Page 26 of Sold to the Russian
If she threw this one away, he’d simply get another one. And he wouldn’t stop until she accepted the fact that her finger was made for his ring. For him.
His sister’s voice floated in his head again, even though she was sitting right next to him. “You like her.” Hearing someone else say that out loud made him feel a bit weird. He was attracted to her, that was for sure—her skin, her body, the burning hatred in her eyes when she looked at him, the way her lips mouthed words. He liked her height, the green color of her eyes, and the fiery redness of her hair.
He wanted to fuck her too. Repeatedly. Without stopping. He wanted to claim her physically, like that was his primary and only purpose. He wanted to make her surrender to him, to makeher beg, but at the same time, he knew deep in his heart that he wouldn’t hesitate to give in to her requests if they came. He doubted he’d hesitate before sinking to his knees before her.
He knew he felt possessive of her, knew he couldn’t imagine any other man having her. He knew he thought of her to the point of obsession, to the point where he made up false realities where she actually liked him. So, yes. Maybe he did like her, though ‘like’ seemed a flimsy word compared to how desperately he craved her.
And how ridiculous it was considering he’d just laid his eyes on this woman four days ago.
His sister grinned now, reading his face as clear as day. “So she really is real, then.”
“I’d know if I took a ghost out on a date.”
“And you still won’t tell me her name.”
“No.”
As usual, she didn’t push. “Well, I don’t know what you guys fought about, but online dating or not, you can’t just barge into her life and expect her to roll over. Especially if she’d had shit in the past that you probably don’t know about.”
Fedya didn’t know the details, but he didn’t need a soothsayer to tell him that Maeve had been unhappy with her life under her father’s roof. He’d sold her off to a stranger after all. His only child.
“She’s ignoring me,” Fedya said, glancing at his watch. Three hours and thirty minutes. “She won’t talk to me.”
“She will,” Irina said confidently. “Give her space. Don’t chase, don’t corner her. And most importantly, quit provoking her. It’s so obvious you’ve never had to work for a woman’s attention.”
Fedya shot her a look. “That’s not my fault.”
“And that’s your problem.” She frowned, her tone scolding like she was the older sibling when it was in fact the opposite. “You want her to trust you? Then you start by being patient. Don’t overwhelm her in a day. There’s only so much we can take, especially for a new relationship like yours.”
Something dark grew at the corners of his eyes. “I don’t want her hurting herself because of me.”
Irina’s brows furrowed, concern evident in her features. Fedya needed to get himself together if he didn’t want to slip and get caught by his sister. For a woman he just met from a dating app, she probably couldn’t imagine the kind of argument they could have gotten to that would push the woman into hurting herself because of her brother.
“You think she might?”
“I just… pushed her hard, that’s all,” Fedya said, sitting straighter against the seat. Though the thought of it—of Maeve hurting herself just because she hated him that much—made his fingers clench around the steering wheel. “I said some bullshit.”
“I don’t think you should project your guilt,” his sister said, placing a comforting hand on Fedya’s shoulder. “If she’s got spirit, she’ll lash out, not in. Women aren’t such fragile creatures, Fedya. We just don’t fall apart because a man said the wrong thing. Most of us are stronger than you think, so maybe you should start giving her some credit. I don’t know what you said to her, but if you’re doing all of this just to get her to forgive you, I’d probably be gutting you right now if I were in her shoes.”
An image of Maeve pointing a gun at him last night resurfaced in his mind, and a ghost of a smile touched his lips.
“So,” Irina added, smiling conspiratorially now, “when do I get to meet this mysterious woman of yours?”
“Soon.” His fingers flexed around the wheel as he glanced at her. “But like I said, you can’t tell any—”
Irina waved a hand. “Yes, I can’t tell anyone yet. I get it.” Then she sighed, pulling her phone out of her purse. “I’m not so surprised anyway. You’ve always been the most secretive amongst all of us. But it’s cute to see you finally falling. Kostya would go crazy if he found out.”
For a brief moment, Fedya imagined the various looks on his siblings’ faces when they found out the actual truth. His oldest brother, Ilya, would probably not be surprised. Kostya would blow things out of proportion. Viktor would feel betrayed considering their closeness. He’d be suspicious, too, since marrying a woman out of nowhere was uncharacteristic of Fedya. And as for Irina, after the initial shock, it wouldn’t take long for her to become best friends with Maeve.
“He won’t,” Fedya said as he leaned over and opened the door for her to leave. “At least, not yet. Now get out. I’ve seen enough of your face already.”
Irina’s smile was idiotic. “Just say you love me, Brother. I promise your tongue won’t fall off.” She slid out of the car and slammed the door shut.
She leaned in again, resting her arms against the window as the wind blew through her hair. Her face turned serious again. “Remember what I said. Take it easy with her. Contrary to what most people think, women aren’t such complicated creatures. It takes little to please us, but that doesn’t mean you should do the bare minimum.”
“I’ve got it.” He didn’t actually. He was willing to try, but the thought of giving Maeve more space than she alreadyforcefully took by locking herself in that room made his brain itch.
“Good.” Irina leaned away from the car with a smile and a wink that Fedya didn’t read into. “She’ll love what I’ve picked out for her.”
