Page 14 of Forcibly Sold to the Bratva
Viktor owes someone a lot of money, and I’m guessing Ilariy is here to collect. He’s mistaken, of course he’s mistaken that my brothers are some sort of Russian mafia. Maybe it’s something Viktor let on when he stole cash from a powerful man like Ilariy to show he has more power than he did.
And my brothers? They’re in the dark about the claims Viktor made about them being in the Bratva. Unaware, because Viktor must have kept the whole truth from them. Whatever was my cousin embroiled in?
Chapter 5 - Ilariy
Once I’m back in my room, I groan as I sink into the armchair. There’s no way Arina is putting on an act. I heard every single word she said to her brother—how she asked him about the restaurant business and if they’re having money problems because of Viktor. She also clearly thought she was being smart by trying to keep this phone call a secret, not realizing that these innocent questions she asked her brother in hushed tones are exactly what prove her innocence.
If I were an outsider, I’d laugh at her take. She thinks Viktor owed someone money and that his restaurants are in trouble? She thinks her brothers are out there, working odd hours, traveling the world to get out of debt? She’s so far off the target of what’s happening right beneath her nose that it’s borderline comical. This girl has a kind of innocence that can literally make her walk through war and ask where the fireworks are coming from.
God, I think to myself as a sprinkle of fear and regret crosses down my spine. What would have happened if I hadn’t stood outside her door to listen? I suddenly feel an onslaught of guilt, thinking back to how I tried to intimidate her for answers, never taking her word for the truth. I would have woken up tomorrow and pushed her harder, scaring her further, because I was so convinced she was keeping something from me.
Thank god I heard what I did, or else I shudder to think of what further trauma I might have subjected her to.
Damn it. I really fucked this up, didn’t I? I kidnapped an innocent woman and forced her to become my wife. It’s now clear to me that she knows nothing and is of no help whatsoeverin my plans to bring down the Sokolovs. How can she be, when she knows nothing of value?
Fuck. What do I do now?
***
The next morning, I’m in my office, replaying last night’s events. If I could turn back time and undo this mess, I would. But I can’t, and I now find myself wondering just what it is I ought to do next. I need a new game plan, since forcing out answers from Arina won’t work, considering she doesn’t know shit.
We’re already married, and it’s too late to change that now. Everyone at The Dirty Goose saw me leaving with her, and soon, word will be out about our marriage, no matter how hard I try to keep it quiet.
Which means anyone who has it out for me now has Arina Sokolov as a tool to get to me. I could send her back to her brothers and hope they can protect her. But Tikhon and his brothers are hiding out. They’re weak, with many of their old allies having turned their backs on the family since Viktor died. Not only will they probably be unable to keep their sister safe, but I know that the moment I return her to them, they will try to make a run with her. I’ll never see them again, or her again. Everything my family suffered at the Sokolovs’ hands would be for nothing. The two months we’ve wasted hunting them down would be for nothing.
What’s done is done, and the unfortunate truth is that Arina Sokolov is safer by my side. She’s my wife now and my responsibility, for better or for worse. Besides, as long as she’s by my side, I still have some leverage. I can use her to draw her brothers out.
Even if she knows nothing, she is still valuable.
Which means, there’s no way I can let her go.
But keeping her here, using her as bait when she doesn’t even understand why, makes my stomach do an ugly somersault in shame. She’s already so confused, and how can I justify her role in this mess when she actually has no part to play in it?
None of this is her fault, but she’s the one who got caught in this ugly mess. It twists my heart with shame.
I find a headache creeping on as I think of ways to make this easier on her. But every excuse, every strategy I try just sounds like a hollow, vain plan. She’ll have questions as to why she can’t leave, and apart from telling her she’s leverage, I can’t think of any other reason why.
She’s not going to like that. I know. But what other choice do I have?
I’m giving myself a pep talk, reminding myself to hold firm when I tell her so, prepare for her protests, when I hear an impatient knock on my door.
“Come in!” I say, swiveling my chair to face the door.
To my surprise, it’s Arina who walks in—well, more like storms in. Her beautiful blue-green eyes are flashing with a desperate anger, and her hair is flying behind her like a halo as she walks up to my desk like a hurricane.
God, she looks beautiful, dazzling. In the sunlight now, streaming in from the windows, I notice for the first time that the hair I mistook for blonde last night is actually a very light brown.
“I’ve figured it out,” she declares, planting her hands on my desk, bending low to meet my gaze. I have to use every inch of self-restraint to keep my eyes on hers, even while that tight T-shirt she has on, V-neck at that, slides down her chest, giving an ample view of her cleavage.
“Figured out what?” I cock an eyebrow at her.
She straightens and proceeds to take a seat without even being asked. I don’t say anything, but she looks like she’s made herself at home. Even after all those protests last night.
I feel relieved at this realization, mildly glad she’s not that afraid of me.
She shouldn’t be, after all. She had nothing to do with what her brothers did. I was an asshole last night to her, period.
“I’ve been thinking about everything. Viktor’s heart attack, why my brothers have been working so hard since he died.”
