“All right. Virtual hug to you. Call me again if you want to talk more, okay?”
“I will, thanks.” I end the call just as I pull into the valet parking for the Four Seasons. I tug the mirror down and wipe under my eyes. I look like crap, but maybe I can tell Pavel I need a shower first. He knows I’m coming straight from an audition that ran long.
Squaring my shoulders, I take my bag from the trunk and enter the hotel. I practice my smile, trying to lighten my mood. Whatever I do, I can’t let Pavel know the truth.
Pavel
I stand on the balcony of the hotel room, trying to unclench my fingers. Kayla’s hours late and hasn’t responded to my last couple texts checking in. The need to get in a car and drive somewhere very fast to make sure she’s unharmed spikes about every five minutes, but of course, I don’t know where to drive.
Damn. I should’ve put a tracker in her phone like Ravil and Maxim did with their women. I chose not to because I already control so many aspects of Kayla’s life, plus it felt like a betrayal of trust. She gives herself freely, and she wouldn’t lie. My enemies are in Chicago, not here, so I didn’t think her safety was at issue. Why would I need to track her?
My phone beeps with an incoming text. Just got here. I’m so sorry, Master, the audition went really long.
Thank fuck. I release the breath I didn’t know I was holding and step inside. I want to go down and meet her, to carry her bag, but I’m not sure which way she’s coming, so I wait until she knocks on the door.
I open it, all set to give her a cool command to take off her clothes when I realize her mood is all wrong. She avoids my gaze, ducking her head as she passes me. I pick up her suitcase and bring it to the rack.
“I’m so sorry I’m late.” She still barely meets my gaze. Fuck—are her eyes red?
What in the hell happened?
I catch her hips and turn her to fully face me. “Hey,” I say softly, waiting for her to settle under my hands. Under my gaze.
But she doesn’t.
“What happened?”
She turns out of my grasp to face her suitcase. “Nothing. Just a bad audition, that’s all. And I was stressed because I knew you were waiting.”
I want to tell her I was fine, that she didn’t need to stress over me, but something doesn’t ring right. I’ve had too much practice beating the truth out of liars. She’s a good actress, but something’s off, and it’s not just her lack of submission.
“Hey.” I stay where I am. “Turn around.”
She freezes, another tell. Prickles crawl up the back of my neck. What in the fuck is going on? When she turns around, her eyes have the wide rabbit look, but more scared than eager to please. I don’t like this version of it.
“Did you just lie to me?” My words seem to take all the oxygen out of the room. There’s a plummeting sensation, like we’re in an elevator dropping quickly.
“Pavel…” Again, not the right response.
I go cold all over. Alarms go off, but I don’t even know what they mean. “Why did you lie?” My voice is so soft, it’s barely more than a whisper.
“I did have a bad audition,” she insists.
I believe her, but I wait because I know there’s something she’s trying to hide.
“W-what makes you think I’m lying?”
Gospodi, now she’s really freaking me out. I step into her space and cup her chin, trying to will whatever’s in her brain out of that pretty mouth.
“I detect lies for a living,” I tell her. We stare at each other for a moment. Her pulse is frantic at her throat. I can’t decide if this is a dom moment or a boyfriend moment. Do I threaten punishment if she won’t talk? I settle for the minced, “Come clean.”
“I got casting-couched. The director wanted me to suck his dick to show how much I wanted the part.”
My nostrils flare, and I let out a string of curses in Russian. That man will pay. But… “Why didn’t you want me to know?”
“I just—” She stops herself from speaking and swallows. She’s still hiding something again.
A massive alarm goes off in my head. Everything flashes hot and cold as my brows slam down. “Wait… did you do it?”
Her outrage couldn’t be faked. She slaps my face hard, and relief flushes through me.
“Sorry.” I catch her wrist and bring her fingers to my lips to kiss them. “I’m sorry, Kayla. Of course, you didn’t.” I shake my head, still trying to make sense of it. “It’s just that you lied straight to my face. It scared the shit out of me.”
Her eyes swim with tears.
“Why didn’t you want me to know? What did he do?”
She still resists, lowering her chin and drawing back a little.
I rub my hands up and down her arms as if she were cold. “What’s his name?”
Kayla shakes her head.
“No?” I didn’t mean to put a dangerous edge on the word, but she draws back at my tone, and her ass hits the suitcase. I still have her wrist, which I use to steady her.
She wets her lips. “Sasha said you’d kill him.”
I let out a humorless chuff of laughter as her reluctance to be forthright suddenly makes perfect sense. But then the notion that Sasha thinks I will kill this guy—that he deserves to die for what he did to her—sharpens the ruthless part of me to a lethal point.
“His name.” It’s a command, and she doesn’t miss the tone.
She swallows. “Are you going to kill him?”
“Did he touch you?” This man is fucking dead if he did.
She shakes her head repeatedly but then says. “He...he put my hand on his cock—o-over his shorts. But when I pulled away, he let me go.”
I nod slowly, considering what I’m going to do with this cocksucker.
“Does that mean yes, you’re going to kill him?”
I draw in a slow breath then shake my head. Kayla doesn’t want me to. Her soul’s too pure to have that on her conscience. “What do you want me to do?”
Her expression is uncertain. “Please don’t kill him.”
I consider and nod. “If you don’t want him dead, I’ll respect that. You have my word. But I am going to make sure you’re the last woman he tries this shit on.”
I wait for her to soften, then I slowly draw her into my arms. “Are you okay, little flower? You swear that’s all that happened?” She wraps her arms around my waist, pressing her face to my chest. I kiss the top of her head. When she doesn’t answer, I say, “Talk to me.”
“I’m okay. It was upsetting, but I’m fine. And you’re here.”
The last three words do something foreign to my heart.
“Tell me what you need.”
She lifts her head and peers up at me. She’s soft and supple and totally submissive again. “Just you,” she murmurs. “Us. To be your slave tonight.”
“Hm.” I tip her chin up, drinking in her unconditional surrender like it’s the fuel that keeps me alive. The electricity sparks between us and a haze of filthy ideas flash through my head. “You definitely have a punishment coming for lying to me. But I’m going to feed you and make sure you’re all right first.”