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I grab it on my way out. Before I leave, though, I turn to him, because I do need to know one last thing.
“You believe me, though. Right? I didn’t do this on purpose.”
Ivan lets out a soft breath as he looks at me. “Of course I believe you,krasavitsa.”
I can see in his eyes that he’s being sincere. After one last look at him, I turn around and leave, heading to the room I was shown to earlier today. Once the door is shut behind me, I’m glad to be alone with my thoughts. My heart is racing.
The plan was simple. Adrian, that jerk face, told me to make Ivan start to trust me. I figured seducing him was right up that alley because since I’m already here, I might as well help him get revenge for his mother. Or at least the justice she deserves. It’s why I wore these stupid shorts. I want to drive him crazy a little. Because I know he at least likes my body.
I was only planning on teasing him. The problem is, though, I forgot I also seem to like his body just as much. And when he asked to kiss me, there was just no way I was going to be able to say no. So I let him, and it was pretty fucking electric.
Maybe if he had kissed me like that back then, I never would have snuck off the morning after we slept together. The kiss made me realize I might be in a little more trouble than I expected, and I was just coming to terms with that when Alexei walked into the house and called for his brother.
I have never, in all my entire twenty-four years of living, been that shocked before. I nearly had a heart attack when I sawthat Ivan’s brother is none other than my ex-boyfriend. I have no idea what forces are at play right now. But not only are they cruel, they’re also fucking sadistic.
With a sigh, I fall down onto the four-poster bed in the large room. I stare upward, wishing I was in my own room. With the stars painted on the top. It was comforting. It felt like home. This room feels anything but. I know I have to get used to it, though.
If this was happening to any other man but Ivan Volkov, I would have said he’d give up. That he would take it as a loss and move on to some other woman who hasn’t had affiliations with his brother in the past. But I’m starting to know Ivan pretty well, and one thing I’m sure of is that he doesn’t back down when he wants something. Everything else be damned.
It’s still pretty cruel, though. I don’t know about the dynamics of his relationship with his brother, but I do know that things are about to get pretty fucking murky.
My phone rings, distracting me from my thoughts. When I grab it, I’m utterly unsurprised to find my sister’s name flashing across the screen. I consider ignoring the call but that’s probably the worst thing I could do, considering the circumstances.
“Hey,sorella,” I greet her, trying to sound as upbeat as possible.
Which was probably a mistake.
“Why do you sound so happy? What has he done to you?” she asks suspiciously.
“He hasn’t done anything,” I say in a normal voice. At least not anything I didn’t want him to. “I promise, Rory. He has been a perfect gentleman.”
“Oh, please. I doubt the man has any idea what that even entails,” Aurora states. “Are you okay, though?”
“I’m fine. Nothing has happened to me in the few hours since I’ve been here.”
“And nothing is going to happen to you,” she says assuringly. “Listen, so I’ve been talking with Nico and I think we can come up with a plan to get you out of there. There’s a port outside the city and the Russians don’t have a stronghold there. All we have to do is get you there and then you can leave the country.”
I smirk, feeling really bad for my brother-in-law. My sister is awful at letting things go. And I just know she’s giving him a hard time over this.
“Rory, I hate traveling on boats. I get seasick, remember?”
“You’ll live. Or at the very least you won’t have to spend the rest of your life married to that man,” she retorts fiercely.
I sigh. “Aurora, you seriously need to let this go. I can take care of myself.”
“That’s not your job. I’m your older sister. I’ll take care of you,” she insists.
“I’m a grown woman, Rory. I can make my own choices. You don’t have to take care of me anymore. I love you to bits, but you’ve got other people that need you now. You’ve got little Ale. We all have a responsibility to take care of him. That means making sure nothing happens to his daddy or any of his daddy’s men. Honestly, marrying Ivan isn’t the worst thing that could happen to me.”
“You’re talking about him familiarly again,” Aurora mutters, fixating on that one thing. “Seriously, I don’t get how you can be so calm about all this. You don’t know this man!”
I shut my eyes briefly. I need to tell her the truth. And I will. Just not over the phone.
“Just please trust that I know what I’m doing, Rory. Please.”
She’s silent for a couple of seconds, probably thinking it over. Then she groans.
“I hate this so much.”
