Page 56 of Savage Surrender

She hung her head slightly as she shook it. “No. I don’t think so. I think he’s just mad that I wanted to do something for myself, of my own choosing, for once. That I’m not a virgin he can arrange in a marriage with a man not of my choice.”

Igor doesn’t know who I am.I let out a deep breath of relief thatthissecret was intact.

“He’s—”

I grabbed her hands, holding them securely as I rubbed my thumbs over her knuckles. “Shh. Let me explain, please.”

She furrowed her brow. “You don’t have anything to explain or lay out for me.”

“I do.”

Here goes.

“My name isn’t Viktor Remi. I’m only pretending to be a professor at that college. It’s a cover that my boss asked me to take so I could get close to you, Irina. So I could befriend you and gain your trust, assuming that you might open up to me and share secrets about what Igor Petrov is up to.”

Cautious understanding showed on her face. “Then who…?”

I didn’t let go of her hands as I drew in a breath and said,” I’m Viktor Baranov, Irina.”

She shot to her feet, moving as though she needed to reply on a survivor’s mentality. “Baranov?” she exclaimed.

I nodded, standing as well, prepared to steer how this discussion should go.

Shock warred with anger on her expressive face. That icy, aloof, stuck-up smirk was gone. Now, with her lips pressed tight in a firm line and her hands fists at her sides, she was fully invested in unleashing her raw rage on me.

I held my hands up, to catch her in case she stumbled on something and pitched to the floor. Backing up slowly, as if I were a feral vermin foaming at the mouth, she shook her head and felt for the furniture to beat a hasty retreat. “A Baranov!” she accused, giving me an extra scornful glare.

Bumping into the end of the sofa, she used that jarred action to step toward the side. Then more to the side.

Until she sprinted for the front door. Furious and stunned, Irina ran off.

I hadn’t counted on this to go well, but I hadn’t imagined she’d want to flee from me.

“Wait!” I shouted as I dashed away toward her.

She couldn’t leave. I wouldn’t let her get away, not with the knowledge that I was her enemy. And not with my heart ripping in two as I had to accept that she might hate me for how deeply I’d deceived her.

26

IRINA

ABaranov! Viktor was a member of the family my father considered his biggest rival.

ViktorBaranov. Not Remi.

The man I desperately wished for a future with wasn’t a normal man. He wasn’t a sexy professor who spanked me and made me feel so seen and worthy.

He was a Mafia man, someone indoctrinated into a crime organization, just like me. All this time, I’d been marveling at how different and good it was to have the attention of someone from outside my sphere of drama and danger.

Viktor was supposed to represent the other side of the world, the ordinary side where men simply desired women and cherished them. Not my side, where assholes like my father bartered their daughters for the highest price or reward and played mental warfare over the state of their virginity.

I growled, running as hard as I could as the live beast of fury crawled up through me. I couldn’t recall another time in my life when I’d been so livid, so furious and angry. It seemed likeevery cell of my body was rattling and shaking, vibrating with a campaign for me to explode. To scream.

Viktor was a Baranov!

Speeding around corners of the hallways, I struggled to compute how I could’ve been so stupid. I’d been so blind and dumb, falling for him and surrendering to this savage desire for him that I couldn’t deny.

He was the enemy, and I didn’t even know. I hadn’t been expecting this—at all—and as I ran from him, ran from the truth he’d revealed to me, I hated how hard this shock hit me. He’d blindsided me with his confession, striking me when I’d been so open and vulnerable to him. I wanted security and comfort from him, but he’d ruined the image of that by telling me that he was my damn enemy.

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