Page 28 of Bound By Hate (Born in Blood)

I’m not going to fight it, though. I can’t force Viktoriya to do anything she doesn’t want to do. I’ll just have to make sure she knows she’s about to make a huge mistake with Gleb.

“You made your decision,” I say to her. “I’ll leave now. Goodnight.”

“Just like that?” she asks as I turn away.

“Mmm?” I glance back at her.

“You’re just going to leave?”

“Well, you’ve chosen Gleb, so …”

“Yes, she has,” Gleb says, sliding his arm around Viktoriya’s shoulders. She shrugs him off and approaches me.

“I guess I thought you were going to fight harder,” she says.

I offer a kind smile, making her look at me with even more distrust. “You made your decision. I’ll respect it. You don’t want me. So, have a good night, Viktoriya.” I walk away before she can say anything else.

VIKTORIYA

I’m … disappointed.

I wanted to see Aleksander get angry. I wanted to see him get into a fight with Gleb over me.

Instead, he just … left. Acting as if he had no problem I didn’t choose him.

Well, it’s fine. I didn’t want to be with Aleksander anyway. He can just take his ugly face and shove it somewhere else. I’m in no way, shape, or form upset over Aleksander leaving. The man spanked me, for heaven’s sake! I hate him. I will always hate him.

I deserve to be with a man who will treat me with respect. Not one who barges into my hotel room and spanks me for running away. Aleksander is the last man I want to be with.

Gleb is good-looking, wealthy, and highly positioned within the Bratva. I’ll be taken care of. Once my ankle gets better and I lose more weight, I can return to dance. Gleb won’t stop me from doing that. I’ve made the right choice.

I turn to my sisters, both of whom are looking at me with doubt. “What?”

Mila flinches, but Sofiya remains calm, staring me down. She’s grown a lot of confidence since being married to Mikhail. I don’t like it.

“Vik,” Sofiya says softly. “Let’s go upstairs and talk.”

“She doesn’t need to talk,” Gleb says. “We shall start wedding planning tomorrow. The sooner, the better in my eyes. Don’t you agree?”

“I agree,” I say, knowing it’s the right course of action. The sooner I can marry Gleb, the sooner I can push Aleksander frommy mind, and I can go back to the way things were—me in New York, dancing, and returning to my old life. Sure, I’ll have Gleb, which I’m not too excited about, but he seems malleable. I can convince him to dote on me.

Aleksander is not the kind of man who would ever dote on me. He’d probably get a kick out of spanking me every day, which is the last thing I want.

Though … for just a moment, while he was spanking me, I didn’t think about throwing up. It was sort of nice.

But no—I don’t want Aleksander.

Frankly, I don’t want Gleb either, but he’s the lesser of two evils. I can make Gleb work. Aleksander is a man I will hate forever.

“I’m off to bed,” I announce, walking past my sisters. “No one bother me.”

I have made the right decision. I know it.

Sofiya is waiting outside my door the next morning. “Let’s talk.”

I huff. “There’s nothing to talk about. I have made my choice.”

“Vik.” She grabs my arm, stopping me from brushing past her. “You came back to Russia to get away from Gleb, and now, you’re agreeing to marry him? Why?”

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