Page 127 of Taken By My Grumpy Pakhan

The car came to a stop before I could mutter another plea, and I was dragged out of it in a flash.

I wasn’t given the time to collect myself before the shorter man grabbed my upper arm in a painful grip.

I let out a sharp yelp.

“Easy, Anton.” An icy tone hit me like cold water. “I told you she was delicate.”

Svetlana stood in front of a two-story building that looked more like a haunted house than a warehouse, her outfit polished as usual.

“Bring her in.” She walked into the building with an air of importance while I was pulled in after her.

The ride from the hospital, although tense and worrying, had afforded me some time to think of the worst-case scenarios and figure out different ways to get out of them, but neither of the scenes had Svetlana in them, much less featuring her as the mastermind.

Maybe Kazimir is in there, a voice in my head whispered, but I doubted it.

Kazimir didn’t seem like the type to put a woman at the forefront of his dirty work. He preferred more direct means.

I was shoved into a room with very little lighting. Just like I thought, there was no Kazimir, only Svetlana perched on a sofa like some queen of rotting houses and crumbling furniture.

“Genevieve,” she smiled. “Sit down. You look pale.”

“What is this?” My voice shook and I hated it.

“Sit,” she said, her smile not moving an inch. “We have a lot to talk about, you and I.”

I didn’t sit. My legs were shaking and I could feel my body rattling with uncertainties, but I didn’t dare take a seat.

“You should be thanking me,” she said, swirling the contents of a glass I hadn’t noticed before. “I tried to warn you. I gave you all the clues you needed, but you got greedy. And greed, as we all know, little bird…” Her lips curved into something sinister. “Has dire consequences.”

I ignored the way the endearment grated at my skin. “What are you talking about, Svetlana? I left the moment you told me about your relationship. He deceived me.”

“Uh-uh.” She shook her head. “I think you loved the benefits that came with it so much that you chose to bury your head in the clouds despite the signs around you. You’re no victim, Genevieve, you made intentional decisions, but that’s alright.” She straightened. “I know how to deal with the likes of you.”

My eyes narrowed, darting from side to side. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“I told Kazimir what you are,” she shrugged. “A spy, sent to work your way into his life. I told him you placed yourself in front of him as the perfect little damsel, all softness and innocence, so he’d never think to question how convenient it all was.” She smiled behind the rim of her glass. “He was too angry to see straight by the time I finished.”

“That’s a lie,” I countered. “You know that’s a lie.”

“Doesn’t matter if it’s true,” she said. “It only matters if he believes it, and grief makes men believe all sorts of things.”

My hands curled into fists by my sides. “So this is you cleaning up your own mess.”

“This is me finishing what I should have finished months ago.” She stood, circling behind my chair so I had to twist to keep her in sight. “If you’d disappeared quietly after that first night, none of this would be necessary. I would have married him, I would have had my ring, and you could have raised your bastard somewhere far away from all of this. Instead, you let him fall for you.”

“Fall for me?” I let out a dry, humorless laugh. “All of this is because you think he fell for me?”

Her expression soured, but she didn’t speak.

“Look around you, Svetlana, you have the man. If he fell for me, he wouldn’t lie. He wouldn’t keep me on the sidelines, and he certainly wouldn't tell you I was…” I swallowed the unwanted wave of emotions. “I left. I’ll stay away. I have no interest in being in your lives.”

“It doesn’t matter now,” she said, crouching in front of me, close enough that I could smell the wine on her breath. “I orchestrated all of it, Genevieve. The story I gave him—it was intended to make him abhor you and run into my arms, but instead, he’s tearing down the city in search of you.”

Her eyes took on a fiery glow that caused me to bristle. “I hate to be humiliated, Genevieve, and I won’t let a scum like you and that bastard you’re growing make a fool out of me.”

My arms instinctively wrapped around my belly, my feet moving a couple of steps back.

Her lips curled. “Not to worry, I’d never stoop low enough to have my hands covered in blood like yours. I only intend to keep you until he grows weary of his search.”