Chapter 5 - Anka
The adrenaline was still coursing through Anka’s veins as she slipped through the back entrance of the mansion, her shopping bags clutched in trembling hands.
Her heart hadn’t stopped racing since those two men had tried to grab her outside the boutique, and she couldn’t shake the feeling that something about the whole thing had been off.
Professional kidnappers didn’t usually laugh at their target’s jokes or get distracted when someone pointed out a cute dog across the street. They also didn’t look genuinely confused when their target slipped away, like they weren’t quite sure how they’d lost her.
But she was safe now, back in Viktor’s fortress, where the only danger came from her husband’s cold fury and not random criminals on the street. Though honestly, she wasn’t sure which was worse.
She made it halfway to the stairs before a voice stopped her cold.
“Going somewhere?”
Viktor stood in the doorway of his study, his ice-blue eyes locked on the shopping bags in her hands.
He was still wearing the black suit from earlier, but his tie was gone, and his sleeves were rolled up, revealing the intricate tattoos that covered his forearms. He looked dangerous and predatory, and every instinct Anka had was screaming at her to run.
“Just returning from a walk,” she said, proud that her voice came out steady despite the way her pulse was hammering.
“A walk.” His smile was sharp enough to cut glass. “Through the Meatpacking District, apparently.”
Fuck. He knew. Of course he knew. The man probably had satellites tracking her every move.
“I needed some air,” she said, lifting her chin defiantly. “Last I checked, I wasn’t a prisoner here.”
“Weren’t you?” He stepped closer, controlled violence radiating from every line of his body. “Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you’ve been testing the boundaries of your cage.”
“My cage?” The words came out sharper than she intended. “Is that what you think this is?”
“Isn’t it?” He was close enough now that she could smell his cologne, that same intoxicating scent that used to make her weak in the knees.
Now it just made her angry. “You’re here because your family needed you to be.
You stay because leaving would be detrimental to your family. That sounds like a cage to me.”
He wasn’t wrong, but hearing it stated so bluntly, so coldly, made something crack in her chest. “You’re right. This is a cage. And you’re the warden who’s made it clear he’d rather I didn’t exist.”
“Then why leave it?” His eyes narrowed. “What were you really doing out there, Anka?”
Before she could answer, he lunged forward and snatched the shopping bags from her hands. She grabbed for them instinctively, but he was already rifling through them, pulling out her purchases with the efficiency of someone conducting a search.
“Give those back,” she demanded, reaching for the bags.
He held them out of her reach, his attention fixed on her wallet. “Let’s see what my darling wife has been buying with my money.”
“Your money?” Rage flared hot and bright in her chest. “Those are my credit cards, you arrogant bastard.”
“Are they?” He pulled out her platinum American Express, the one Matvei had given her years ago with an unlimited spending limit. “Because last I checked, you’re a Nikolai now. Which means everything you have belongs to me.”
The casual arrogance in his voice, the way he said it like she was just another piece of property he’d acquired, made her see red. She lunged for the wallet, but he held it high above her head like she was a child reaching for candy.
“Viktor, I swear to God, if you don’t give that back—”
“You’ll what?” He pulled out a pair of scissors from his jacket pocket, and her blood turned to ice. “Leave me? Run back to your brothers? Oh, wait, you can’t do that without destroying the alliance, can you?”
“Don’t you dare—”
The sound of her credit card being cut in half was like a stab in the heart. She watched in horror as he dropped the pieces at her feet, then reached for the next card.
“Stop it!” She threw herself at him, clawing at his hands, but he caught her wrists easily and spun her around so her back was pressed against his chest.
“This is what happens when you try to play games with me,” he said, his voice low and dangerous in her ear. “You want to act like a spoiled little girl? Then I’ll treat you like one.”
She could feel the solid wall of his body behind her, could feel the heat radiating from his skin, and it made her even more furious that her body still responded to him even when she wanted to murder him.
“Let me go,” she said through gritted teeth.
“Not until we’re done here.” He released one of her wrists to grab another credit card, holding her in place with one arm while he destroyed her financial independence piece by piece.
