though when I tried to move to find fresh air, a wave of dizziness took ahold of me, and I grasped the table to steady myself. Something was wrong with me ... As a fierce wave of sickness roiled within, an anchor dragged my heart down. The tea. Sudden tears ran down my cheeks. My desolate eyes met Ronan’s, and my words reeked of betrayal. “You poisoned me.” One of his “fucks” hit my ears before he shot out of his chair and caught me by the waist just as my legs gave out. With my back to his chest, he shoved two fingers down my throat. I gagged on them, then threw up on his hand and the marble floor. He did it again, and again, until nothing else came up, and I begged him to stop. Hot sweat permeated my skin, which made me shiver. My limbs were as weak as jelly, and tears saturated my cheeks from the presence of his fingers down my throat. But the knowledge he hadn’t done this to me filled me with a disturbing amount of relief that alleviated the grip on my lungs. When he lifted me, my eyes opened, and I blinked against the harsh light. Yulia dashed from the room after Ronan growled something at her. Rainbow-colored vomit stained my sunflower dress and Ronan’s Tom Ford suit. I wondered if this was how I would die, poisoned by black tea in the devil’s arms. I wondered if hell would feel as welcoming; if it had an accent, sharp incisors, and inked hands. Madame Richie’s laugh resounded in my mind, sending a chill down my spine that disturbed me so much I said between weak pants, “With how much I’ve puked around you, you’d think you would take the hint.” “Ne govori.” Don't talk. It was soft but brusque. He set me on the couch in the drawing room. As weight pulled on my muscles, I moved to lie down, but, on his haunches in front of me, Ronan held me in a sitting position by the back of my neck. Yulia, whose dry expression conveyed she believed I was being dramatic, handed Ronan a glass of water and a white pill he tried to put in my mouth. I shied away from his hand and shook my head. “Voz’mi tabletku.” My head pounded. I didn’t have the energy to try to decipher the rough Russian. “English, please.”