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

I see her face each morning and wonder if today is the day she’ll decide to leave me and go back to his side. The only thing that’s offered a small form of solace is knowing she followed me to New York for a reason, and until she gets what she wants, Sasha will simply not give up.

That’s just not part of her personality.

And while I don’t know her reason, I haven’t actively searched for it either since I’ve had her by my side, and that’s what’s mattered the most.

But then she asked for those three days off so she could go see her lover in Russia.

In the beginning, I contemplated locking her the fuck up in the dungeons so she’d never consider leaving my side again. However, I thought better of it.

This is my chance to not only meet her lover, but also eliminate him once and for all. That way, she’ll have no one to be with but me.

When I dropped her off at the airport, though, I wanted to abandon the whole plan, and I was ready to if she’d just stayed.

I all but fucking begged her to stay, but she left anyway.

She chose him over me.

Did that drive me to nearly lose my shit during the flight? Absolutely.

Even Viktor was eyeing me like I was an alien, despite my numerous attempts to remain still.

I initially planned to come here alone, but Viktor, who likes to think he was born as my shadow, vehemently refused to stay behind.

He did keep his questions to himself when I told him we were going to Russia. But that’s only because I threatened to throw him out of the plane if he said anything.

My mood went from bad to colossally terrible when we landed in Russia and I found out that Sasha had left her phone in an airport locker.

She knew I’d send someone after her and abandoned the method that’s susceptible to being tracked.

The joke’s on her, though, because that’s not the only tracker I have on her. Since I anticipated this, I placed one tracker in her bag and another in the lining of her jacket.

I check my phone, and both of them are working.

She’s moving, and judging by her location and the speed, she’s in a vehicle on the highway.

Russia’s fucking winter slaps me in the face and nearly freezes me during the walk from the private jet to the car I arranged to have waiting for us. We’re definitely not dressed for Mother Russia today, and it shows. Even Viktor’s jaw tightens at the stabs of cold.

The heavy snow turns my jacket white in seconds and by the time we’re inside, it’s soaking wet. I remove it and send the live location to the GPS in front of Viktor. “Follow that dot, and don’t lose it.”

He stares at me through the rearview mirror. “Can you tell me why we’re in Russia and following fuck knows who?”

“No. Do as you’re told or get out so I can do it myself.”

“Kirill—”

“It’s personal, and that’s all you need to know. I swear to fuck, Viktor, we lose that dot, and I leave you to freeze on the side of the road.”

He narrows his eyes as if he wants to take this already tense situation further, but he chooses to be smart and starts driving.

In the meantime, to keep myself from self-combusting, I continue checking the location on my smartwatch.

Sasha stops at one point and begins moving at a slower pace, probably on foot, then a few minutes later, she increases her speed again

Interesting.

She’s using different means of transport. Again, to avoid being followed.

The fact that she’s going to such lengths to protect her fucker of a lover fills my vision with red.

Of course, she could also be here to meet a family member, but according to her army records, she’s an orphan. She’s just mentioned her family once, that day in the sauna, and she never uses personal names.

The only other possibility is her fucking lover.

I push my glasses up my nose and lean my chin against my fist.

It should feel blasphemous for me to have these emotions toward anyone, let alone a girl I know practically nothing about.

She’s just a fuck buddy. Someone who submits to my dominance and gets off on it.

And yet…she isn’t.

I have no clue why Sasha is special to me, but I know she is.

She. Fucking. Is.

And I’ll be damned if I let her reunite with her lover before I get to the bottom of these turbulent emotions.

We keep following her for over two hours, until she stops, then appears to be running toward what looks to be a giant field on the map. If my guess is correct, she’s used at least four means of transportation at this point.

By the time we arrive, she’s about half an hour in. I can’t follow her on foot, because I’ll probably miss her. Or, more accurately, I’ll allow her to reunite with the fucker without my being there.

“Get me a snowmobile,” I tell Viktor.

“It might take me a while.”

“I don’t give a fuck. Make it happen.”

He steps out of the car, but juts his head back in.

“What?” I snap.

“If you were a woman, I’d say you’re PMS’ing, but you’re not. So I’m not sure how to categorize this behavior.”

“Then don’t, and do as you’re told.”

He stares at me for a beat, as if making sure I’m the same person he’s known his whole life, shakes his head, and finally goes to make himself useful.