Page 56 of The Pakhan's Forced Bride
I dare to drag my eyes off Ardalion and Ben to glance at the other two men. They’re not moving either. Everyone is in shock.
Something snaps inside me, and I let out a horrified squeal. “What are you doing? Stop this at once.”
They ignore me. Not even a flinch.
The two men are glaring at each other as though they might shoot at any second.
“Please,” I beg, trying again to be heard.
No one moves. No one answers.
“Nestor?” I shout. “What is going on?”
He quickly shakes his head, his brows knotted.
He’s as shocked as I am.
The tension is escalating quickly, and I’m desperate to stop it before it gets any worse.
Giving up trying to reason with either of them, I run into the office and stand between my brother and Ardalion. Now their weapons are aimed at me instead of each other. I face Benedikt. He drew his gun first. I want to reassure him that I’m okay, that Ardalion hasn’t hurt me anyway.
“Get the fuck out of the way, Belle,” my brother snarls at me.
“No, put down your gun. This isn’t how we’re going to solve anything,” I shout back at him. Fear is pulsing through me like fire blazing over dry fields.
This is a horror show. I have to get them to stop.
I walk closer to Benedikt. “Ben, it’s me, I’m okay. Please, stop,” I say, more controlled, not shouting, forcing myself to keep my voice even.
Behind me, I hear Emmanuil. “Ard, put down the gun, man,” he says calmly. “Just take a breath and calm down.”
“I won’t drop my weapon until he does,” Ardalion snarls.
“Fuck you, Ardalion. You’ve been hiding her this whole time?” Benedikt shouts. His eyes are wild with anger. His finger flexes against the trigger of his gun. I wince, squeezing my eyes shut. When I open them again, he hasn’t moved.
“Ben,please,” I beg him, taking another step towards him. My heart is racing. My palms are sweaty.
His eyes drop from Ardalion, looking straight at me. The intensity of his stare steals my breath away.
He looks like he’s filled with hatred.
“Do you have any idea what you put me through, Belle? My little sister—sneaking off with the enemy. Hiding while I hunt for her day and night, not sleeping, hardly eating, my life falling apart because I thought you’d been taken against your will.” He spits the words at me with disgust.
“Ben, I didn’t—" I stammer, turning to look at Ardalion, who is saying nothing. I thought they were negotiating for my release. I thought Ardalion had been in contact with my brother for weeks.
“Don’t even fucking bother talking to me, Belle. You’re disgusting. I can’t believe you were fine putting your family through this while you played happily in LA with this asshole. Did you even thinkonceabout me? Or Mom? Did you think about Ulyana? She’s been crying non-stop, begging me to find you. We’ve been going through hell. I don’t even know who you are anymore.” Benedikt’s words cut into me, leaving me speechless and stunned. I would never put my family through that. It hurts that he thinks I would ever do something like that. I want to defend myself, I want to tell him I didn’t leave by choice. But the tension in the room is so horrific, I’m afraid he might start shooting without thinking.
My eyes are burning with the threat of tears, but I’m fighting to hold them back. I need to keep my emotions in check, stay as calm as I can to bring down the tension.
“Ben, it’s not what you think,” I manage to say, reaching up to touch his hand, trying to get him to see I’m still me. I’m still Belle. I didn’t hurt them on purpose.
He pulls his hand away as though I’ve stung him.
He snorts an angry laugh. “So, I didn’t just see you walk into my enemy's office, smiling, ready to drink champagne and enjoy your weekend? I didn’t see that? I’m supposed to ignore how happy you look? Is that what you’re telling me? How dare you think you have a right to tell meanythingafter what you’ve done. You have this secret, sick little relationship with a guy whom you know I despise. You’re disgusting, Belle. Selfish. And you’re a liar.”
His words are so nasty, his assumptions are getting worse the longer we stand here. I’ve never seen this side of Benedikt before. He’s never, in my entire life, spoken to me like this before.
My heart shatters.
