Page 25 of Forced Marriage Vows

I ignore that in favor of finishing off my breakfast. My mind goes to the mountain of things I need to do this morning, starting with leaving the house and heading to Volkov’s secret bunker in order to interrogate Zakharov.

We’ve just finished breakfast when the doorbell rings. I get to my feet to open the door, finding Jerome on the other side.

“Good morning, Mr. Morozova,” he greets, pushing up his glasses. “I brought all the stuff you requested.”

He’s holding several shopping bags in his hand. I nod once in acknowledgment before shifting out of the way so he can bring them into the apartment. I notice Anastasia approaching carefully, her gaze narrowed on the bags.

“Jerome, this is my fiancée, Anastasia,” I introduce, gesturing toward her. “Anastasia, Jerome.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Vasiliev.”

“Hi, Jerome,” she says kindly. “I’m not actually his fiancée. And I’m not going to be.”

Poor Jerome looks confused, but he doesn’t dwell on it.

“Right. These are clothes and shoes. All your essentials. Mr. Morozova informed me that you’d need them since you arrived in his home without your luggage.”

“Because he kidnapped me,” Anastasia says under her breath. She looks at him with a raised eyebrow. “Do you have any idea how depraved your boss is, Jerome?”

“I’m catching him up to it, sweetheart,” I assure her.

Jerome is aware of my position in the Bratva and what it entails. He’s surprisingly okay with it. All he asked was that he wouldn’t be put in any danger. He likes me more than I expected because I know without a doubt I’m not an easy boss to have.

Whatever I did to inspire his loyalty must have been pretty good if even telling him I was to be the next head of a crime syndicate didn’t send him running for the hills.

“That being said, go start up the car, Jerome. I’ll be down in a couple of minutes.”

He leaves without another word while I turn to Anastasia. She’s inspecting the clothes with a frown.

“You realize this is a complete waste of money, right? I have a perfectly good closet back home.”

I step toward her. “You’re not going back there.”

She glares at me. “Surely you realize your behavior is leaning toward psychopathic. You can’t keep me here forever, Mikhail.”

“I could get used to that,” I say with a smile.

“What?”

“The sound of my name on your lips.”

Her expression shutters and she frowns.

“Noted. I’ll make it a point not to use it,” she states.

“We’ll see,” I murmur. “I’m going to leave you alone now, sweetheart. But you can’t go anywhere. I have men watching thebuilding and they have orders to drag you back in if you even try to take a step outside. That goes for you calling for help as well. No one needs to get hurt, Anastasia. You just need to stay put.”

Her eyes narrow. “I want my phone. Leah will be worried.”

“I sent her a text this morning. You’ll get to talk to her tonight when I’ve ascertained that she won’t be a threat.”

“You’ll pay for this,” she says, a promise in her eyes.

“I look forward to seeing all the ways you plan to make me pay,solnyshko,” I state, drawn by the fire in her brown eyes—eyes so deep you could fall into them and never find your way to the surface.

She lets out a short breath before breaking eye contact and looking away. Just as she always does.

One day, I’ll get what I want from her.

---