Page 10 of Scarred (Russian Sinners 2)

“Olivia,” my brother tried to urge me away from the table but I wouldn’t let him. “I got this. Go home.”

“No,” I repeated. I lowered my voice a few more notches. “What are you doing?”

The hulk entered as I spoke the last word and strode across the room toward me, a pissed look on his face. It worried me enough that I found myself stepping closer to my brother.

Damn, he was scary.

“Mr. Fray,” the dealer spoke calmly; Oliver and I were sandwiched between the table dealer and the hulk. “That will be two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”

The hulk guard was immediately forgotten and I whipped my head around.

“W-what?” my voice was a screech.

That was a lot of money. His military salary wasn’t nearly enough to cover for that loss. And our family was in enough debt without this add on.

“Everybody out,” the stranger I had been admiring earlier spoke. He never raised his voice but people scurried like he shouted it. His whole demeanor was dark and commanded obedience. I was so sick and tired of being obedient, men dictating what I could and couldn’t do.

As people cleared, I noticed the hulk stayed.

Great!There was no chance in hell Oliver would be able to fight both of them if it came down to it. My fighting skills were non-existent.

With everyone gone, the four of us eyed each other as if we were measuring our strengths. It wasn’t an even playing field by any stretch.

The gorgeous man was still sitting, the three of us standing. Although I got a distinct feeling hulk was blocking our way out.

“She has to go back home,” Oliver tried to take charge of the situation but I knew the situation already got out of hand.

I’m going to pay dearly for this if Father notices I wasn’t home, or even worse Malcome’s men.

I took my brother’s hand and squeezed hard. He returned the squeeze. It was something we always did. When we got in trouble, that squeeze gave me courage. Right now, I needed it more than ever.

“She’s not going anywhere,” his voice was detached, an undertone of a Russian accent barely detectable but there nonetheless. I really liked his powerful and sexy voice, the rich, deep timbre sent a delightful shiver down my spine. I instantly scolded myself for such a reaction to him.

I didn’t like my reaction to him at all. I shouldn’t respond like a melting puddle of ice to his voice. It was so bizarre for me. My body never responded like this to anyone before.

So I told myself I didn’t like him but my body sure as hell did.

“Now,” he started, rolling his sleeves up, thick forearms revealing hints of tattoos peeking as they snaked up his arms. I gawked at those strong arms and could have sworn my mouth watered, or my knees buckled. “How do you intend to pay for your debt?”

The question was perfectly reasonable, but it sounded threatening. And here I was admiring his strong forearms. Why did I keep having encounters with dangerous men? Although this one was a hot, dangerous man unlike any I had ever met before.

“I… I’ll pay,” my brother stuttered. I squeezed his hand again.

The man’s eyes lingered on me, lazily observing me, and I could have sworn his gaze was stripping me bare right here from the way his eyes devoured me. A shiver unlike any other ran through my body and I swore he noticed it. This man was like a hawk. I had a feeling he noticed everything around him.

“No loans today,” he spoke casually like we were talking about a Sunday brunch. “You still haven’t paid your last loan from two days ago.”

“What?” I asked in shock, glaring at my brother. But of course, he couldn’t tell that because I had purposely gotten dressed so nobody could see my face. “Oliver, what last loan?”

“It’s nothing,” he tried to get out of it. “I got it all under control.”

“Are you kidding me right now?” I hissed under my breath trying to keep our conversation private but there was no avoiding them hearing it all. “This is not having it under control.”

I watched this scene we found ourselves in with desperation. This is not how I imagined tonight would go. My brother owed this man over two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. It was exactly what got our family into this fucked up mess. Why did this keep happening? Why did my family make these horrible choices and I had to be the one to pay for them? The fact that my brother did this too, after what our father has done, left a bitter taste on my tongue.

I felt self-pity grow inside me but then I firmly pushed it away. There was no use in self-pity. It got me nowhere. I knew Oliver had been trying to get money so he could help me with my plan. I had to fight and take control of what had been left of my life.

I turned slowly to the man that seemed to hold all the cards at this moment.

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