Page 28 of Their Valentine Bride

Firstly, Anton Kozlov had forced their hand.

For her own safety, they’d been compelled to claim her. In their world laying claim to a woman meant she was untouchable by anyone else or that if anyone dared touched her, looked at her the wrong way, that person would die.

To protect her from Anton, they had given her their name, a woman who had the ability to destroy them. To ruin them. They hadn’t even touched her yet, but they all knew she had the power to upset their plans for the Merring Street operation—a crucial undertaking to see them back at the top—just because she wanted to keep a sex shop opened that once belonged to her eighty-two-year-old friend. And she was making a public event out of it.

Secondly, they couldn’t have her in their home.

As a troika, three ruling heads of the Shlykov Bratva, the woman they shared would be their woman for life. It was just how things went. They had never come across anyone in their lives that had disrupted all three of their carefully laid foundations in such a severe manner before. Until her. And it was taking its toll on them

But out of respect for Damien as the older brother and the first head, they would only touch her, only fuck if he did. That was a rule they would never break no matter how much they wanted to feel her hot pussy pulse against the length of the shafts.

She had no idea what she started when she got involved with Anton Kozlov.

Claiming her in layman’s terms meant making her their wife. Giving her their name.

Chapter Fifteen

Ansley couldn’t believe they would do this to her. Threatening her to step down from her attempts to save Cupid’s Toys was one thing. Imprisoning her, quite another.

She was outraged and furious. After leaving her in her underwear, still shaken from Damien touching her then discarding her so cruelly, she had been forced to use her tattered dress as a shield when a woman by the name of Sahara came to fetch her, an hour later. Apparently, Sahara, tight-lipped, unsmiling and with zero sense of humor, was going to be her personal maid and would answer all her demands and thankfully she brought Ansley a robe. The humiliation that the woman had some idea of what had transpired in the library made Ansley choke with embarrassment. All the questions Ansley asked fell on deaf ears after Sahara informed her that her job was only to see to Ansley’s needs. Argg.

With no choice, Ansley followed her upstairs into a bedroom bigger than a house. She immediately excused herself and slipped into the bathroom where she continued to feed her outrage. By the time she emerged, the bedroom was filled with more servants carrying in her clothes.

From her apartment. Every single item from her closets and her vanity and her bathroom. She twirled around in horror, speechless as her whole life was moved into their house without her consent.

She tried to stick a butter knife into the monitor on her ankle. She tried to smash it with an ornament without causing herself any damage. She swore and cursed at it then demanded to see the brothers; her request was ignored because it wasn’t on Sahara’s pay grade apparently. Short of actually trying to leave and face being electrocuted, not appealing at all, Ansley was stuck in her palatial cell. No phones. Absolutely zero electronics. Surely her family would be looking for her. Her parents. Katrina. Josh. Maureen. Bethy. Okay, maybe not Beth. Her best friend was on an island celebrating her birthday and ticking off a pretty huge thing on her bucket list. Three huge things, to be precise, at once. But what about her hundreds of other friends? Why wasn’t she being rescued?

Okay, only a day and a half passed but she continued to go mad. Did they even live there? No matter how hard she tried to catch them, she inevitably fell asleep.

She couldn’t have been gladder when Yuric finally came around to visit her. While he too took the stance of not answering any of her questions regarding the brothers, he did make for some good entertainment and beat him in blackjack every time.

By now she had reached the point of no return. She had to do something, and she knew exactly what it was.

Did they want to play it this way?

Fine. It was like they didn’t even know her.

“Can I use your phone, Yuric?” she asked after she won another round.

“You know I can’t let you, Miss.”

“Look. It’s my cousin’s bachelorette party tomorrow. I’m supposed to be hosting it at my apartment. Everything has been arranged but obviously, it’s not going to happen because I’m here, in prison,” she smiled. “If you can just let me call my PA and she can cancel everything I’ll be so grateful. I’m not asking to leave. I’m not even asking for help to escape. I know when I’m defeated. I’d rather be imprisoned than dead, and I know they’re the big bad Bratva now so they can easily have me permanently removed. I’m too young to die.

“I just want to cancel the party. And maybe other plans can be made so my cousin, Maureen, who is getting married, won’tnothave her bachelorette party. Please. Just one call to my PA.”

No one was more shocked than Yuric himself when he handed over his phone to her. She didn’t waste any time and after hugging him, she immediately called her assistant.

Raising her chin, she spoke quietly and calmly to Paige as if nothing had happened to her, like being kidnapped by the Russian Mafia.

“So change of plans, Paige. Umm, we have a code zero eight for Maureen’s bachelorette party, I’m afraid. It’s not going to happen. And also, the caterers, can you take care of them? They were scheduled for tomorrow as well.”

“Oh?” Paige said, just a little surprised. “I’m on it. I’ll take care of it immediately.”

“Thank you. You’re the best,” Ansley said then disconnected the call but not before she pressed one other little button. She handed Yuric his phone back. “See, now it’s sorted. You’re the best too, Yuric,” she said and couldn’t help the smile filling out her face.

“What are you up to, Miss?” Yuric asked, groaning like a bear.

“Nothing,” she said innocently. “Rematch?”

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