AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Are you in the same business as Aleks?” Her voice trembled, along with her hands. She was livid by now, and also a bit afraid. I’d promised her honest answers, but for some reason, the disdain in her eyes kept me silent until she spit out her question again. “Are you also in the Bratva?”
Chapter 12 - Jenna
It was like the earth had shifted, and I couldn’t find my balance. I couldn’t believe what was happening and tried to wake myself up, because things had gone from a dream to a nightmare in no time. I tossed his passport onto the dresser, waiting for him to answer me. Waiting for him to realize exactly what he’d done to me.
Because he didn’t seem remorseful at all, acting like what he’d done was no big deal. That I was somehow to blame for this silly misunderstanding because I didn’t make a habit of asking every random person I just met if he was related to my sister’s husband.
That was already a blow. Also, the fact that he’d plotted the whole thing. Lured me into this relationship because he’d become obsessed with the idea of having me.
Yes, only seconds before I opened that damn passport, his confession might have given me the good kind of shivers. The kind that would have me panting underneath him again. But I saw his real name, knew the truth. There was no going back from that, even if I wanted to lean into his embrace while he tried to cajole me out of my rage.
My rage was perfectly justified and would only worsen if my sudden suspicion was true. I fervently prayed he’d answer that he was nothing more than an honest businessman trying to separate himself from his unfortunate family ties.
Please. Because then I could somehow get past the fact that my sister and his brother weren’t going to be happy about this. I’d already mostly made my peace with stepping away from them now that I knew I couldn’t live with what Aleks did. Maybe Lev wanted to get away from it, too.
Why wouldn’t he answer?
“Are you also in the Bratva?” I asked again.
He closed his eyes against my angry, terrified stare and sighed. “Yes. I’m here to gain new territory. There’s a bit of a power vacuum going on right now, and we mean to fill the void.”
He seemed proud. Proud of what he did. Of the dirty, bloody money that had made him so rich he could coerce and buy the bride of his choice.
No, not me. It wasn’t going to be me.
“I want an annulment,” I said, ignoring him when he stood again. Ignoring those muscles in his chest as, he clenched and unclenched his hands while he paced past me. The fact he’d just brought me to the highest heights was the furthest thing on my mind. If I hadn’t been so gutted by the unwanted realization, I might have laughed. I’d actually gotten myself into this insane situation in order to get away from mafia ties.
But I’d somehow managed to marry myself right back into it. Oh my God, I was married to a Bratva king, and a very agitated one at that. He paced past me one more time before stopping in front of me. I stood frozen in place, clinging to the blanket I’d wrapped around me. Was it only minutes ago I was happily prancing around naked in front of him, enjoying his heated stare?
He loomed over me, but I somehow wasn’t intimidated. Did he think I would be? He laughed, but there was no joy in it. Not like before, when we’d…
I tipped up my chin, not about to be cowed. His brows shot together, and his eyes were as dark as the Arctic sea. “There’s not going to be any annulment,” he told me imperiously. “No divorce, either. You’re mine, Jenna.”
He was intimidating, but his commanding tone also gave me a little thrill. Had to be left over from when we’d been wrapped up together. I took a step back so I could think straight, not because he frightened me.
“You know I want to go into politics. I can’t associate with crooks.”
The jibe rolled right off of him, and he laughed again. “Politicians are some of the biggest crooks I know.” He held up his hand, folding down a finger with each name he listed off. “All of them in my pocket,” he said. “All of them have come to me for favors, or vice versa.”
A few of those people he listed I’d previously respected, but no more. “It doesn’t matter. That’s not going to be me,” I said.
Once again, he got much too close. “I’ll tell you what you are, Jenna. You’re my wife.”
Finally recoiling from his intensity, I ducked around him and locked myself in the bathroom. Pacing the ridiculously large space from end to end did nothing to calm me down. Looking in the mirror made things worse. My hair was rumpled, and there was a hickey swelling at the base of my neck. I traced my fingers over it, fighting my warring feelings.
Lev was a criminal. And I was married to him.
I poked my head out of the bathroom door to find he was gone. On the bed was a tray of snacks, and he’d hauled in my suitcase of things I’d hurriedly packed to bring here with me. It seemed like ages ago I’d been cautiously excited about this new life, not sure where it would lead, but certain my problems were solved.
My problems were not solved; they’d gotten worse. I had to leave. That was step one.
Except the door wasn’t just closed. It was locked.
Lev had locked me in.
I hollered until my throat was raw and pounded on the door until a few minutes later, I heard him on the other side, telling me to calm down.
“Like hell I will,” I shouted, infuriated all over again when he chuckled. “Open the door.”
