Page 25 of The Russian Pakhan's Forced Bride
Victoria still sounds just as shrill when I reach the car, and the driver pops the back door open for me before returning to his side.
She tries to claw at my shirt, voice raw with her unrelenting anger and panic.
“You’re insane!”
“Likely,” I murmur, lowering her onto the seat while I block the way out.
But even then, she puts her feet against the edge of the seat and refuses to move back any further. She glares at me with a new kind of desperation I have yet to see from her.
“What about my life?” She asks, eyes wild like a prey animal using whatever energy it still has to fight back—hoping for the chance to escape. “My job…my coworkers? They’ll all notice I’m gone…so what then?”
“They won’t,” I answer simply, giving her a blank expression while trying to urge her back in the seat despite how she resists. “The necessary work has already been done. Your resignation has been sent, and nobody is expecting you back there. As far as they know, you moved away to do some soul searching, or whatever the hell else they want to believe.”
Victoria gapes at me then, seemingly having a hard time wrapping her head around that idea. “…you forged my resignation?”
“Yes, I did. And you signed it.”
Her brows furrow. “I did not.”
“Yes. You did. When you signed those marriage papers, you also signed your resignation,” I tell her, getting straight to the point. “You were likely too focused on trying to get it all over with to pay attention.”
Her eyes flare with anger. “That’s not fair, and you know it.”
I hold her gaze, letting a hint of a threat shine through. Placing my hands on her knees, I pin her to the spot, halting her thrashing. “You know what’s not fair? Having to put up with yournoise.”
Victoria grits her teeth as she glances down at my hold on her before meeting my gaze again. “Then just let me go, and you won’t have to deal with it anymore!”
Fixing my mouth into a line, I let my hands slide a bit higher, unable to escape that temptation before I ease her further onto the seat. “No.”
“No? That’s it?”
“Yes…’ no’ is exactly what I’m saying,” I utter, finally getting her in one leg at a time.
Despite her anger, Victoria’s skin pales as the realizations all seem to hit her at once, sinking in while her eyes widen. She looks moments away from hyperventilating.
She swallows hard, then keeps her entire focus on me, almost like I’ve devastated her to a point of no return.
Her voice comes out almost pained and small. “You’re out of your mind.”
She’s probably right…I’m using far too much effort to keep her around and to make her do as I ask, but I don’t see any other option for myself.
I need to keep her around, even if she doesn’t see that I’m trying to protect her.
With my hands still on her, I move a bit closer and keep my voice as level as I can make it.
“Think what you will, but I’m being kind, Victoria,” I murmur, never pulling my gaze away from her. “You may not believe me now, but one day, I hope you’ll understand. This is me beingkind…you should remember that.”
With wet but furious eyes, Victoria tightens her lips and stares at me like I’m nothing more than a beast.
I half expect her to slap me or do anything, but she just pulls her legs in, situates herself on the seat, and looks out the opposite window.
Her silence leaves me to stand there for another moment, only able to watch while she seemingly can’t bear to even look at me.
Then, I get in after her and close the door behind me with a thud that seems to punctuate the tense air in the back seat.
I don’t say a word as the driver pulls out of the driveway and starts down the highway, leaving the two of us to sit in that stifling quiet.
It’s clear Victoria isn’t ready to warm up to me yet, and something tells me it’ll take more time than I’m willing to wait for just to get there.
