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“Mila has some … ideas.” He works his jaw. There’s something he wants to say, but isn’t sure.
Gripping his hand tighter to reassure him, I whisper, “Tell me.”
Watching me closely, he lets out a slow breath. “Your status as Yevgeniy’s daughter both complicates and simplifies things.”
I pull my hand from his. “I don’t like where this is going.”
Arsen stares hard at my fingers. He’s wishing we were still touching. I do too, but the urge is smothered by my rising fears. The last time we discussed my relationship to Yevgeniy was in regards to marrying me for real.
That was a bad argument. I don’t want a repeat.
“Several of my brigadiers abandoned me when they learned you were taken. They thought that I was vulnerable to Yevgeniy. So, they jumped ship to join him. But if they learn that you,” he grabs my shoulders, and I tense up from the strength of his touch, “you, Galina, are his daughter, and not simply a pawn he is chasing, then they will return to my side.”
The frost that was slowly consuming my heart thickens further.
“Will this be all that I am to you now? A way to control your men? A tool to keep you in power?”
His mouth drops open in shock. “No, of course not.” He digs his fingers in as if he’s trying to reach the part of me that I’m sealing away. It’s a futile effort. He might as well be scooping at the snow with his bare hands to clear an avalanche.
“The men who defected will be punished. No one who aids Yevgeniy in his brothels or in harming you and your loved ones will be allowed to live.”
The darkness on his tongue makes me shiver. Wrenching away, I recall our argument before I decided to flee his home. It’s like fuel on the fire of my blazing anger. Arsen watches me, waiting for me to speak.
Good. Because I have plenty to say.
“I don’t want revenge. I just want an end to this nightmare.” Thrusting my hand flat against my chest, I narrow my eyes fiercely. “I want nothing except to go back to being Galina Stepanovna! I don’t want to be treated like a Bratva princess or ever reminded that I share the same blood as that monster! Let me go back to living a life where nobody knows who I am! Just me, my mother, and peaceful obscurity.”
I’m panting heavily from my declaration. Arsen watches me warily, his face a mix of concern and adoration. It’s enough that when he takes a step closer, I don’t retreat.
“You can be whoever you want to be. But as long as you live …” His eyes drop to my belly. “And as long as you carry my child, Yevgeniy will never stop hunting you.”
Then why did he release me? It’s bothering me more than before. Arsen says Yevgeniy wants me in his clutches, but he set me free. Slowly, my mind turns to the SIM card he gave me. When the time comes, you’ll know what to do. Did he foresee this moment?
A new thought suddenly takes shape in my head. I can slip it out from where I hid it, contact Yevgeniy, and get some sort of answers. But what would the questions even be?
And more importantly, would it help? Will any of this help?
Going to Yevgeniy won’t end Arsen’s plans. I doubt even I can convince him to shut down the brothels. I’m in the same position as before.
I bite my tongue until I can taste blood. This feud between them is endless. They’ll always be enemies. And just like that, my mother’s warning returns to me once again. Nothing is ever settled when the Bratvas are involved, stupid girl!
On and on it’ll go, this cycle of violence and vengeance. Once Arsen kills Yevgeniy, then it’ll only be a matter of time before Ruslan starts seeking his own revenge.
Arsen stares at me in silence. At first, I think he’s reconsidering his words. But the longer it goes on, the quicker I realize that he’s waiting for me to start talking again.
But I have nothing else to say.
There’s no magical phrase to get me out of this mess.
Abruptly he moves, his muscular arms capturing me, cradling me to his chest. His smell fills my nose. I remind myself I want to hate this. But God … I don’t—I can’t.
He whispers hoarsely, his face in my hair. “No matter what happens, you will always be my ptichka.”
That’s the problem.
I can’t escape the Bratva.
I’m trapped ...
