page80 (1/1)

Juliana watched in horror as Niko reversed the pistol in his hand and with savage force clubbed the ht ear The un at Juliana “Tie him up Do it!” he added harshly as she hesitated He turned the pistol until it was aimed at the other man’s defenseless body “Or I will kill him now”

Her automatic instinct was to run, to escape however she could, but Juliana knew she couldn’t outrun a bullet She also couldn’t let Niko shoot a lanced desperately around the rooaze lit on the belt to one of her dresses thrown across the bed She grabbed it, and although her senses were screaet any closer to Niko than she already was, shethe man’s hands She didn’t dare tie the her closely, and the barrel of the pistol had shifted until it was pointing directly at her

Then she stood up and met Niko’s eyes

“You should never have returned to Zakhar,” he told her, breaking the silence that was fraught with danger At first she was frozen by the threat confronting her, but then she retreated froainst the far wall Niko followed her slowly, as if he knew she couldn’t escape, then stopped two feet away “You should never have agreed to er in his voice “Why did you? Was the huh to keep you away from him forever?”

Juliana didn’t say anything She couldn’t Herfeverishly at the sudden revelation that Niko knew o, but whatever answer she gave could trigger violence He was already prio off—his expression made that very clear

Niko brought the gun up to caress her cheek with the barrel “So beautiful,” he said with regret “I wanted you, did you know that? But it was always Andre with you despite my best efforts You never looked at another man while he was around” His eyes narrowed until they were mere slits “I plotted to have you anyway,” he continued, his rapacious designs on her obvious “But you were never alone You were alith Mara or one of your other friends I was never able to figure out a way to abduct you without risk to me”

“Andre would have killed you” The breathless words were out of her mouth before she could stop them

His face contracted with anger and jealousy “You are right Even though he had not yet staked his own claiainst your will” His hand clenched on the gun as he spewed out the hatred that had been building up for years “Andre, the perfect prince How I despised that about hiod Even my own father wished I could be more like him And the citizens of Zakhar adored him—why? Why him, and not me? Because he was the Crown Prince, that is why He had everything Everything that should have been mine save for an accident of birth”

“Aren’t you forgetting soetting Zax?”

“My brother?” Niko asked dished softly, a sound of pure evil “Whose gun do you think this is?” His suns and let his brother take the blame for her death Since they shared the royal residence that had been their father’s, Niko had access to everything that was Zax’s It also ainst his brother “I had plans for both of them,” Niko continued “But it was Andre I wanted to hurt most And I made him pay Oh yes, I made him pay in blood”

She ed one word “How?”

“I followed you that night You never knew, did you? You were so obvious in your attraction to Andre, it was easy to guess what you would try to do before you left So I watched and waited And you did not disappoint me You were easy to follow, Juliana For once you were alone, and I alo to Andre was better for ain “You were so easy to manipulate after that Almost as easy to un ainst one breast

She suppressed a shiver of horror “What did you do, Niko?”

“How do you think Andre’s father found out about the two of you?” he asked “I told hi his own question “He was oblivious to the danger you represented until I brought it to his attention But then he was determined to keep you apart You were not of royal blood You were not even of noble blood And his obsession with the h for his precious son” Niko sneered “Andre’s father was too obsessed to realize I hadyou away from Andre He refused to believe it was you or no one where Andre was concerned, although I knew He was pathetically easy to convince that Andre did not really love you—that you werefancy—because he wanted to believe”