She twisted in his grip, managing to elbow him hard in the ribs. He grunted but didn’t let go, just tightened his hold until she could barely breathe.
“You fucking psychopath,” she gasped, still struggling against him. “What is wrong with you?”
“What’s wrong with me?” His laugh was harsh and bitter. “You want to know what’s wrong with me? I married a woman who doesn’t know the meaning of honesty. A woman who lies as easily as breathing, who manipulates everyone around her to get what she wants.”
“I haven’t lied to you—”
“Haven’t you?” He spun her around to face him, his hands gripping her shoulders hard enough to bruise.
“You charmed my guards to learn their routines. You studied my security system. You planned your little escape down to the minute. And now you’re standing here pretending it was just an innocent shopping trip. ”
The accusation in his voice cut deep because it was true. She had done all of those things. But the way he said it, like she was some kind of master manipulator, made it sound so much worse than it was.
“I needed to get out,” she said, hating how defensive she sounded. “I felt like I was suffocating in this place.”
“So you decided to put yourself in danger? To risk the alliance? To risk everything we’ve both sacrificed for this marriage?”
“I can take care of myself—”
“Can you?” His grip on her shoulders tightened. “Because from what I saw today, you almost ended up in the back of a van with two men who had God knows what planned for you.”
Something in his tone made her pause. There was more than anger there—there was fear. Genuine, raw fear that he was trying to hide behind fury.
“How do you know about that?” she asked slowly.
“Because I was having you followed, obviously. Did you think I’d just let you wander around the city unprotected?”
“So your men saw what happened?”
“They saw enough.” His jaw clenched. “They saw you talking your way out of a kidnapping like it was a fucking social event.”
There it was again. That note of something that wasn’t quite anger, wasn’t quite fear. She studied his face, looking for clues, and that’s when she saw it—a flash of something that looked almost like pride.
“Viktor,” she said carefully, “what happened four years ago—”
“Don’t.” The word came out like a whip crack. “Don’t you dare try to make this about the past.”
“But it is about the past, isn’t it? This isn’t just about me leaving the compound today. This is about me leaving you back then.”
His face went completely blank, all emotion wiped away like someone had flipped a switch. “You’re delusional if you think I give a shit about what happened between us four years ago.”
“Am I? Then why does it feel like you’re punishing me for it?”
“I’m not punishing you for anything,” he said, his voice deadly quiet. “I’m just not surprised that you managed to trick my guards into letting you escape. After all, you’ve had plenty of practice betraying people who trust you.”
The words hit like a physical blow, knocking the air out of her lungs. She stared at him, seeing the cruel satisfaction in his eyes as he watched his barb hit home.
“Fuck you,” she whispered.
“Already been there, done that,” he said with casual cruelty. “Though I suppose it wasn’t really me you were fucking, was it? Just another mark in your long list of men to manipulate and abandon.”
She slapped him. The sound echoed through the room like a gunshot, and for a moment, they stood frozen in place. Her palm stung from the impact, and she could see the red handprint blooming across his cheek.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, her voice shaking with rage. “You don’t know anything about what I was going through back then, about the choices I had to make—”
“I know enough.” His voice was ice cold, but a muscle ticked in his jaw. “I know that you’re exactly the kind of woman who would seduce a man, make him fall in love with you, and then disappear without a word when you get bored.”
“That’s not what happened—”
“Isn’t it? Then where’s the explanation? Where’s the apology? Where’s any sign that you gave a damn about what you did to me?”
The pain in his voice was raw and real, and for a moment, she saw past the anger to the man she’d hurt so badly four years ago. But before she could find the words to explain, to tell him about Adrian’s threats and the impossible choice she’d been forced to make, his expression hardened again.
“Save your breath,” he said. “I’m not interested in your excuses.”
She stared at him for a long moment, seeing the wall he’d built around himself, the fortress of anger and hurt that kept him safe from caring about anyone, including her.
“Fine,” she said finally. “But you’re wrong about me. You’ve always been wrong about me.”
She turned and walked away, leaving the pieces of her credit cards scattered across the floor like fragments of her shattered independence. She made it to her room before the tears started, locking the door behind her and sliding down to sit on the floor with her back against the wall.