Chapter 43
M“Property.” Now I have her. Lana has made herself known to me, and I intend to eliminate every shred of doubt I have of her. We are standing a couple of meters away from each other, and my hands reach for my sniper rifle.
I grab it, slide the strap over my shoulder, and point it toward her.
“On your knees. Now.” She gets down onto her knees, and I put the rifle right next to her. She is looking pliable right now. Ready to cater to my every demand. Even when I know that she is lying, I can’t help but get hard. My little hummingbird is everything I have wished for.
I stand up, and she is eye level with the zipper of my pants.
Perfect.
“Look at me, Lana,” I order her. With her big, beautiful eyes, she looks up at me, and they are filling up with tears.
“Just so you know, even with what I’m about to instill in you, I still love you.” Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Fuck.
It came out so effortlessly that I didn’t even notice it at first. My brain has nothing to do with this—my heart is to blame.
The last time I truly said I loved someone was to my mama.
Lana’s brow furrows, and her mouth hangs open. She wasn’t fucking expecting this, and neither was I.
“Lana…” I don’t even know what to say. This is the fucking resolve I was talking about—I don’t have any while looking at her. It all evaporates as soon as I even think about her. The hold this woman has on me should be studied.
“I love you as well.”
“Excuse me?” Why the fuck am I questioning this? Has my father fucked me up that badly? He always told me nobody could ever love me.
“M, even if you don’t trust me right now, I really fucking do.” Her voice is hushed, but honest. I can spot a liar once they are in front of me, begging, and Lana isn’t lying.
“Why?” I ask her as I go down on my knees in front of her. My hands are dying to touch her, but I need to hear her out.
“Because you let me be myself with you, and I fucking needed that. You saw an ugly part of me, yet you still chose to be here.” I can feel my emotions swinging, ready to jump out of my body.
I reach for her right cheek with my hand, and from all the things we did already, this feels like the most intimate one.
It’s like we are truly connecting now.
“Why were you not honest with me?” I ask her. Her eyes are darting from left to right, as if she is thinking of a correct response.
“I want to be, but not like this. Please, M, unlock the cuffs, and I’ll tell you everything.”
“Do you honestly think I’m stupid? Lana, I need you to tell me one truth before I can even consider that.”
“Fine,” she inhales deeply and exhales. “My name is Lana Osmanovic. His legacy.”
“What was your father’s name?” His surname does sound familiar.
“Leon Osmanovic, the Silent Python.” And the truth is out. Lana is the hidden daughter of the most feared assassin ever.
And that puts her in danger. Or, it makes her dangerous. I need to see myself.
I uncuff her, and she moves her wrists because it probably hurts her. I grab the rifle and hand it over to her. She starts shaking her head.
“I don’t know what to do with that.”
“Take it.” She reluctantly takes the rifle and holds it like an amateur. Lana struggles to maintain it.
“Now point it at me,” I tell her, which feels more like a question. And I don’t know why. Lana points the rifle at me, and I want to smile at how clumsy she is.
“Shoot.”
“Fuck no, M! Are you crazy?”
“Oh, Lana.” I put my hand on the rifle and lower it onto the ground. She drops it all too readily. “You don’t want to kill me, right?”
“No, no, no!” she starts rambling, and it’s adorable. I grab the rifle and start standing up, and so does she.
“What are we going to do now?” she asks me.
“You weren’t honest to me, and while I will protect you, you need to be punished.”
“M, I apologized.”
“Apology accepted. But, you will be reprimanded.” A grin forms on my face, and I start pointing the rifle toward her. “Run, little hummingbird.”