Page 36 of Caught By the Bratva Beast

“You want status. Money. Power. It's not because you want to be an escort or that you need to be one. You can make more than enough money in your field with your degree. So that ruled out the money option. Power. Well, you're a gorgeous woman and you're intelligent. You can walk into a room and gain all the power you want with one look. I've watched you do it. Which means that it's the status. You like having attention on you. You like everybody bowing down to you. Wanting to be in your field of vision. Begging for you to notice them.”

“That's what you think?”

I stepped closer to her again. It seems like the temperature in her apartment is growing a thousand degrees hotter at a time. “That's what I know. You do it for the status it gives you. You like being the one everybody fawns over.”

“And what does that have to do with marrying you?”

“I've never been one for marriage. No desire to be a married man. But my boss requires that. There's something appealing about marrying a woman who wants a life, knowing that I could give her what she craves and that only I can do that.”

“I manage just fine on my own.” She snaps.

“You won't want to scare off your clientele by pissing me off, huntress. I'll kill them if I have to. Every single one of them. I doubt it would have to get that far though. All those men would need to hear is that the first few have disappeared mysteriously after being seen with you. Word would spread quickly.”

“You're a sick bastard.”

“Pearl, you know who I am, and you know what I am. You've been clear about that, and I've been clear that I know what you do. So why do you think you can stand here and insult me? I have the power to ruin you. Or I could be your salvation.”

“And what exactly is it that you think I need salvation from my life?” She rolls her eyes. “Please, I like my life.”

“Last chance to make your choice, Pearl. Either you agree to marry me, or I drag you down the aisle. Maybe I'll tie you up first. It would make it harder for you to run away. You might even like the bite of the rope digging into your skin.”

“I'd rather die.”

I take her by the bicep, hauling her against me. “I don't want to hurt you, Pearl. I truly don't. I like you. I think you're a highly intelligent woman. You fascinate me. You are the one person in this world that I could potentially see as my equal. And now here you are throwing my kindness in my face.”

She lets out a small hiss as she tries to pull her arm from my grasp. “Let go of me, you fucking oaf.”

I squeeze her arm tighter, not hard enough to hurt, but enough that she knows I am serious. “I can give you time to think. I gave you time to think about Russia, after all. Look at how that turned out. You came running like a little puppy nipping along at my heels. When I come for you next time you better have an answer for me. And it better be the right answer.”

I let go of her, noticing the imprint of my fingers on her arm.

Pearl sits down, her gaze focusing on the little purple dots before she looks back up at me.

Her hands curl into talons, and it looks like she is about to launch for me.

I wouldn't put it past her to try and gouge out my eyes right now.

“Think carefully about your choice, Pearl.”

Chapter 12 - Pearl

I've spent the last two days being followed.

Two entire days of trying to leave my apartment to meet with Nicolo and not being able to because every time I set foot outside a black car appears.

It always hovers nearly ten feet behind me and if I leave the sidewalk to head into a building, the man driving it gets out and follows me. I should have known that after the visit, he was going to have somebody track me. There's no way that he would let me get out of his clutches that easily.

I feel more like a fool than ever just thinking about it. For a moment, I thought that maybe Nicolo had it all wrong and that if Maxim weren’t responsible for my father's death, I would give him a chance to pursue me. I might have let myself succumb to this devilish but freakish handsome man.

But over the last two days, it has become clear to me, that I can’t get distracted any longer. I have promised to help bring Maxim down. And now my mind is stronger than ever, it must happen soon. I can’t be the foolish girl who thought that a man like Maxim, a Bratva man, who kills his enemies without hesitation, would change the slightest bit for a girl like me. In a weird kind of way, we are more alike than he knows.

Which is why I do my best to avoid the person following me as I walk into the restaurant. I remind myself again, that I should be more grateful to Nicolo for all the training over the last years.

The scent of carne asada fills the room. Bright yellow walls covered in even more decorative tiles than the front entryway greet me as I make my way to one of the red tables in the back.

Nicolo sits at the table behind me, his phone pressed to his ear.

“What's going on?” he asks, keeping his tone light and airy as if he's talking to somebody on the other end of the line instead of me.

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