Chapter Two
Maksim Volkov should have killed her. The thought came to him with the same cold clarity as every other decision he had ever made in rooms like this.
A witness was a loose end, and a loose end was a problem. Problems should be quickly eliminated when they arose.
He had lived by that rule long enough that it had stopped feeling like a rule at all. It was instinct now, sharpened and honed into something automatic. Efficient.
So why was she still breathing?
Maksim stood across from her, gun steady in his hand, gaze fixed on the tremor running through her shoulders. She looked like she might shatter at any second, like glass stretched too thin.
And yet, Lena hadn’t run, at least not immediately. She had seen the body, noticed him soon after. Others would have bolted without a second thought, but not her. Interesting.
Sure, there was fear. It poured off her in waves, sharp and electric. However, beneath it, threaded through the panic, there was something else. Resistance.
Lena surprisingly had a steel spine underneath and that more than anything, made him hesitate. What was wrong with him? Did he wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?
It felt wrong to just end her life right here and now.
Maksim didn’t hesitate. Among his three brothers, he was the one who never faltered. He never questioned their father’s order, never softened. Alexei had always been the weak one when it came to women.
Alexei was too easily distracted, too willing to indulge softness where none should exist. Maksim had mocked him for it more times than he could count, and now, Maksim was in this absurd situation.
He had the upper hand, the gun in his hand. One pull of the trigger and it was all over, and yet he did nothing. Maksim tightened his jaw.
Irritation flickered through him, sharp and unwelcome. He studied her instead, silently cataloguing her.
Lena and dark curly hair, slightly disheveled from whatever chaos had brought her here. What would her reaction be, if he speared his fingers through that gorgeous hair?
She also had wide brown eyes that were too expressive, too alive. It was like they hadn’t yet learned how to hide anything.
They reminded him, absurdly, of soft, warm, melted chocolate. What a strange thought, and completely inappropriate for the situation.
His gaze drifted lower before he stopped himself. She had the right curves too. He always liked women with a full figure. Maksim tightened his grip on the gun.
He had always had a weakness for spirited women like Lena. The thought came unbidden, unwelcome, sliding into his mind with dangerous ease.
What would she look like, naked and exposed, beneath him? What would those wide eyes look like if they weren’t filled with fear, but something darker? Something pulled from deeper inside her?
What would she taste like?
Would Lena part those soft, flushed lips to a moan when he sheathed himself inside her? The erotic image formed without permission.
Maksim exhaled slowly, forcing the thought away like a splinter he refused to acknowledge. Focus, he chided himself. This wasn’t like him at all.
He shifted the gun slightly, then clicked the safety off. It was a quiet sound, but she reacted instantly. Lena flinched, her entire body tensing as if bracing for impact that never came.
Her fear sharpened, he watched it happen. It was as if she was preparing herself for the inevitability of her death. That was his easy way out. Kill her, be done with this odd turn of events.
Still, Maksim didn’t pull the trigger. He made a reckless decision.
“I’m not going to kill you,” Maksim said.
Her breath hitched, but there was no relief in her eyes, only confusion. Suspicion, certainly. Her lower lip trembled, but she held his gaze anyway.
That same fragile defiance flickered again, refusing to disappear entirely.
“What ... what will happen to me now?” she asked.
The question hung between them. Maksim considered it. Honestly, there were only two options.
Kill her or take her. The first was the most practical choice, and the second would only open a whole slew of complications.
He looked at her again, at the way she stood there despite everything, fear and steel tangled together in a way that made no sense.
What an intriguing woman. A dangerous thought. Maksim should really just eliminate her on the spot. His brothers would give him grief if they found out Maksim had gotten himself in such an absurd situation.
Still, the thought of ending her life made him uneasy. It would feel incomplete, like closing a book before reaching the part that mattered.
“You’ll have to come with me,” he said.
Her reaction was immediate.
“What?” Her voice cracked, disbelief slicing through the fear. “No, please, just let me go. I won’t tell anyone what I’ve seen, I swear. I didn’t, I don’t even understand what’s happening.”
“No.” The word cut through her panic cleanly. “That is not an option.”
She froze, then, suddenly, she moved. Lena turned and ran on instinct. Maksim already predicted this, but her effort would be futile.
Maksim was already in motion before she reached the corridor. He caught up to her in seconds. He closed his hand around her arm, pulling her back with controlled force.
She gasped, stumbling as he spun her to face him again.
“It’s no use,” he said calmly.
Her breathing was ragged now, chest rising and falling too fast. Panic was taking over, swallowing whatever composure she had managed to hold onto.
“Let me go!” she demanded, struggling against his grip.
“I can’t,” he said.
“Why?” Her voice shook, but there was anger in it now. Real anger. “Why me? I didn’t do anything!”
The fire in her eyes caught him off guard, because no one ever spoke to him like that. She should be begging him. Instead, the little spitfire was demanding explanations from him.
Those who met him for the first time saw exactly what he was, a monster. They always reacted accordingly, they pleaded, broke, but Maksim gave them nothing.
Lena’s defiance, however ... it stirred something in him that had nothing to do with logic. He almost smiled. Maksim lifted the gun slightly, enough for her to see it clearly. He needed to remind her he held the upper hand.
“I don’t want to hurt you unnecessarily,” he said evenly. “But I will.”
She stilled, and she nervously swallowed. Maksim thought that was that, but incredibly, Lena wasn’t done.
“No one tells you no, huh?” she shot back, her voice laced with something dangerously close to sarcasm.
Maksim blinked once. Amusement flickered, faint but real. Oh, this woman was going to provide him with plenty of entertainment.
“Not often,” he admitted.
At gunpoint, he guided her toward the exit. She moved because she had no choice. Her survival, for now, meant obedience.
They stepped into the elevator. The doors slid shut behind them with a soft, final sound. For a moment, neither of them spoke.
“You’re going to get caught,” she said suddenly, her voice quieter now, but still edged with tension. “There are cameras. Security. People will notice.”
Maksim glanced at her, then laughed. It was probably inappropriate, but he didn’t care.
“All security feeds are disabled,” he said.
Her face paled. The realization seemed to hit her slowly. She was at his complete and utter mercy.
The elevator descended in silence after that. Each passing floor felt like another layer sealing her fate. When the doors opened on the ground floor, Maksim led her through a back exit.
A black car waited for him, the engine still running. His usual driver waited. Maksim glanced at Lena and saw the exact moment it truly sank in for her.
She must be thinking that this was real and happening. That she wasn’t going home. There was panic in her brown eyes, and her body tensed.
She was going to run, but it didn’t matter, because he’d just have to catch her again. Maksim moved before she could. He moved his hand up, fingers pressing against the side of her neck.
He easily targeted the carotid artery with practiced efficiency. He applied brief pressure, not enough to harm but sufficient for her to lose consciousness.
Her body went slack almost instantly, consciousness slipping away before she could even process it. He caught her easily as she fell. For a moment, he looked down at her unconscious form, but she was still alive and breathing. She had him to thank for that.
A strange, unfamiliar satisfaction settled in his chest. He couldn’t identify it. It was not relief or regret, but something else. Something he couldn’t quite name.
He opened the car door and placed her inside, adjusting her position with surprising care before closing it. His phone rang, and Maksim answered without hesitation.
“Alexei,” he said.
“Is it done?” his brother asked. “Any complications?”
Maksim’s gaze flicked briefly to the car, and to the woman inside it. His latest prize.
“No,” Maksim said. “No problems.”