Avery POV
His words hung in the frigid air, a death sentence wrapped in velvet. The killing intent rolling off Demetrius Maddox wasn't just a threat; it was a physical force, a winter storm threatening to snap my spine. But I refused to break. I forced my chin up, meeting those bottomless, obsidian eyes.
"We do have an account to settle, Don Maddox," I said, my voice steady despite the frantic beating of my heart. "But it’s not a one-sided ledger."
His jaw tightened, a microscopic shift that screamed danger. I didn't give him the chance to strike.
"In that freezer, I saved you, and you saved me. It wasn't a violation of your territory; it was a transaction." I kept my tone clinical, burying the absolute terror clawing at my throat. "I know what happens to your body. The ice. The pain. I can provide a long-term solution to your... problem. Killing me offers you nothing but a return to your agony."
I kept the truth of the chemical agents and the possibility of a permanent cure locked tight in my mind. To him, I had to be an indispensable, ongoing treatment. A living, breathing necessity.
My words worked. The sheer audacity of my bargaining stalled his execution. He stopped, the murderous frost in his gaze shifting into a dark, calculating scrutiny. I had stepped off the executioner's block and seated myself at the negotiator's table.
But a Don does not negotiate with prey.
A low, cruel scoff vibrated in his chest. Before I could even blink, his hand shot out. Iron-hard fingers clamped around my throat, lifting me off my feet and slamming me backward. The impact knocked the breath from my lungs as my spine hit the freezing floor-to-ceiling glass. The glittering skyline of Chicago spun dizzily beneath my dangling feet.
Black spots danced in my vision. He was going to snap my neck.
Survival instinct, honed by years of hidden training, overrode my panic. I didn't claw uselessly at his massive hand. Instead, I shifted my weight, drove my hips forward, and slammed my knee upward with every ounce of brutal, precise force I possessed, aiming dead center between his legs.
Demetrius let out a harsh, guttural grunt. The shock of the blow forced his fingers to loosen just enough for me to drag in a ragged gasp of air.
We froze in a lethal stalemate. He could still crush my windpipe with a twitch of his wrist, but my knee remained pressed firmly against his most vulnerable point, a silent promise of mutual destruction.
"Shameless," he snarled, his breath ghosting over my lips, his eyes blazing with a terrifying mix of wrath and dark amusement. "Fighting like a filthy street thug."
"I will do whatever it takes to survive," I rasped, glaring back into the abyss of his eyes.
The amusement vanished, replaced by a cruelty so profound it chilled the marrow of my bones. If he couldn't break my body instantly, he would shatter my mind.
He leaned closer, his massive frame caging me completely against the glass. The scent of his expensive cologne and the metallic tang of violence enveloped me.
"Do you really think you've won, *Principessa*?" he whispered, his voice a Siberian wind slicing through my bravado. "Have you forgotten who made you the laughingstock of Chicago at that gala years ago?"
I flinched, the old, buried shame flaring to life.
"Your engagement is dust," he continued, his tone dripping with sadistic mockery. "And now? Everyone in our world knows exactly what happened in that freezer. They know Avery Bolton crawled onto my body like a desperate bitch in heat. You are ruined. Stripped of your honor, your future, your pristine reputation."
His thumb stroked the erratic pulse at my throat, a deceptive, lethal caress.
"Tell me, Avery Bolton," he murmured, his gaze dropping to my lips before locking onto my eyes with devastating intensity. "What is the point of clinging so desperately to such a filthy, hopeless existence?"
