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Viktor
Ican’t remember the last time I was this angry. The absolute, incandescent rage that I feel in this moment goes beyond what I’d felt even in the warehouse when I’d discovered what the traitorous guards had done with the women held there. This feels different, even more intensely personal, and worse still because of who is at fault.
Caterina.
Mywife.
The woman I’d chosen to be a mother to my daughters, to protect them, to take care of them. And she pulledthis shit.
I’m so angry that I know I shouldn’t be standing here right now. I don’t have enough of a hold on my emotions to keep from doing something I might regret later, but at this moment, I’m to lost to care.
I’d thought, for one terrifying second, that she’d taken my children and run away with them after seeing the files scattered on the floor. I’d feared all along that it would be too much for her, which is why I’d done my best to keep it from her as much as possible. But I hadn’t expected her to scoop up the girls and take them with her.
Losing my wife would have been one thing. But there’s a small dark part of me that thinks I might have killed her myself if she’d tried to run farther than this with them.
As it is, I’m going to punish her for what she’s done. And I don’t intend to be gentle or merciful about it.
But no matter how hard I pound on the door, she doesn’t answer. “I know you’re in there,” I growl, banging my fist against the heavy wood. “It’ll be worse for you the longer you hide from me.”
Silence, and then I bang on the door again. “Caterina, you can come out, or I’m coming in there to get you. It’s your choice.”
I hear what sounds like a small, gasping sob from the other side, but I’m beyond feeling sorry for her. I take a step back, my body tensing as I lash out, kicking the door latch as I feel the rage pulse through me, a feeling of absolute, complete loss of control. All I can think about at this moment is breaking down the door, dragging her out, and making it clear to her beyond a shadow of a doubt that what happened today can never, ever fucking happen again.
Caterina clearly thinks that she has more freedom in this marriage than she does. But after today, it’s going to be very clear who has the power. Who is in charge.
If she believes I’m nothing but a Bratva dog, then I’ll treat her like my bitch.
The door creaks with the first kick, splinters with the second. The third breaks it open, sending it swinging into the room and giving me a clear view of the bed and the tear-streaked face of the woman atop it.
“I told you I was coming in here to get you,” I snarl, striding for the bed and reaching out to capture her even as she starts to squirm backward, trying to get out of reach. I manage to grab her wrist, and I haul her forward, dragging her across the bed as her face turns white with fear.
“What thefuckdid you think you were doing, running off with my children like that?” I stare down into her dark eyes, wide and terrified, and I know that I’m frightening her as much as her first husband ever did, maybe even more. But I can’t bring myself to care right now. All I can think about are Anika and Yelena, what they must have thought when Caterina brought them here, what she might have told them.
I’m not even sure she fully understands what she saw. But she must have gotten a pretty good idea, considering her reaction.
“I just needed some space!” Caterina’s voice is high and breathy, full of fear. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep. I was coming back, I swear!”
“Why should I believe you?” I glare at her, feeling my face reddening with anger. “You didn’t bother telling anyone where you were going. Does that sound like someone I should trust? Someone who’s word I should believe?” I grit my teeth, feeling my chest heave as I try to catch my breath. “Fuckyou, Caterina. You’ve behaved as if I were beneath you from the moment you agreed to be my wife. You think I’m nothing but a beast? Nothing but a Russian dog? Then I’ll show you how brutal the Bratva can be with those who cross us.”
“Viktor, I—” Caterina starts to speak, but I grab her chin, pulling her forward as I stare down into her eyes.
“There’s nothing you can do to escape punishment now, littleprintsessa,” I growl. “But you can learn a lesson from it, perhaps.”
“What—what are you going to do?” Caterina’s voice is small, barely a whisper.
Mine is low and deadly, almost mocking. Darker than even I’ve ever heard it, as if I’ve found a devil inside of myself that I didn’t know existed.
“Wait and see.”
I grab her shoulder, twisting her so that she’s flipped over on the bed, bent over the mattress with her feet pressed against the carpet. I half-climb onto the mattress myself, pushing my knee into her back so that she can’t escape as I grab her jeans and yank them down. She’s still too thin, thin enough that I can yank them down without unbuttoning them. Caterina lets out a yelp of protest as I pull her panties down with them, leaving her small, pert ass bare to the cool air of the bedroom.
“Put your hands flat on the bed in front of you,” I tell her, my tone low and threatening. “And don’t move them. If you do, it’ll be worse for you. This is your last chance to keep me from sending you back to Luca. If I do, I’ll make him regret ever bargaining with me in the first place.”
“Viktor, please—”
“Shut up!” I can feel myself almost shaking with rage. “You made me wonder where my children were, Caterina. You made me fear things that I have gone to great lengths to never have to fear. You’ve been playing your own game with me since the day we married, but that stops now.”
I step back, unbuckling my belt and pulling it out of the loops, and I hear her soft sob of fear at the sound. But I’m past caring. “I’ve been too soft with you,” I growl, looking down at her pale, trembling body, her fingers clutching at the duvet in front of her. “I’ve allowed you too much freedom, too much trust—and look at what the result was. I tried not to be as brutal in my home as I so often have to be in the outside world.” I fold the belt in my hand, feeling the warm leather against my palm. “But that changes now.”
