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“Please don’t take it out on them,” Alina says, her brows knitted together in worry. “If you’re going to punish someone, it should be me. I tricked them. It’s my fault.”
“Why are you so concerned about them?” I ask. “I told you before, I’m a reasonable man. I’m very aware of the fact that Merrybell and Ben aren’t at fault.” I cast her a glare. “Youare.”
Alina shifts uncomfortably in her seat, her hands neatly folded in her lap. The sight of her so defeated makes my stomach clench. I don’t like this any more than she does. Does she think Ilikehaving to put my foot down? I find no amusement or pleasure in her discomfort.
“I’m not the bad guy,” I grumble. “I wish you would see that.”
We don’t speak to one another for the rest of the ride.
The penthouse is uncomfortably quiet when we finally arrive. A stack of boxes and shopping bags are piled high on the coffee table for Alina.
“Merrybell had those delivered,” I explain as Alina guiltily glances at them. “After she called me in a panic saying you’d disappeared.”
Alina casts her eyes to the floor. “I didn’t mean to make her worry. Is she mad?”
“I don’t think Merrybell has it in her to be mad at anybody. If anything, she was concerned about your safety.”
Alina sucks in a deep breath, the conflict clear in her eyes. “Look, I just—Why won’t you just let me go? It’s like you said, you’re trapped in this arrangement, too.”
“And let our families go to war? Absolutely not.”
Her face drains of color, her eyes wide in shock. “War? What war?”
In this moment, everything suddenly snaps into place. “Your mother never told you,” I realize aloud.
“Told mewhat?”
“About how our families were on the brink of fighting.”
Alina shakes her head. “No, I… She never tells me anything. Are you being serious right now?”
“I wouldn’t lie about something like this.”
“I thought she married me off to you for the money!”
“Her financial gain just happened to be an added bonus. The real reason for our rushed marriage was to ensure that the Antonovs and the Salkovs didn’t turn on each other and burn Moscow to ashes.”
Alina’s eyes are suddenly glossy with tears. “Why didn’t you just tell me that?” she squeaks.
“Would you have believed me?”
“I mean…” She shrugs. “Maybe? But surely there could have been another way—”
“Your mother made open threats against us,” I tell her through gritted teeth. I reach into my pocket and pull out my phone, swiping across the screen until I pull up a picture. I hold it out for Alina to see.
She squints, staring at the image through her gathering tears. “Who are these people?”
“This is my family,” I tell her. “My brothers, my sisters-in-law, my nieces and nephews. The territory dispute between our families took a violent turn not two weeks ago. Violetta threatened to have each and every one of them executed.”
Alina looks like she might be sick, but she doesn’t question me. I have a feeling she understands her mother’s cruelty better than anyone. “Even the children?”
I nod solemnly. “You know what she’s capable of, don’t you?”
“Mother keeps me out of Bratva affairs. I had no idea.”
“But youdoknow what she’s capable of.”
Alina presses her lips into a thin line, her bottom lip trembling. “Yes,” she whispers bitterly.
