Page 10 of Claimed By my Ex’s Uncle

"Can I help you with something?"

"When do you finish your shift?" he says.

"I’m not giving out my private information to you⁠—"

"I have a car waiting outside," he tells me bluntly. "I’ll know when you finish. Easier for you to just tell me."

"No, it isn’t, Ilya, because I’m not going anywhere with you," I protest. "I don’t know what you’ve gotten into your head, but I’m not going to go along with it. I’m going back to my apartment, by myself⁠—"

"That’s not a good idea."

I can tell that he is trying to restrain himself right now, trying to keep from giving away how pissed off he is, but I don’t give a damn. I step out from behind the counter, ready to take him on, ready to really give him a piece of my mind. Because what did he mean, coming in here, declaring that my baby was his with no proof, and practically dragging me out of work to go to his place when I have a perfectly good apartment of my own? He must be crazy if he thinks I’m going to go along with that, even for a second.

"What makes you so sure of that?” I demand. "You need to go. Now. I’ve had enough of this⁠—"

But before I can lay into him any further, the door to the back office opens, and out steps Tina. I freeze, already sensing her glower at the back of my head, the abject disgust she’s currently shooting my way for disturbing her.

“What’s going on out here?” she asks, stalking towards us.

Ilya immediately warms his face with a smile and turns to Tina, extending his hand.

"You must be the owner," he greets her. "Just the person I was looking for. Do you have somewhere private that we could talk? There’s a business matter I’d like to discuss with you."

Tina looks between the two of us, clearly not sure what to make of the situation. Slowly, though, she reaches out to take his hand and nods.

"Of course," she replies. "Right this way. My office is just through here."

Ilya shoots me another look just before he follows her inside. I swallow hard as I watch him go. Becky narrows her eyes at me, clearly as baffled as I am by the entire situation.

"What the heck is going on between you two?” she hisses, and I shake my head.

"I have no idea," I reply defensively. "It’s not like I told him where I work."

I look to the door, chewing my lip as I try to parse out what he might be doing in there. I hardly want to know. What kind of business could he have to discuss with Tina, of all people? I might not have known much about what he does for a living, but I got the feeling it wasn’t investing in boutique clothing stores.

I busy myself for a few minutes, trying to make myself useful as my mind rifles through the possibilities. By the time the door opens again, Tina looks surprised but not unhappy, and Ilya is wearing a grin that tells me he got his way.

"What did you do?" I ask him, not even sure I want to hear the answer.

He jerks his head towards the door. "Come on. We’re leaving. Now."

"I told you, I have a place of my own, Ilya!” I protest. "And besides, I have to work. I don’t want to lose my job⁠—"

"Leave with me, or you’re fired."

"You can’t do that."

But then, I look between him and Tina, and it strikes me just what he was doing in that room with her. My jaw drops, shock coursing through me.

"You didn’t just buy this place, did you?" I ask him incredulously.

He shrugs. "What matters is that you answer to me now," he replies calmly. "Come with me, or you lose your job."

"This isn’t fair⁠—"

"If you want, I’ll make sure everyone here loses their job," he tells me, taking a step closer. "You keep going back and forth on this, and I’ll shut this place down. Your friend losing her job, all because of you… you don’t want that, right?"

I stare at him, mouth agape. I can’t believe he would do something like this. It just doesn’t make sense that this is the same man who saw me that night at the ball and whisked me off to safety the first chance he got. The man who gave me pleasure unlike anything I have experienced in my life. The man who made me feel things I didn’t even know I could. The stony-faced creature standing before me now, threatening the people I care about just to get me to do what he wants, feels like he’s from another planet.