“Nyet?” “I think I would like to play with my new pet for a while first.” I held his stare, unwilling to show him the dread inside. Thankfully, he couldn’t see the cold sweat beneath my clothes. Papa’s teeth were clenched. “Touch her, and—” “You'll cut off my cock and shove it down Nadia’s throat,” Ronan finished, bored. “I heard you the first time.” Nadia? The devil had a girlfriend. I wondered if he kept her locked in his basement or if she was the opera singer who played Liza. “If you show up in Moscow before I invite you, Pll ship your daughter’s body parts to your home in FedEx boxes. Ponimayesh?” Understand? “Pll send you back to hell for this, D’yavol.” “Can’t wait,” Ronan replied. “We’ll talk soon, Alexei.” He ended the call before my papa could respond. It rang instantly. He turned it off and fixed me with a heavy stare that chafed my skin. “So loyal to your papa,” he said coolly, though his eyes were darker than night. “Even after what I showed you?” I didn’t even want to think about that boy and what was done to him. It turned my stomach and made me question everything. But I wasn’t given time to process it all, and right now, I had two options: the devil, or my father. The choice was easy. My gaze burned with that conviction. His jaw ticked. “I guess you have more of your mother’s blood in you than I thought.” I hated what he insinuated, that she was anything other than the honorable mother who died before I knew her. He was a liar. He was lying from the first moment I met him. My body grew taut as he walked toward me. His shadow was a living presence that reached into my chest and stole the breath from my lungs. “You don’t have to do this,” I told him. “Wrong again, kotyonok,” he said, circling my chair. “Your papa will pay for what he’s done.” I exhaled as he tugged my head back by my ponytail, his voice hardening. “He’ll fucking sweat over what I’m doing to his precious daughter. And when I’m finished with you, his head will decorate my mantel.” I swallowed. “You’re sick.”