in my hand, trying to process Nico’s words but it doesn’t make any sense to me. “You want me to…”
“To kill him.” He states it like it’s such a simple thing when we both know it’s not.
I glance at Alek, strapped to the table, not even making a sound. He looks spent. Tired.
From all the torture Nico did to him .
“I can’t kill a person.”
“He’s here for you. He tried to kill me for you. So, you’re going to kill Lorenzo.”
“Alek,” I whisper.
Nico rolls his eyes. “Fine. Yes. Alek. You’re going to kill Alek.”
“Why are you doing this to me?” I whisper, dropping the knife to the ground. Nico only picks it back up and shoves it into my hand, wrapping his fingers around mine so I can’t let go.
“I’m doing this to teach you a lesson. You are mine now, Sasha. You’re not leaving. You can try to escape time and time again but you’re mine. If you just gave yourself in to it, I think you’d find we could have a lot of fun together.”
“Fun how? By murdering people?”
He leans in close to my ear. “You enjoyed our kiss last night. You wanted me then.”
“It was the drug talking.”
“Was it? Was it only the drug talking, Sasha? Or is there a part of you that wants to be with me? That wants to know what it’s like?”
Damn it. I hate him with everything inside of me because… because he’s right. The deep, dark part of me is curious to know what Nico is like in the bedroom. What it would be like to be fully taken by him.
Now that we’ve truly kissed, I want to do it again and that’s no longer the drug talking. I’m fully sober this morning. Have been for the past two days.
And I still want to kiss him again.
But how can I want to be with a man like him? A man who gives in to every whim and desire he has? Who isn’t afraid to commit murder? Who wants me to do it with him?
“I think you want it, Sasha.” He stands behind me, pressing his chest into my back.
His power is intoxicating. It makes me want to sink right into him.
“If you want it, then you have to take it. You have to give in to me and that means no longer trying to run from me. You need to kill Alek and end this. End the part of your life that is tied to your annoying older sister who keeps trying to get you back.”
Some of his words sound nice but at the mention of Natalya, I snap back to reality.
“No.” I step away from him. “I can’t just forget Natalya. I can’t just forget my other sisters. I have to protect them from Denis. I have to protect them from you .” I point the knife at him.
Nico smirks. “Are you really going to use that on me? If you can’t kill Alek, a man you barely know, can you actually kill me?”
“I could stab this right through your heart.”
“You could but then how are you going to get out of here covered in my blood? My guards will kill you on sight for killing me.”
“Death would be better than being tied to you forever,” I hiss.
Nico pouts and in a mocking fashion, places his hands over his heart. “That hurts.”
“I’m going to do it. This way I can escape and get back to my family. I can save them.”
He opens his arms wide with a savage grin. “Then do it. Kill me right now.”
My hand shakes as I hold the knife. God, I wish I was strong. I wish I had an ounce of the power Nico possesses to do whatever the hell I want.
I hate my husband and yet… I also desire him. I’ve started to like his charming smiles and our banter. It’s never boring, I’ll give him that. And his touch… I haven’t been able to stop thinking of our kiss.
Can I truly kill him? End all of this just to save my family?
What if staying with Nico is the one thing I can do to save my sisters? He’ll have to bring me back to New York at some point and being Nico Bernardi’s wife gives me power. Power enough to stop my uncle and save my sisters?
The only way I’ll find out is if Nico is alive.
I lower my hand and the knife with it.
Nico eyes me over with wariness before he slowly approaches me and takes the knife from my hand. “Why didn’t you do it? That was your chance.”
“Would you really have held still as I killed you?”
“Probably not but I wanted to see how far you were willing to go. Not far enough, it seems.”
“I’m not a killer like you are,” I snap.
“I can see that. And while I’m touched you didn’t kill me, your dear friend still needs to die and you’re still going to do it.” He grabs my arms and plants me right next to Alek’s chest.
Alek looks up at me with tired eyes. “I’m sorry, Sasha. I really did try to save you.”
“Mikhail won’t even know you’re dead,” I say.
“He’ll know. He knows by now. I was supposed to get you out the other night and I failed. When I didn’t call him, he knows I was caught.”
“Does he think I’m dead too? Does Natalya?”
Alek shrugs to the best of his ability while being strapped to the table. “I’m not sure.”
A sob escapes my throat. The idea that my sister could think I’m dead is heartbreaking. I have to find a way to let Natalya know but Nico hasn’t let me use a phone once in his house and now that he knows I used the phone at the doctor’s house, I doubt I’ll ever be left alone there either.
