Page 3 of The Payment

Chapter Two

Tatiana

The luxurious estateof Gregor Polov...

The moment she said the words, she knew she had gone too far.The shift in Jarek’s demeanor came with lethal swiftness.One moment, he stood across the room; the next, he had Tatiana pinned against the wall, his hand a steel band around her throat.The perfect façade of civilization was stripped away, revealing the violence that had always lurked beneath.

But besides Tatiana’s heart breaking, so did her fear.The pieces of her shattered dreams crystallized into rage with clarifying sharpness.She met his gaze steadily, even as his fingers constricted her airway.Let him see the truth in her eyes.Tatiana Polov wasn’t his puppet or his bargaining chip and fucking least of all, his docile wife.

Her grandparents’ voices rose in horror behind them, but she kept her focus on Jarek’s face.The careful mask had slipped and revealed a savageness in his steel-gray eyes.

Good.Let him show his true fucking nature.

“Ah, there he is.”Her words sounded ragged as she struggled to breathe.“The real Jarek Farrel, or is it the Dark One?”His fingers tightened, but she continued, using each word as a weapon.“No matter how many times you tell yourself you purely created the Dark One for revenge, this proves you’ve gone beyond that.You are no better than Gregor Polov, Jarek.”

A muscle ticked in his jaw as his control fractured further.Tatiana didn’t flinch, nor did she struggle and claw at his hand tightening around her throat.No, she wanted him to feel her defiance in every steady breath she managed.

“In fact, you are worse.He at least doesn’t hide his true nature from all of you in the criminal world...”She watched the impact of her words land.“You?Well, you are the great pretender, aren’t you?The Dark One...pretending to be a good man seeking vengeance, while in reality, all you are is the remnants of a good man who has become rotten to the core.”

His hand trembled against her throat—not from weakness, but from barely contained fury.

“Ah, poor baby,” she snickered.“The perfect businessman, the calculated revenge-seeker, stripped bare by the truth his just-acquired wife spoke.”

Tatiana reveled in his anger.It was time he realized she wasn’t a lovesick little girl.She might have become his wife, believing in his passion, but now she would be his enemy, matching every inch of his hatred.

“Don’t you ever use that tone about my wife and daughter again, Tatiana!”The words cut through the air as his eyes darkened to obsidian.The raw pain beneath his rage transformed his handsome features into what she imagined was the devil incarnate.“They are sacred and too good for the likes of anyone bearing the name Polov.”

His voice conveyed the darkness of hell itself as each syllable dripped with a gloominess that seemed to dim the very lights in the room.His fingers constricted further, and Tatiana felt consciousness beginning to slip away as dark spots danced at the edge of her vision.Just when the world started to fade, he released her.

Her legs gave out, and she crumpled to the floor with her throat burning.She dragged in ragged breaths.Elizabeth’s arms wrapped around her as if to offer protection, but Tatiana kept her eyes locked on Jarek.

“And yet the Polov blood will flow in the child you wish to father.”Her lip curled into a contemptuous snarl as her eyes narrowed to glacial slits.“I suggest you remember thatIam your wife now, Jarek.”Her words thinned to gossamer threads of sound, woven with such quiet venom that they penetrated deeper than any shout.“And as such, I’d like to remind you about the clause I added to our supposed marriage contract.It seems I wasn’t that lost to the world in love with you.The one thing that voidsyourclause...ah,” she laughed gaily.“I see you do remember.”

Tatiana had always maintained that she would never stay in an abusive relationship and had retained enough sanity to include an addendum clause in their contract that stipulated any abuse would result in the immediate dissolution of the marriage.

“Blyat’!” Gregor checked Tatiana’s throat.“Did he hurt you,vnuchka?”

“Whether he hurt me is irrelevant,Dedushka.What he did was abuse, in view of witnesses.”

“What the hell is going on here?”Gregor’s voice thundered through the room with decades of command lending it power.His weathered face transformed from shock to murderous rage in the space of a heartbeat.

When Jarek took a predatory step forward, Gregor’s movement was pure instinct and a reflection of the fluid grace of a man who had survived decades in Russia’s criminal underbelly.The shoulder holster released his weapon with practiced ease, and the black metal became an extension of his arm as he leveled it at Jarek’s chest.

“Not another step, Farrel.”The words dropped like ice into the tension-filled air.“Husband or not, Dark One be damned, I will fucking shoot you.”

His aim remained unwavering.The cold fury in his eyes promised death with the calculated violence of a man who had built an empire on carefully chosen kills.Tatiana stared in shock, witnessing his transformation for the first time.The grandfather was gone; in his place stood the notorious Gregor Polov.She realized now why it was said his name made hardened criminals flinch.

Tatiana forced her trembling legs to cooperate as she used the wall for support to pull herself upright.Her throat burned with each breath, but she managed to cross the space to the two men facing off against each other.Her hand found her grandfather’s arm.

“There has been enough death,Dedushka.”Her voice was hoarse but firm.“I will not be the reason another is added.It ends here.”

“You are right.”Gregor’s face contorted with a fury that stripped away his usual sophisticated veneer.“It ends here.This farce will be over within twenty-four hours.”He spat the words loaded with contempt at Jarek.“By tomorrow this time, the marriage will be annulled.”

“And then what, Tatiana?”Jarek snickered.“You go back to your life, waiting for the next old fart your grandfather lines up to marry you and take over your business for his own financial gain?Don’t bother shaking your head.You might have legal measures in place to protect your assets, but you know as well as I do that Gregor Polov allows no one and nothing to stand in his way...including Barto Petrov.”

“What do you mean?”

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