Page 60 of Auctioned to the Russian Pakhan
“Yes.”
She flinched slightly at his blunt confirmation, but pressed on. “You partnered with the same people who hurt Azriel, who terrorized my sister-in-law.”
“Yes.”
“You married me knowing you planned to use me as a weapon against the people I love most in this world.”
Each word was like a knife twist, but he forced himself to meet her eyes. “Yes.”
“Good.” Her voice was steady, but he could see her hands trembling slightly. “Now it’s my turn.”
He waited, hardly daring to breathe.
“I stayed,” she said quietly, “because I was planning to betray you too.”
The admission shouldn’t have surprised him, but it did. He’d suspected as much, especially after Viktor’s appearance at his warehouse, but hearing her say it was different.
“I thought I could gather information, find a way to help my family destroy you first.” She laughed bitterly. “I told myself Iwas being smart, playing the long game. That I could pretend to be your dutiful wife while secretly working against you.”
“But you didn’t.”
“No.” She finally sat down, like the admission had taken something out of her. “I couldn’t. Because somewhere along the way, you stopped being the enemy. You became... You became someone I cared about.”
The words hit him like a physical blow. “Irina...”
“I’m not finished.” Her ice blue eyes were bright with unshed tears. “When I ran away, I kept trying to hate you. Kept reminding myself of what you’d planned, how you’d deceived me. But I couldn’t stop thinking about other things, too.”
“What things?”
“The way you taught me self-defense with so much patience, even when I was terrible at it. How you stayed with me when I was sick, took care of me without asking for anything in return. How you light up when you talk about your family, especially your sisters.” Her voice broke slightly. “How you hold me at night like I’m something precious.”
Matvei felt his composure cracking. “Irina, please. Let me explain.”
“I’m trying to.” She wiped at her eyes angrily. “I’m trying to tell you that even knowing what you planned, even knowing how it started, I can’t make myself stop caring about you. And I hate myself for it.”
“Why?”
“Because how can I trust my own feelings? How do I know what’s real and what’s just manipulation? How do I know you’re not still playing some long game I don’t understand?”
The question hung between them, and Matvei realized this was his chance. Maybe his only chance to tell her the truth. All of it.
“Because I’m not,” he said simply. “Because the plan fell apart the moment I actually got to know you.”
She looked at him skeptically. “Convenient.”
“Is it?” He leaned forward, willing her to believe him. “Do you think it’s convenient that I’ve spent the last week losing my mind trying to find you? That I’ve barely slept or eaten because the thought of never seeing you again was killing me?”
“Pretty words...”
“Fuck pretty words.” The vehemence in his voice surprised them both. “You want the truth? Here it is. Yes, I bought you to destroy your family. Yes, it was calculated and cold and everything you think it was. But Irina, that plan died the first night you took care of me.”
“What?”
“When you washed my hair in the shower, when you made me eat something, when you sat with me until I fell asleep.” His voice was rough with emotion. “No one had done that for me since I was a child. And you did it without expecting anything in return, without even knowing if I deserved it.”
She was staring at him now, something shifting in her expression.
“I kept telling myself it was still about the plan. That I could use your kindness, your growing feelings, to my advantage. But every day it got harder. Every time you laughed at something I said, every time you challenged me or defended me or just existed in my space, the plan became less important.”
