Page 16 of Arranged for the Russian Pakhan

A Greek statue, I think, not for the first time.

I’m barely affected by his beauty anymore. It isn’t enough of an exchange for his lack of a soul.

“Is it respect for me, or fear of my brothers?” I ask him outright.

Clearly, it isn’t what he expected me to ask. Or maybe he just didn’t expect me to sound so calm when I asked it. I don’t care, so long as he gives me a straight answer.

It bodes well for him that he pauses to weigh his words. Only then does he say, “There is a difference between fear and consideration. Your brothers, at least for the most part, and their trigger-hot approach, aren’t my first choice to deal with. But it isn’t why I came to ask you. I’d call sidestepping that mess a bonus.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Wh—”

I cut him off. “And that’s not important. Right now, at least.”

His lips press into a thin, hard line. From several steps away, I can see the vein in his forehead protruding. Good. I hope it fucking bursts.

“You won’t escape facing my brothers,” I apprise, my stare unrelenting. “You’ve sidestepped nothing. However, if you come back to the estate next week and come with a ring worth accepting, Anton—which you should technically be able to accomplish, since you’ve had more than enough time to sit in my home and absorb my aesthetic—we’ll see.”

“We’ll see?” he repeats.

He looks at me like I’ve sprouted horns.

If I genuinely believed I could stomach his answer, I’d ask him how he imagined this going. But I’ve already decided I’ve got no interest in that. There is no point to it. He’s ruined enough of my night.

Slowly, I nod. I gesture to him towards the door, my meaning unmistakable. The grudging welcome is over now.

For once, I don’t give a damn whether I’m discourteous. He has used up all my grace for an evening.

“Would you prefer a more hostile, outright rejection?”

He sighs. “No. But also, yes, if this is a game to you.”

A game is a nice way to put it.

I’d rather call it a war.

I shrug back at him, as nonchalant as he’d been. “Maybe I’ll accept... and maybe I’ll have you shot. It really depends on how badly you want to tighten up this alliance, I suppose.”

His smile surfaces once more, notably more tired this time around. “That’s quite the coin-toss.”

I smile back at him, with no warmth left in my body, not when the icy blizzard of my fury has extinguished every drop of it.

“Yes, Anton,” I agree. “Regardless of how this turns out for you, you should still be aware that I’d never marry someone who wasn’t man enough to risk it in the first place.”

His frown deepens the lines in his forehead.

“You can see yourself out.”

Chapter 6 - Anton

My temples throb. Amazingly, smoke isn’t literally coming out of my ears. On the other end of the line, Viktor snaps, “Isn’t the whole point of being fucking banished that you don’t get to summon me anymore?”

I clench my jaw so hard that my teeth ache. “No.”

“I’m fucking busy. The least you can do is tell me why.”

“Last time I checked, I don’t answer to you.” I scowl at the vacant spot on my ceiling that’s been bearing the brunt of my wrath for the past ten minutes.