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NATASHA
Hatred bubbles in my veins while I watch the EMTs zip Luka’s father, Viktor, into a black body bag. I don’t know what he did or who he pissed off to suffer this kind of end, but he deserves it.
He was a shitty excuse for a human being who had no respect for life — not mine, not even his own daughter’s. My gut clenches, fingernails digging into my sweaty palms.
Pawns in his business deals. That’s all we are.
And the realization that I’m no more than that to my own father isn’t lost on me, either. He sure as hell didn’t respect my life, and I can’t believe he values my sisters’ lives any more than mine. A draft chills my skin and I rub my hands over my arms, feeling exposed and completely alone.
I stand outside of the tight circle of Malikovs, watching the EMTs work on Dima, who unluckily for me, seems to have only been grazed by a bullet. Why the hell couldn’t he have been the one to be shoved into that black bag, leaving me with my freedom…and Luka?
I scan the foyer. Only a couple of the guests were injured because they happened to be in the shooter’s line of fire, and they’re being worked on now.
The rest of the unharmed crowd dispersed pretty quickly once the EMTs showed up on the scene. The only other people left right now are the Malikovs, their would-be in-laws, me, and my father.
My father walks toward me, his spine stiff, his face impassive. He’d been huddling together with that Dmitri guy and an older guy whom I guess must be his father. It was a total slap in the face since I could have easily been targeted alongside Dima in the ambush.
But did he give a shit enough to find me after the dust settled?
To make sure I was okay?
Fuck, no.
He cowered, just like he did the night I was kidnapped.
Hell, maybe he saw an opportunity to marry off one of my sisters to Dmitri since Val is gone, and Dmitri’s family clearly has the need and desire for a new business partner. Or maybe he’s going to offer me up to Dmitri since Dima is incapacitated and his father is dead.
“Natasha.” My father steps toward me and reaches for my arm. “Thank God you’re alright.”
I pull myself away from his grasp. “Don’t you dare touch me. And don’t pretend that you give a shit about whether I live or die. You only care because your livelihood depends on me staying alive. Isn’t that the truth?”
His lips press together in a tight line. “I did what I had to do.”
“Maybe you wouldn’t have ‘had’ to sell off your daughter if you weren’t such a lying, self-serving snake.”
Shouting these words at my father brings bile to my mouth because only a few days ago, I adored him and held such a different view of who he is as a man, a father, and a husband.
But that image has now been tainted by the reality that he is just as cold, unfeeling, and animalistic as my dickhead fiancé and his now-dead father.
“How could you have done this to me? And to let that horrible man talk to me the way he did?” Fury ruptures my insides. “You sent me away and let these bastards treat me however they wanted because you turned me into their property with your seedy criminal dealings.”
He recoils slightly. “Don’t speak to me like that, Natasha.”
“If you don’t like my behavior, I guess you’ll have to take it up with my new owner,” I say, sarcasm dripping from my words. “Since you gave up your rights when they took me away.”
Dad’s eyes blaze but I ignore the look he fires at me. I have more to say, more that he needs to hear. “What the hell kind of role model are you trying to be for your other daughters, you know, the ones you haven’t sold off yet? Maybe shattering them so completely will make it easier for you to discard them like trash in exchange for money to fund your sordid business deals.”
I nod my head toward Dima who is being wheeled out on a gurney. “Just out of curiosity, do you happen to have a contingency if Dima dies? Is there another potential buyer ready to step into his place? Is there some kind of a refund policy?”
He grabs my arm, shaking it hard. “You’re lucky they didn’t kill you. I saved your life by doing this deal.”
“And what makes you think you didn’t kill me yourself by doing this?” I lean in close, staring him right in the eye.
“You need to understand–”
“Take your hand off of her.” Luka’s gruff voice, thick with disgust and disdain, slices into my father’s next words. “Or I will break every fucking finger on it.”
“Who the fuck are you to give orders?” Dad sneers. “You’re the fall guy, aren’t you?” He lets out a loud snicker. “Oh, maybe you think you’re next in line because the real leader is indisposed?”
