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Ivan
She falls asleep sweetly against me, and I can’t stop watching her. I’m obsessed with the way her chest rises and falls against me. I’ve waited for this for all these weeks, and it’s even better than I’d hoped. Unfortunately, I can’t let myself enjoy it for as long as I’d like to. Today got way out of line, and I need to make sure that nothing like it ever happens again.
I carefully move my arm so she doesn’t wake up and slowly get out of bed, walking quietly to my door. I slip out of the room, closing the door gently behind me. I can’t truly enjoy our bliss until I know no one will ever take it away from us.
I quietly tiptoe my way through the penthouse until I reach my study. I close the door and move to my phone, hesitantly dialing the number. This conversation can go very well or very badly. Either way, it has to be done.
“Hello?” the man answers gruffly.
I look at the time. It’s only nine, but I don’t doubt he was already in bed. Kat told me he has an entire nightly routine that involves a full nine hours of sleep. The vain fool.
“Your daughter was attacked tonight,” I tell him coldly. “By the man you’d chosen to be her husband, by the way.”
I hear Dimitri sit up, and I’m surer that I woke him up from near slumber. Lazy piece of shit. His vanity will be the death of him.
“Katrina?” he asks with an edge of panic. It’s about time he gives a damn about his daughter. “What happened? How is she?”
“You don’t get to ask that anymore,” I tell him. “You’ve spent her whole life making decisions for her without considering the consequences. This is the consequence, Dimitri. Your daughter was hurt and you don’t get to know how she is.”
He lets out a long breath.
“Ivan, please,” he whispers. “Tell me what happened to my daughter.”
“I’ll tell you this,” I say. “She’s much better off now that she’s away from your narcissistic abuse. She’s stronger than you or your wife ever realized, and she amazes me with that strength every day. But I’m not surprised. She had to survive you.”
I take a moment to let my words sink in. I want to inflict maximum pain on the man. I want him to feel the weight of each word.
“When I found her in the church that day, she was trying to talk herself into a marriage she didn’t want because he wanted to please you. But you never deserved her. You used her like a pawn in your game, and she’s worth more than that, Dimitri. She’s a genius and she’s a warrior. Somehow, she developed all of this despite you.
“I want you to know that I will always protect her. I will not let anything happen to her, not ever. And if you or your men, or anyone from the damn Zaitsev family ever comes after her again, I will make sure you experience pain like you’ve never known. Do you understand me, Dimitri?”
I hear him swallow, and I imagine he’s struggling with his pride now. I’m sure he hates being spoken to like this, but he will respect me whether he likes it or not. His daughter is under my protection now, and I won’t let him mess with her life for one more second.
“Dimitri,” I repeat. “Do you understand?”
“Yes,” he hisses. “The fact that you think I would do anything to hurt my daughter, what kind of man do you think I am?”
I pinch the bridge of my nose and take a deep breath. I don’t want to yell at him for fear of waking Kat from her peaceful sleep. She deserves it after everything she’s been through tonight. After everything she’s endured in her life from this horrible man.
“I know exactly what kind of man you are,” I tell him. “You’re a man who doesn’t respect anything but money and power. You are a small man who thinks the world should bow to him. You use people for your own gain and feel threatened the moment they outshine you. It happened with my father, and it’s happening again with Kat.
“She’s worth ten of you. A hundred of you, even. The fact that anything good could come from your bloodline is beyond my comprehension. So hear me, Dimitri. If any harm comes to her again, whether by your hand or those of your would-be son-in-law, retribution will be swift and merciless.”
“I understand,” he says. “You don’t have to explain to me what family means.”
I laugh. “Apparently I do. If I ever have a daughter, I’ll be sure that she gets to make her own choices in life. I’ll never force her into a marriage she doesn’t want or threaten to withhold her schooling from her. You are a pitiful excuse of a human being, and I hope you receive every rotten thing that comes your way.”
He sighs heavily, and I’m sure he’ll hang up on me, if for no other reason than anger. He surprises me, though, asking me again how Kat is.
“She’s mine,” I tell him. “That’s all you need to know.”
I hang up on him, feeling satisfied my point has come across. Dimitri is a fool, but he’s not a fool who will cross me again. I already have the wheels in motion to make his branch pay for the cyber-attacks. He’ll wake up soon to find that he’s lost what’s most important to him—his power and his money.
There’s still one person in her life that needs to be dealt with, though. I don’t know her brother nearly as well, but I know he’s a young kid. He can’t spend the rest of his life hating her. And he shouldn’t be blamed for the crimes of his father or his best friend. At the very least, he deserves to be heard out.
I pull up his number on my computer and call him.
The voice that answers sounds scared and panicked.
