Page 78 of Forcibly Sold to the Bratva
Then, abruptly, she pushes me away, her breath coming in ragged gasps. "We can't. This is a mistake—"
"I don't care," I try to pull her back, but she holds me at arm's length.
Before I can argue, a commotion from the main ballroom catches our attention. We hear raised voices and the sound of glass breaking. Arina stiffens, her eyes widening with fear.
"I have to go," she slides off the desk. "Forget this happened. Please."
She rushes past me to the door, but I catch her wrist. "This isn't over, Arina."
"It has to be," she says with a trembling voice and then pulls free, running out before I can say another word.
Chapter 22 - Arina
I stand in front of the mirror, my lips swollen and eyes wide. I’m so flushed, and the taste of Ilariy still lingers on my tongue.
I can’t go back to my brothers looking like this. They’ll know something is off.
I know I can’t hide in the bathroom forever and try to fix myself up by dabbing wet tissue to the skin around my lips, trying to remove the smudged lipstick. When it looks all gone, I pull out some concealer to cover the blotches before reapplying my lipstick.
Though on the surface, I look okay, my racing heart doesn’t let me forget.
“Pull yourself together,” I whisper to my reflection as I grip onto the sink. I shouldn’t have kissed him. I shouldn’t have let him touch me. Every time I weaken, I put him in danger.
But God, the feel of his hands on my waist, his lips against mine—it felt like coming home after being lost for so long.
I have to force myself to stop thinking about Ilariy. Though there’s nothing more I want than to hide out here and pretend Ilariy’s just an arm’s length away, Tikhon will be looking for me by now. I pray that whatever commotion pulled Ilariy and me apart has kept him distracted.
He’s been watching me like a hawk all evening. The time I found to slip away and talk to Ilariy was a miracle of timing and sheer luck.
When my hands stop trembling at last, I exit the bathroom. The closer I walk to the ballroom, the higher the voices get.
I walk faster out of curiosity, wondering who is arguing and what the cause of all this is. I hear some glass shatter, as if it has been thrown, and my stomach drops.
I reach the entrance of the ballroom, but I can’t bring myself to step in. The scene before me freezes my blood.
A very furious Tikhon stands at the center of the room, with Andrei and Alexey beside him.
Ilariy, Agafon, Bogdan, and the rest of Ilariy’s siblings stand opposite. The other guests mill about, too afraid to stop whatever is going on.
“You think I don’t see what you’re doing?” Tikhon yells at Ilariy. “You’ve been hovering around my sister all night, Letvin, and now she can’t be found. Where did you take her?”
I shrink back, not wanting to be spotted yet.
“I don’t know where she is,” Ilariy says calmly, keeping his gaze on Tikhon.
“Liar!” Tikhon roars.
“How dare you accuse Ilariy of whisking her away? Do you think he would still be here if he did?” Faddey steps forward, his face flushed with anger. “Besides, we aren’t monsters like you. Let’s talk about how you threatened to murder Tatiana if Arina didn’t go with you.”
Gasps ripple through the watching crowd. My cheeks burn with shame as I remember what Tikhon did.
“That’s a lie,” Alexey snarls, but there’s a flicker of discomfort in his eyes.
“Is it?” Faddey challenges, taking another step forward. Several Letvin men shift forward with him, and I see Tikhon’shand move slightly toward his jacket, where I know he keeps his gun.
My heart hammers so hard I fear it might break through my ribs. Someone is going to die here tonight, and it will be because of me.
Then Ilariy moves, placing a restraining hand on Faddey’s shoulder. “Enough,” he says. “Not here.”
