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“I can’t.”
“Why not?” Papa asks.
“Because Rai matchmade me with someYakuzaprincess and I might have given her father my word to go along with it. Now, I’d drank too much vodka at the time, so I don’t really remember the details, but Abe’s already acting as if I’m his son-in-law.”
“I never agreed to that marriage, so consider the agreement null and void. You’ll marry a Russian.”
“Fine, but you’ll get Abe off my back. He’s a bit clingy, so good luck with that.”
“Leave it to me. I’ll take care of it.”
“Wait a minute.” Damien faces me, his expression turning serious. “I have a very important question to ask first. Do you drink vodka?”
“A little.”
“Better than nothing. Now, if you don’t need me, I’m out of here. And,Pakhan, do us both a favor and only call for me in the evenings from now on.” He starts to leave, then leans in to whisper so only I can hear, “I’ll give you a chance to ruin this marriage before I ruin you, Nastyusha.”
Then he stands to his full height and gives me a sadistic smile before he stalks out the door as lazily as a giant black cat.
“Start preparing for the wedding,” Papa says as soon as the door closes behind Damien.
“Papa, please. I know you’re mad at me and that I did something unforgivable, but you don’t have to do this.”
“On the contrary, I should’ve done this a long time ago. If I had, you wouldn’t have had the chance to be a thief and a backstabber.”
“I didn’t backstab you, Papa. I was only looking out for the woman who took care of me when you weren’t there, when you didn’t even know I existed and I had to hide from my stepdad so he wouldn’t hit me with a belt.”
“So you’re blaming me now? Am I at fault for taking you away from that life? For offering you a better one?”
“It’s not better, Papa. I can’t…I can’t live in the midst of danger all the time. I can’t stay on my toes and avoid the outside world because I could be attacked at any second. I might survive the first time or the second, but what about the rest of my life? What about when you’re gone and I become an even bigger target?”
“You’ll be no target if you marry Damien. Everyone is too scared of him to even think about attacking him.”
“I don’t want to, Papa. Please.”
“Then what do you want? A certain lawyer who’s currently going against us in court?”
My lips part. “How…how do you know about him?”
“Adrian told me everything.”
Of course, Adrian would be playing both sides. I was foolish to believe he wouldn’t.
“I also heard you want him to win.” His expression becomes closed off. “Against us.”
“He’s defending a physical and sexual abuse victim, Papa, just like my mother was. If she ever meant anything to you, ifImean anything to you, please stop interfering. You killed an abuser once. Don’t let this one walk free.”
“So you want me to think you’re doing this for the girl, not a certain…” he trails off, staring at a file in front of him. “Knox Van Doren.”
Something slashes my insides at the thought that Papa already has a file on him. Was it Adrian again? Or maybe Kirill?
“He has nothing to do with this,” I murmur.
“He better not or he’ll be collateral damage.”
“Papa, don’t…please.”
“He’s not what you think, Nastyusha.”