“Are you crying for him?” Nico asks with a sneer.
“Not for him,” I admit. “For my sister.”
Nico’s eyes soften just the tiniest bit. It’s the most compassion I’ve ever seen on his face. “Your sister put you in this position. You have her to blame.”
“No,” I say hotly. “You put me in this position. Natalya was just trying to save me as a good older sister does. You would know that if you had any siblings of your own.”
Nico flinches. “Why do you assume I don’t have any siblings?”
“You’ve never mentioned them. Only your father, who’s dead, and your mother, who’s in a facility as you told me.” I’m starting to understand why his mom is in a facility. If she has any mental issues, then maybe she passed those onto Nico. He clearly has issues of his own.
“I did have a sibling. A brother.”
“Had?”
“He’s gone now. When we were children. He died by playing with our dad’s gun. I didn’t stop him because I was young too and stupid. He accidently shot himself. So don’t talk to me about wanting to save your family. I couldn’t save my brother.”
“Is that why you’re so messed up?” I ask.
He huffs. “I tell you something serious and you make a joke out of it.”
“And you’re trying to get me to murder a man! I’m sorry for your brother, Nico. I really am. It would kill me if one of my sisters died. But you don’t get to use that as an excuse to hurt people. Please don’t make me do this.”
He wraps his hand back around mine and forces me to bring the knife above Alek’s heart. “You are going to do this. As a punishment. You will learn. And you will fully be mine.”
Before I can stop it, Nico forces my hand down. The knife goes right through Alek’s body and into his heart. He grunts once before the life leaves his eyes.
I scream as Nico makes me pull the knife out, covered in blood. Blood of the man I helped kill.
Nico lets my hand go but I’m still holding onto the knife.
With a sudden burst of anger, I turn the knife back onto Nico, pointing it towards his throat. He holds still, eyeing me over as if it’s some sort of challenge.
“You already couldn’t kill me,” he murmurs. “What makes you think you can do it now?”
“Because you made me kill a man now.”
“And you think you can do it again?”
I scoff. “You seem to have no problem killing multiple people.”
“Then fine. Kill me. Round two.” He moves closer to the knife, allowing it to press against his throat. I could so easily cut him. So easily kill him that it’s scary.
I found out before that I couldn’t kill him and I’m realizing now that I still can’t. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to kill him.
That doesn’t mean I can’t scare him a little for what he’s done to me. I nick his neck, drawing a little bit of blood before I lower the knife.
Nico’s eyes widen as he covers his neck with his hand and it comes back with blood. “It seems you have some claws on you. I like that.”
“Of course you’d like it. I just held a knife to your throat and cut you and you find it hot.”
“I do.” His voice lowers to an octave that makes a flare of arousal hit me. It’s sudden and unbidden. I just killed a man and yet… I feel turned on looking at Nico. What the hell is wrong with me?
I quickly drop the knife and back away from him but Nico only follows, cornering me against the wall. My eyes flick to Alek’s dead body and back to Nico before I can think too hard about what I just did.
“You’re more like me than you care to admit,” he says, boxing me in with his arms on either side of my head. His cologne is intoxicating. Manly and musky but still sweet enough to make me want to lean in and smell more.
“What are you doing to me?” I whisper, my heart beat racing in my chest. It’s pounding so hard, it hurts.
“I’m waking up the real you. The you that doesn’t want to play by the rules. The you that wants to be free. What’s more free than taking another person’s life?”
I gasp. “You’re crazy. Killing someone is a trap. A vice.”
“Only if you’re caught. But killing someone when no one will find out? It’s thrilling. Exciting. Especially when you kill someone who has wronged you.”
“You only kill when someone has wronged you? You’ve never killed an innocent person just… because?”
“Yes. I’ve never done that.” He looks me right in the eye as he says it, telling me he’s being honest. “I only kill those who wronged me. Alek wronged me. He wronged you too.”
“How?”
“He put you in this position. He should have just left you alone. Now you know what it feels like to take a life. How does it feel?” His hands move down to my waist and gives it a squeeze. The tiniest of moans escapes my lips.
“Nico,” I whisper.
“How does it feel?”
“It’s wrong.”
“Is that what it truly feels like to you?”
Staring into Nico’s eyes, I’m starting to think that I may be in the wrong. Killing Alek was frightening. And legally, it was wrong. But… Nico is right too.
I’ve never felt more free.
“Kiss me,” I gasp out.