“Didn’t I say it was handled? I know you doubt me on a lot of things right now, but don’t doubt me on that,” he interrupted calmly. “Any time they try to rise up, they will be put down. But word spreads,milaya. My family put you and yours under our protection. That makes you a known soft spot, a target. And I can’t have you out there like that. I had every intention of coming back for you, but now that intention is backed up by an order from mypa—.” he stopped abruptly.
“Your what?” I asked, frowning.
“You don’t need to worry about that right now. But to protect you, I made a promise to Maxim. I put myself in a position where his word is law. To keep you safe and to lessen our vulnerability, he ordered that you be brought to me. And to make sure niggas understand how serious the connection is, I need to make you family, make sure that coming for you or yours is the same as coming for me or mine. So, we getting married.”
He looked serious, too. Like he thought that he and Maxim and whoever else had a chance in hell of stealing me and dictating my life.
“Hell, no. You don’t even want this yourself. How you gon’ marry someone cuz some nigga?—”
“My brother,” he supplied helpfully.
“Whatever,” I snapped. “How you gon’ let him make you do something you don’t even want to?—”
“Nah, shorty, you got it wrong. I want to. I told you I was keeping you forever?—”
I waved a hand as I scoffed. “Then you disappeared for a year. I’on believe shit you say. My family is not going to let you?—”
“Your family? Prime and Ajani understand how this works. If it keeps you and the family safe, best believe they on board. And you want me to leave your parents, your grandparents without the protection of the Sidorov name? You really want them out there like that?” Targen challenged, hitting me right in my heart.
“The Sidorov name? Who the fuck are y’all anyway? You act like y’all some big, bad?—”
“We are,malyshka,” he said quietly. “But bigger and badder comes with consequences, complications I should’ve thought out. I was too focused on the immediate threat, wasn’t thinking long-term. That’s okay, though. We were always gon’ end up married. This just pushes our timeline up.”
Process. I needed time to process. This man was telling me he was from a family of questionable background that he expected me to marry into. My instinctive response was, “No.” I didn’t trust him. I felt that I didn’t really know him. I definitely didn’t want to be a criminal’s bride. But I had unwittingly brought potential danger to my family’s doorstep. They didn’t deserve that. And while I knew Prime and Ajani dabbled in a lotof things, holding off multiple entities bent on revenge was a lot, even for them.
“My old man wants us married in the Russian Orthodox Church, but I know you might want a lil’ country Baptist preacher, too. We’ll do the private ceremony, then we can plan any kind of big, public one you want. I know?—”
He was talking, but I had to tune him out. Cuz what the fuck? A few hours ago, I had been on a date with a nice, thoughtful man, and now, here I was, having my marriage planned to another. There was no way.
“I can’t—” I started.
He gave me a look I’d never seen from him before. Forceful, kind of cold, like what he was about to say wouldn’t be denied.
“You will, Theory. We getting married. And you can be mad all you want right now. I can deal with that cuz in the end, you gon’ be happy,milaya. I’ma make sure of it,” he vowed.
I shook my head, my breath picking up as my brain registered what he was saying.I had no choice. I hated the feelings that came with that, hated the uptick in my breathing, the swirling thoughts in my head, the sudden weakness and shaking of my body.
“You expect me to marry you in a few days? You not even asking. You not even?—”
My words stopped abruptly as my ability to draw in oxygen dwindled. My head spun, and I leaned forward. I was vaguely aware of Targen moving, squatting in front of me, and grabbing my hand before I squeezed my eyes shut.
“Count backward from twenty with me,milaya,” he instructed softly, placing my hand over his heart.
I nodded, even though he started aloud without me. By the time he reached twelve, the steady beat of his heart had calmed me enough to recite the numbers with him shakily. By the time we reached three, I could finally open my eyes.
And then, there we were, staring at each other, my hand held against his heart. He’d helped me avoid the full-fledged anxiety attack.
Like the first time we met.
Our breathing was in sync.
Like the first time we met.
But I couldn’t let myself fall.
Like the first time we met.
“Theory, please believe I always meant to do this the right way, but time and circumstances don’t allow. This statement… public, out loud… if I didn’t think this was the best way to protect you and your family, to keep y’all safe…” he said, voice gravelly.
