Page 6 of Auctioned to the Russian Pakhan
“Watch your mouth,” he said, but there was no real heat behind it. If anything, he sounded almost... impressed?
“Or what? You’ll return me for a refund?” She leaned forward as much as the zip-ties allowed, ice-blue eyes blazing. “Face it, Volkov. You’re stuck with me now.”
His jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. So he knew that she knew. Interesting.
“Smart girl,” he murmured, and something about the way he said it made her skin prickle with awareness. “Though not quite smart enough to avoid getting yourself kidnapped in the first place.”
The barb found its mark. Irina’s cheeks flushed with anger and embarrassment. “Maybe if my brothers had botheredto teach me how to defend myself instead of treating me like spun glass, things would have gone differently.”
“Poor little princess, locked away in her ivory tower.” His tone was mocking, but his eyes never left her face. “Must be hard being the precious baby sister.”
“You don’t know anything about my life.”
“I know enough.” He settled back against his seat, studying her like she was a puzzle he was trying to solve. “I know you’ve been trying to insert yourself into family business for years. I know your brothers and cousins think you’re too delicate for the real work. And I know you’ve been gathering intelligence on my family since the Azriel incident.”
Irina’s blood ran cold. How could he possibly know about her research? She’d been so careful, using burner phones and encrypted channels, never accessing anything from the family computers.
“Nothing to say now?” Matvei’s smile was sharp as a blade. “You’re not the only one who does their homework, little Nikolai. The difference is, I’m actually good at it.”
The SUV slowed, and Irina’s heart began to race as she recognized they were pulling into some kind of government building. The courthouse. Her mind scrambled to process what that could mean, even as dread pooled in her stomach.
“Where are we going?”
“You’ll see.”
The driver, a mountain of a man with graying temples, came around to open Matvei’s door. Her captor slid out with fluid grace, then turned back to her with an expectant look.
“Come on. We don’t have all night.”
“I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s happening.”
Those golden eyes hardened. Without warning, he reached in and hauled her out of the vehicle, one arm wrapping around her waist to steady her as she stumbled on unsteady legs. The contact sent an unwelcome jolt of electricity through her, and she cursed her body’s traitorous reaction.
“What’s happening,” he said, his breath warm against her ear, “is that you’re going to walk into that building like a good girl and do exactly what I tell you to do. Because if you don’t, I’ll carry you over my shoulder, and I promise you won’t enjoy the alternative.”
The threat should have terrified her. Instead, it sent a dangerous thrill racing down her spine. What the hell was wrong with her?
“You’re insane if you think I’m just going to meekly follow along with whatever sick game this is.”
“This isn’t a game.” His grip tightened, and she could feel the tension radiating from his body. “This is business. And you, sweetheart, are about to become a very important part of it.”
He guided her up the courthouse steps, his hand burning through the thin fabric of her dress. Irina’s mind raced as she tried to piece together his endgame. Why bring her here? What kind of business required a courthouse at nearly midnight?
The answer hit her like a physical blow as they approached a clerk’s window where a bored-looking woman waited with a stack of papers.
“No.” The word tore from her throat as understanding crashed over her. “No, absolutely not.”
“Marriage license,” Matvei said to the clerk, completely ignoring Irina’s growing panic. “We called ahead.”
“You can’t be serious.” Irina dug her heels in, trying to pull away from his iron grip. “This is kidnapping, coercion, illegal detention...”
“This is business,” he repeated, those cold eyes never leaving the clerk as she shuffled through her paperwork. “Nothing personal.”
Nothing personal. The words hit her like a slap. Of course it wasn’t personal. She was just a pawn in whatever game he was playing with her family. A tool to be used and discarded when she was no longer useful.
The realization should have made her feel better. Instead, it filled her with a rage so pure it took her breath away.
“My brothers will kill you for this,” she hissed, struggling against the zip-ties until her wrists were raw and bleeding. “They’ll tear this city apart stone by stone until they find you.”
