Lies of My Monster (Monster Trilogy #2) by Rina Kent

But this time, if I choke her, I can’t guarantee that I won’t accidentally kill her. Just the thought of her lover and her betrayal turns me into a raging volcano.

I don’t let it show on my face, but the fire is splintering me on the inside.

“You can’t be here, Sasha.” I hear Yuri whisper to her in a kind voice. “If Boss finds out—”

“I will kill you,” I finish for him.

Yuri and Lipovsky straighten. Her expression softens, but only for a moment, and then it’s closed off as she steps forward. “I want my previous position back.”

My eyes lock on her face. “That won’t be happening.”

“I’m not a weapon caretaker. I’m a sniper and a bodyguard. I demand my post back.”

“You think you have the right to demand anything from me, Lipovsky?”

Her spine jerks, and her lips part before she swallows. “I…won’t leave this place until I get my actual job.”

“I’ll take him back,” Yuri tells me and starts to drag her.

“No. Let him be.” I meet her darkened eyes that have been invaded with brown. “No one is allowed to feed him. When he’s starving to death, he’ll leave on his own.”

“I. Will. Not.” She has the fucking audacity to lift her chin and even glare at me.

I have to step away before I actually act on my depraved thoughts. All of them start and end with her beneath me confessing why the fuck she stood there when her lover shot me, then, apparently, took me to the hospital.

Viktor told me that, and he’s not the type who’d offer Lipovsky any sort of credit if it wasn’t true.

I can feel Lipovsky’s gaze at the back of my head as Karina and I wander into the garden.

Once we’re out of earshot, my sister blurts, “Why don’t you just give him his job back? What did he do? Didn’t he and Viktor save you? I just don’t understand.”

“Let it go, Kara.”

“But… Oh! He can be my bodyguard if you don’t want him!”

“No. He’s not allowed near you.”

“But why?” She glares up at me. “Just so you know, Kosta asked Sasha to be the head of his bodyguards.”

I slide my attention to my sister. “Did he, now?”

“He so did! But Sasha said he’s only your guard.”

A guard who lured me to my near death.

But that doesn’t matter, because the fact remains—her life is all mine now.





8





SASHA





Am I doing the right thing?

Honestly, I don’t know. What I do know, however, is that I refuse to move from here unless Kirill stops this madness and at least hears me out.

And not talk at me, but actually talk to me.

I know it’s an impossible thing to ask for since he thinks I betrayed him, but I also won’t be exiled to the other end of the house indefinitely.

Maybe he’ll never be satisfied, and I’ll grow old and gray in that boring weapon vault.

It’s better to put an end to it now. Whether I win or lose, at least I’ll have proper closure.

Three days have passed since he told me to either return to my post or remain here and starve to death. I foolishly chose the latter because, as I mentioned earlier, I won’t be forced back into exile.

Despite the determination that flooded me at the beginning of this mission, I’m finding it hard to keep up with my body’s deteriorating state. I’m sitting with my back against the pillar near the mansion’s entrance, where everyone who goes in or out can see me.

I must look pathetic, begging for a chance from a boss who won’t even listen to me.

The thought of facing Kirill draws goosebumps over my skin. But I would rather experience this surreal discomfort than know I’ll probably never see him again.

As time passes, he’ll completely erase me from his life and continue living as if I never existed.

The mere thought of that possibility makes me shiver with dread. I have this irrational fear that he’ll never appreciate or respect me as much as I do him.

That, in the great scheme of things, I’m nothing but a convenient pit stop on his path that he was always meant to leave.

And that scares the shit out of me.

As per Kirill’s order, no one has offered me food, except for Maksim and Yuri, who tried to slip me some protein bars. Karina brought me a feast, too, and told me to ignore her ‘stupid’ brother.

I shook my head and refused to eat anything. If I’m meant to starve for my cause, then I’ll do it. I definitely won’t cheat the system just because I can.

I hadn’t had anything to drink until Viktor himself threw a large bottle of water next to me two days ago and again last night. “Don’t even think about dying while we’re still investigating what happened in Russia.”

I wanted to refuse that, too, but there’s only so much I can do without actually dying.

So I drank the water and kept the bottle beside me. If Kirill objected to that, he didn’t show it or threaten to throw me off the property.

He comes out every morning for his walk with Karina and doesn’t look in my direction. It’s as if I’m invisible. His sister, however, comes to check on me, and asks me to end this already and return to the weapon vault until he calms down then attempts to persuade him to give me my post back. Not only does he not reply, but he also continues to ignore my existence.