Page 56 of The Bratva's Prisoner Bride

As much as I didn't want to think too deeply about the situation after work, it was heavy on my mind anyway.

Given how hard we worked for everything we had, no part of me wanted our progress to be undone by the likes of Rurik Kuzmin. I refused to let anyone shake our empire—especially not him.

Pulling in through the gates, I made my way to the garage, parked, and headed inside.

Forcing out a breath, I tried to let go of everything that clung to me throughout the day and reminded myself that I'd be with my wife in a matter of minutes. Whatever that might entail, I wanted to find out as soon as possible.

Pushing through the front door, my brows furrowed the moment those angered words reached me. At first, I didn't recognize that voice, but then I caught Dima's next, and the realization formed a lump in my throat.

That couldn't be good...

Not wasting a moment, hoping it wasn't as bad as I expected, that notion fizzled out at the sight of Olivia and Dima standing in the living room while Daria was on the couch with her head down.

Given Olivia's tight expression, she was furious.

It didn't take long for me to realize what happened...to know the jig was up, and I had some explaining to do.

I completely forgot I asked Dima to run an errand for me, and I got so caught up with work that I didn't warn Daria ahead of time. I didn't think it would've led the two of them inside, but knowing my brother, he was likely pushing it. And without telling Daria, she wouldn't have known to stay hidden until they left again.

Casting another glance at Daria, picking up on how ashamed and embarrassed she looked, I could only imagine what Olivia had been saying to her.

She would be the angriest out of everyone to know she was still around...and in my life, to make matters worse.

When she heard me come in, Olivia looked in my direction with the most heated expression I had ever seen on her face.

"There you are," she muttered, looking between me and Dima before turning her attention to Daria again. "We were just having a chat with yourwife."

So they knew that much, at least...it seemed they managed to get some information out of Daria in my absence.

Before I could say anything, Dima took a few strides towards me, grabbed my arm, and pulled me to the side. His brows fixed tightly together.

"What the hell, Ivan?" He muttered, keeping his voice low despite his own barely contained anger. "Why didn't you handle the situation like you said you would? Why is she here with you?"

Somewhat caught off-guard by the whole thing, forced to grapple with them being caught up to speed in my absence, I blinked back at him before finding the words. "I wanted to getback at her for what happened in Mexico...so I forced her back here to marry me. But things changed..."

He narrowed his eyes at me, seemingly trying to understand my rationale. "You thought marrying her was the best way to stick it to her?"

Aware of how stupid it sounded in hindsight, despite not regretting it, I scoffed and scrubbed a hand over my mouth. "I needed to tie her to me...it was the easiest way to torment her. And it worked until it didn't anymore."

Still looking frustrated with me, Dima sighed. "I can't believe you did this and didn't say anything...marrying her in secret and everything..."

"I know," I muttered, trying to reorient myself so as not to sound quite so pathetic. "It wasn't my greatest plan."

"No kidding..."

Remembering that Olivia was still there, I glanced over Dima's shoulder to find her standing over Daria with a dangerous gleam in her eyes.

"I can't believe you...using me like that...deceiving me," she uttered, looking at her with nothing but hatred and disdain. "You took advantage of my vulnerability and used it against me. You also used Ivan, didn't you? I'm sure you somehow used whatever pull you had over him to manipulate the situation...to make him give you some comfortable life instead of the punishment you deserve."

Daria looked devastated by the claims, meeting her gaze again with a long expression, caught in the heat of Olivia's fury.

"It wasn't like that...I didn't even want to come here. But Ivan—"

"Shut your mouth," she snapped at her, arms crossed over her chest. "You could've gotten me killed with your bigscheme...I don't want to hear your excuses. You're a lying, two-faced bitch."

Anger rising in my chest at her abrasive words, I stepped away from Dima. "That's enough, Olivia."

With her attention on me then, I, too, felt the sting of her wrath.

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