Page 22 of Forced Marriage Vows

“You can get to know me,” he replies. “Starting now, in fact. I’ll tell you everything you need to know. Although there’s not much. I’m a pretty open book.”

“You’re being way too blasé about this situation,” I say accusingly.

He’s acting like it’s not a big deal, and somehow that’s piercing through my defenses enough to me relax. Which is pissing me off. The man kidnapped me; I should be screaming my head off. Although I doubt anyone would hear me.

“What would you like me to do, Anastasia?”

“I want you to let me go! There’s no way in hell I’m getting married to you.”

“You will,” he says like it’s a foregone conclusion. “It’s up to you to choose if I’ll be dragging you to the aisle or if you’ll walk up it yourself.”

My fists clench while my pulse races. “Does Anthony know about this?”

Finally, I spot a chink in his carefully crafted armor. An uneasy shift in his expression—one he covers up far too quickly.

“He’ll find out about it eventually. If he hasn’t already,” Mikhail replies simply.

Hope blossoms in my chest at that. My brother doesn’t know. My brother didn’t agree to this. Maybe, just maybe, he’ll be able to get me out of this fucked up situation.

CHAPTER 8

Mikhail

After a long-winded argument that ends with Anastasia refusing to see my side of things, I manage to coerce her into one of the bedrooms so she can get some rest. Now I’m seated in my home office, holding a stress ball in my hand as I mull over the events of the day.

The sharp ringing of my phone cuts through the air and I’m entirely unsurprised to see Ivan’s name flashing across the screen.

“Were you able to reach her in time?” he asks as soon as I pick up.

“Of course I was. She’s in my house right now.”

“And she’s not hurt?”

The question offends me. “What type of man do you think I am?”

“That doesn’t concern me. But you need to understand that Anastasia is innocent in all of this. I understand you need her, but if you hurt her, I promise I’ll kill you before Igor gets a chance to,” he says rigidly.

I smirk. “That’s really sweet of you, Volkov. But allow me to worry about Anastasia’s well-being. Focus on your wife.”

“Igor managed to escape to an unknown location. We’re still trying to track him, but nothing’s working out. He only trusted a few people with the location of the safe house.”

“And my father wasn’t one of them?” I drawl.

“No, he has no idea. And neither does Zakharov.”

That has me sitting up. “You managed to capture him.”

Yuri Zakharov is the fourth of Igor’s commanders. And his most loyal one.

“Yes. He’s being held in one of my bunkers. He was going after Igor but we got to him in time. As for the safe house location, I’ll leave getting it out of him to you. But I’m not sure if he knows.”

I smile at the prospect. I’ll enjoy making a man like Yuri squeal like a pig.

“And if he doesn’t have it?”

“Then that’s too bad. We go ahead with the wedding and your rise to power. You become Pakhan and we hope when Igor finally decides to crawl out of the shadows, we’re ready to take him down.”

I don’t like that. Waiting for my enemy to come to me, it’s not in my nature. A part of me is sure Anastasia knows the location of her father’s safe house. Getting it out of her won’t be easy, though.

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