Page 61 of The Pakhan's Forced Bride
I can’t even claim it was just physical attraction, because it wasn’t. It was so much more than that.
Right from the beginning, she’s captured my attention, and that’s the reason I never contacted her brother.
I wanted to keep her to myself.
***
I set the takeout pizza boxes on the living room table, and the girls crowd around them to choose a slice. I decide to leavethem to enjoy their time together while I stay out of the way. I feel out of place. Belle is happy, and I shouldn’t interrupt that.
It’s late afternoon when my sisters say goodbye.
Belle stands at the door, waving to them. She’s relaxed and still smiling.
Once my sisters have driven away, I close the front door.
The awkwardness between us is obvious. I can’t handle it anymore. After seeing her smile all day, I want to have that side of her as well.
Belle starts walking away and hates it. I hate this space between us.
“Can we talk?” I ask, running after her to stop her, a knot forming in the pit of my stomach. We’re standing at the base of the stairs.
She sighs and tilts her head to the side.
“Okay,” Belle says, clasping her hands in front of her body, threading her fingers together.
“Walk with me in the garden?” I ask, gesturing for her to follow me.
It’s late afternoon, and the sun is still warm, spilling from the sky in long, lazy rays that pierce through the tall palm trees around the edge of my property.
Belle walks at my side, not saying anything.
I don’t know how to start this conversation, but I must.
“I’m sorry about what happened at the office. I had no idea your brother was in town.”
She nods but says nothing.
I clench my jaw and try again. “You asked me why I didn’t tell him, why I hadn’t made contact—"
“Yes, I want to know,” she says, looking up at me for the first time. Her eyes are locked onto me. I stop, pulling her to a stop as well.
I take a deep breath and say, “I’ll start from the beginning, because I never told you why I took you in the first place.”
A soft breeze catches at her hair and blows it gently around her face. I reach out and tuck a curl behind her ear. “I never meant to hurt you, Belle. I never intended to, either.
"Your brother and I have been against each other for a long time. When Nestor finally negotiated a truce, a small alliance within a larger one, I was hopeful that it would lead to a solid foundation between us. But he basically spat in my face. I did what I promised, and I helped him in his hunt for Miron, that asshole who took Ulyana. I was the reason Benedikt was able to rescue her. It was my team that found out where she was being held.”
Belle nods, listening carefully.
“After she was saved, I phoned Benedikt, hoping to feel his gratitude and start building some business opportunities together, but he shot me down. He made it seem as though what I had done for him was worthless, even though Ulyana might not be alive if it wasn’t for me.”
“Oh,” Belle says, narrowing her eyes. “I didn’t know about that.”
I lick my lips and continue. “My plan was just to make Benedikt suffer for a while. To annoy him, to waste his time a bit. I wanted him to jump through some hoops to get you back. I wasangry and wanted revenge. It was stupid, a play of power—but once I had you and we got closer, I lost track of time. I stopped thinking about him and—I was focused on you.”
Belle is watching me with softness behind her eyes.
“So, you never spoke to him at all after you took me?”
