Page 9 of The Bratva King's Twins

A part of me had found his directness and domineering attitude alluring, especially how easily he could command an entire room, and it didn’t hurt that he was easy on the eyes, but I didn’t know him.

Given how Dad never shared much of anything about his business with us, I didn’t know what a Levov was, or why that name was significant. But apparently, given the papers we both signed, I was legally one of them.

I was Aristarkh’s wife, and I didn’t know the first thing about him.

Walking stiffly out of the house, I couldn’t understand how it happened.

I went from sitting through a painful family dinner to being whisked into a sudden wedding ceremony and swept out of the only house I had ever known. Before I could blink or do anything, it was already said and done. My whole life had been turned upside down, and I couldn’t help but feel like a bystander in all of it.

Without another word, my family was behind me, and I couldn’t see a way out or any kind of silver lining.

I was on my own and left to fend for myself, unable to do anything against the lumbering giant I was supposed to call my husband.

Chilled to the bone, that thought made my whole body tense.

How could I ever feel even slightly connected to the man who took me from my home unprompted and decided to start calling me his wife? How could I live with knowing I had no choice in the matter, and my input didn’t matter?

As attractive as he was, Aristarkh was a terrifying man built of steel. He could overpower me in a second, capable of ridiculous strength, even to the point of striking fear into my entire family.

He had shown unmistakable evil in our house, and I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to look past that.

I couldn’t fathom his power and influence, and how easily he could enter our home and immediately make demands without any pushback. Of course, his guns far outnumbered us, and we weren’t willing to find out how readily any of them would pull the trigger, but he did it all with such ease.

His men took out the guards Dad had posted around the place, he strode in like it was a simple thing to do, and he didn’t give anyone the chance to force them out again.

Aristarkh stunned me with his looks, then paralyzed me with the most ridiculous demand he could make.

Feeling his hand against the small of my back made me shiver, alarmed by the fact that I was so close to someone capable of ending me on a whim.

Unable to even squeak out a word of protest or at the very least a question, the pressure of his hand deepened as the rear door to an SUV opened, and he prompted me to climb inside.

“Get in,” Aristarkh said, voice clear and triumphant. “And just cooperate with me for your own sake.”

Even if I wanted to fight back, I couldn’t. I was still too confused and alarmed by everything that transpired.

Swallowing back the dryness in my throat, I did what I was told and got inside, boosted by his hand. Before I could even sit down, the door closed behind me, and I watched as he went around to the driver’s side. He climbed in, and the vehicle locked completely.

Blinking through the haze of it all, I tried to understand how any of it could be real, and why it happened to me.

I couldn’t accept the harsh reality of it, and I had no idea what was going to happen to me.

Did he marry me just to drop me off to be abandoned somewhere? Or did he really mean to keep me in his place like a doll to be placed on a shelf somewhere?

There were too many flustered thoughts moving through my head at once, fighting for my attention. But I couldn’t dwell on any of them, not while it felt like my life was on the line.

The engine roared to life, and before I knew it, he was pulling out of the driveway.

He put his arm against the back of the passenger seat, letting me see how his muscled biceps flexed while he reversed. His strong hand was gloved, making my mind wander. There was no doubting how well he took care of his physique, and how clearly experienced he was in all aspects.

But embarrassment cloaked me the moment our eyes met, giving me a brief chance to take in his strong features before I couldn’t handle looking at him any longer.

I managed to catch that amused grin of his as he chuckled to himself before he popped the SUV into drive and pulled onto the highway.

My face felt like it was on fire, stretching up to the tips of my ears.

The man forced me into marrying him, kidnapped me from my home, and he found it in himself to be amused.

Better yet, I was flustered because of how beautiful he was, even after everything he had just done to me and my family.

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