Page 22 of His Order

She means something to me, but to them, she is nothing more than a woman.

Roman moves first before placing his hand on my shoulder. "If war is where you are going, brother," he begins, his voice even and calm, "then war we shall go to."

“To war.” Victor lifts his gaze. “We are in this together. From now until the very end.”

I nod in agreement. “Until the very end.”

I had always anticipated this day, yet now that it has arrived, my heart is caught in a tug-of-war between acceptance and denial, teetering precariously on the brink.

To war, we go.

Chapter 12

Anya

He’s gone. I know this long before I peel my eyes open. The bed is cold without him in it. Empty. The sheets on the side where he had been after we had fucked again for the third time are creased. The warmth is long gone.

Pavel had touched every inch of me last night. But I’ve learned something from him, too. Power isn’t just about dominance. It’s about perception. Let him think he’s winning. Let him think I’m soft now, that he’s pulled the fight from me one fuck at a time. He has no idea.

I pull the blanket off my body and go to grab one of the large shirts in the closet. I walk out of the room, ready to head to work on the encryption.

I am deep into my coding when I hear a rasp by the door. I think nothing of it and continue to work. My mind is already thinking of how I should overcome the last firewall.

I am fully expecting to see Mikhail or Pavel, but I am stunned when I open the wooden door to find a pair of steel blue eyes that stare at me like a cobra.

“It’s been too long, my old friend.” His cold smile slithers onto his lips. “I thought you were dead.”

My pulse spikes. I try to force the door closed, but his hand darts out and pushes it open. I fight against it until I hear the click of the gun, and I freeze.

He steps inside. His eyes trail over the area, over my body in Pavel’s shirt, the evidence of the night still all over me— the flushed look of someone who’s been thoroughly fucked.

“Well,” he drawls, voice thick with mockery and cold detachment, “Isn’t this a fucking surprise? Not only have you corrupted my enforcer, but you are being fucked by him. Really?”

My body reacts before my brain can catch up. I move. Fast. Desperate.

My hand wraps around the heavy lamp on the table beside the door, and I swing it at his head with everything I have. But I’m too slow.

The ceramic whistles through the air— He sees it coming. Sidesteps it like he’s done it a thousand times.

And then—the unmistakable click of a safety being released. His gun is pressed against my cheek. The metal is ice-cold. My pulse is a thunderstorm in my ears. I try to lift my arm, to buck him off, but my limbs aren’t working.

He leans in close. I can feel his breath on my skin.

“You’ve got a fight in you,” he murmurs, almost amused. “No wonder he’s keeping you.”

I grit my teeth, but the pain makes it hard to focus. His fingers slide over the gun, then my face. He’s touching me like I’m an object.

“I didn’t expect this,” he whispers. “But I’ll admit… you just made things a lot more interesting.”

My hand twitches against the tile, reaching for anything. Something to swing, something to stab.

But there’s nothing. There is a lamp next to the bed, and I grab it.

“Pavel always did have poor impulse control,” he mutters, dragging the barrel of the gun across my cheek, down to my jaw. “Fucking his pet? Tsk. That’s not the Pavel I trained. But it is the one I can break.”

I try to curse at him, but no sound comes out.

Dmitri presses a cloth against my mouth, and I struggle against him, trying to keep myself from breathing it in, but it’s useless.

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