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But what happened to Aunt Maria?
Hardly registering how my head shook with denial, I refused to accept it. “I won’t ask again. Where is she?”
Dad tucked the phone in his pocket and sighed, bringing his hands together in front of himself. “Maria is dead, Mila. Gone.”
Panic struck me, along with a painful combination of anger and deep sadness. Aunt Maria was the only person I could trust, and she was gone. Used as another one of my father’s pawns.
He did it to find me, I did not doubt that. He wanted to trap me, and he succeeded. After all those years, there had to be a reason why.
“You’re a monster!” I shouted at him, feeling the burn of tears in the corners of my eyes.
I wanted him to pay for what he did. Somehow.
“Get on with it!” A muffled voice yelled through the wall, sounding like it came from another room. I don’t know how, but it seemed familiar. There was no time to contemplate it.
“You’ll live,” dad muttered, right before a rough hand shoved me forward.
At once, dad swooped in and snatched Kat away from me, carrying her by the waist. Kat cried out and thrashed, eyes wide with fear. Before she could scream, his hand covered her mouth.
“Let her go!” I screamed, flooded with rage at once.Nobodytouched my daughter.
Aware of the thug’s proximity, I let that protective fury take over, and I threw my elbow into his stomach as hard as I could.
Chapter 4 - Nikolai
My steps were heavy through the halls, fuming after the call with Ivan that interrupted my time with Mila. With him as the head of the family, whenever he called, I had no choice but to answer. Where he needed me, I went. There was never any consideration for my own wants. Not that he cared.
I had no time to find Mila again either. I was to return to the address where Grigory Lukin called us to. The place where I learned I was sworn into a marriage pact without my knowledge.
The condo was nice enough, but knowing I was supposed to marry his daughter consumed me with irritation. Ignoring the building staff, I made my way to the elevator and mashed the button for his floor.
My stomach flipped, causing me to feel sick. As the elevator went up, I contemplated how far I would go to fight against the arranged marriage.
I had no intentions of marrying the mystery girl, even if my father had arranged it. Even if Ivan thought it was a good idea to go along with. It wasn’t uncommon for bratva men to marry for connections and alliances, only to sleep with other women as they wished. But I didn’t want that for myself.
Why let that woman get in my way when I could just have sex with whomever I wanted?
Beyond that, whatever it was, something bothered me about Grigory Lukin. His face was incredibly punch-able, and he was up to something.
The elevator dinged the moment I reached the right floor, and I cleared my throat, leaving it before the door could close again. The door to Grigory’s condo wasn’t far, and I knocked upon reaching it.
His goon answered it and stepped back, allowing me inside. Ivan was already there with Grigory, likely going over more of the details. Once they noticed me, Grigory’s face lit up.
“There you are!”
Ivan adjusted his suit jacket and nodded. “You’re going to meet your bride.”
“Any minute now,” Grigory added, as drunk as a kid in a candy shop. He rubbed his palms together and pointed to another room down the hall. “If you’d wait in the sitting room, I’ll bring her to you.”
Mumbling my response, I went along with it, following Ivan into the room. I’d at least see her before I went up in arms.
I sat on one of the leather sofas across from Ivan, not bothering to look at him. I mindlessly caressed my chin, bouncing my leg to distract myself.
I wanted nothing to do with it, but my options seemed limited. It made bile creep up my throat.
“Don’t look so miserable, Nikolai,” Ivan said to me, leaning into his couch. He drummed his fingers in his lap. “You aren’t the first to be in this situation, and you won’t be the last.”
“This is barbaric,” I muttered, eyes still averted. “I’d never force anything like this on any heir of mine.”
