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Of a man who’s about to lose control.
That’s what I wanted. That’s the humanity I was so desperate for.
When I see it, I orgasm hard. Full-body spasming, sparks ricocheting down every nerve ending. I feel like I’m going to set the bedsheets on fire. This whole damn building could go up in flames around me and I’m honestly not sure I’d notice.
But when I do finally open my eyes, I find that my surroundings remain largely unchanged. The room is intact. Arsen is standing over me. He’s fully clothed, perfectly groomed.
And any sign that he might’ve been about to crack is long since gone.
“You can try my patience all you want, wife. Toy with me, test me—it doesn’t matter,” he says coldly. “I will always remind you exactly who you belong to.”
He leaves, and I collapse back on the mattress, confused and spent.
When I do wake up a few hours later, Arsen is not there.
Neither is the trunk.
25
ARSEN
“Wait, Otets!” Feliks Kiselev’s voice trails down the hallway to my office. “This will go wrong. Stop!”
“Looks like you have visitors,” Gedeon observes as my office door flies open.
Rolan storms in with Feliks hot on his tail. They’re followed by a disgruntled Malcolm. He makes one last feeble swipe at Rolan’s arm, only to be elbowed off by the old man.
“Sir. You can’t just—” Malcolm’s eyes shift helplessly towards me. “Mr. Adamov, I tried to stop them. They just barged in. No appointment, no?—”
“Is it true?” Rolan roars, opening his jacket so everyone catches the flash of a gun on his hip.
Gedeon’s hand twitches towards his own weapon, but I give him a warning glance. That won’t be necessary.
Yet.
“Malcolm, you’re dismissed for the day.”
My assistant scowls at the Kiselevs before he backs out of the room. The moment the door clicks shut, Rolan’s lips curl contemptuously. “Is it true?” he repeats.
Gedeon steps closer. “Watch your tone, Kiselev.”
Feliks puts a hand on his father’s shoulder. “Otets, this is not the right way to?—”
“Off!” he bellows, swiping off his son’s hand. “Touch me again, and I’ll bury you next to your sister. How dare you reprimand me?”
Feliks falters, but Rolan only has narrowed eyes for me. “I’ll ask one more time, Adamov: is it fucking true? Have you taken another wife?”
I don’t need to answer. I simply meet his eyes.
The man combusts. “Natascha hasn’t even been dead a week! Y-you… dare?—”
“‘Dare’?” I laugh in his face. “I don’t dare, Rolan. Ido. I am thepakhan. As you reminded me once, taking a wife is my duty as the leader of the Adamov Bratva. That’s the logic you presented to me before offering up your daughter.”
“This woman was supposed to be your surrogate, but you were cheating on my daughter with this whore all along.You’rethe one who killed her, aren’t you?”
“Otets…” Feliks warns.
“It’s okay, Feliks.” I calmly walk around my desk as the sky reddens behind us. “I had no personal interest in your daughter, Rolan. We came to an arrangement: I lived my life, and she was free to live hers. I had no reason to want her dead.”
