Chapter Three #2
Royal shrugs. “Only partly. Ivan may move on, but Damir won’t. Nadia running away humiliated him. She’s not just a runaway daughter anymore. She’s a challenge to his authority.”
“He wants revenge,” I say.
Royal gives me a grim nod. “He wants control.”
I stare at Damir’s picture again, something dark settling in my chest. Men like him are the reason I quit the police force. I’d spent years watching monsters with expensive lawyers escape justice while victims were told there wasn’t enough evidence.
Opening 4R Ink gave us another way to fight back, but this feels different. Because this isn’t some anonymous victim. It’s Nadia.
The woman whose sarcastic mouth somehow manages to annoy and amuse me in equal measure. The woman who makes me feel like something in me is still running. The woman I want to protect even if it means burning everything else down.
No. I’m not letting that bastard take her.
“How do we stop him?” I ask.
Royal folds his hands together. “There are only two real problems.”
“Damir and Ivan.”
“Exactly.”
I rub my beard thoughtfully. “Damir’s her father.”
Roman looks at me. “I know what you’re thinking.”
“No, we don’t kill him.” I shake my head before anyone gets the wrong idea. “Not unless we absolutely have to. Nadia deserves the chance to decide what happens where her father is concerned.”
Raiden nods in agreement.
“But Ivan?” Roman asks.
Royal slowly smiles. “Ivan’s got a birthday and a bank account. That’s a lever.”
I frown. Then, the pieces begin falling into place one after another. Suddenly, the solution is so obvious I’m almost irritated none of us saw it sooner. I straighten.
“I’ve got an idea.”
Three pairs of eyes immediately settle on me. Royal studies my face for a moment before realization slowly dawns across his own.
Roman groans. “I’m either going to love this or hate it.”
“I’ll marry her.”
Absolute silence. Roman blinks several times. “Come again?”
“I’ll marry Nadia.”
Raiden’s eyebrows climb nearly to his hairline. “You’ve lost your damn mind.”
“Probably.”
Royal, however, doesn’t argue. Instead, he quietly asks, “Temporary?”
I nod. “If she’s legally married before Ivan’s deadline expires, Ivan has no reason to keep chasing her. He’ll find another woman, collect his inheritance, and move on.”
“And Damir?” Raiden asks.
“We buy ourselves time to deal with him.”
Roman scratches the back of his neck. “And when she says no?”
I smile. “Leave that to me.”
A few minutes later, I climb the stairs back to Raiden’s apartment, my heart pounding harder than it ever has before a vigilante operation. Somehow, facing armed criminals seems easier than convincing one stubborn receptionist to marry me.
Elodie looks up as I enter. “Nadia’s in the spare bedroom.”
“Can I talk to her?”
She studies my expression before giving me a small nod. “I’ll make more tea.”
As she passes me, she gently squeezes my arm. “Be kind.” She smiles faintly before disappearing into the kitchen.
I knock softly on the bedroom door. “Nadia?”
A quiet voice answers. “Come in.”
She sits on the edge of the bed with a mug of untouched tea clasped between both hands. Her eyes are still red from crying, though she’s calmer than she was downstairs.
“I should go,” she says before I can speak. “I’ll pack tonight.”
“No. You’re not leaving.”
She blinks. “What? I have to, or I’ll only put everyone in danger.”
I close the bedroom door before walking over. “You promised me the truth.”
She lowers her eyes. “I know.”
“I’m asking for it now.”
For a long moment she says nothing. Then she slowly nods.
“My name isn’t Nadia Adams. My real name is Nadia Aronov. My father...” She swallows hard. “My father is the head of a…not-so-legal organization in California…”
She takes a deep breath before telling me everything.
About growing up terrified of her father.
About her mother. About being told she’d have to marry Ivan on her eighteenth birthday.
About running away in the middle of the night and spending a year drifting across the country before finding Atlanta.
When she finishes, tears have returned to her eyes. “I finally thought I was safe. But now he has found me. I have to leave again.”
I crouch in front of her. “You are safe, angel.”
“My father won’t stop.”
“Neither do I.”
She looks at me uncertainly. “What do you mean?”
I glance sideways, gathering my thoughts before looking back at her. “There’s something you need to know.”
I tell her everything.
About why Raiden left the district attorney’s office after his last case collapsed on a technicality.
About the badge I turned in when I couldn’t stomach one more file going cold.
About Roman, Royal, the basement beneath the tattoo shop, and the work we do after closing time.
I don’t glorify it. I simply tell her the truth.
When I’m finished, she stares at me.
“So...” she says slowly, “the basement.”
“The basement.”
She sets the mug down on the nightstand very carefully.
“Roman’s hands are always torn up, and nobody ever asks about it.
Raiden takes appointments that run until the early hours in the morning, and there’s never any ink-stained towels in the trash.
” Her voice is steady in a way it hasn’t been all afternoon.
“I stopped letting myself finish that thought eight months ago.”
Something in my chest drops. “You knew?”
“I knew there was a door I wasn’t supposed to open.” She finally looks up at me. “I grew up in a house full of them. I’m not stupid, River. I just decided I’d rather have this job than the answer.”
Her mouth twists. “So, the four of you are secretly hunting criminals while pretending to own a tattoo shop.”
“That’s the short version.”
She blinks. “My life has officially become a terrible action movie.”
Despite everything, I laugh. “It does sound ridiculous.”
“It sounds impossible.”
“Maybe to you but not to us. And this brings me to another matter I’ve decided on.” I pause momentarily, hoping she takes it well. “You should marry me.”
She lets out another stunned breath.
I take advantage of her shock and continue, “Royal’s been in Ivan’s finances. He has five weeks to be married, or he loses his grandfather’s trust. If you’re already married when that clock runs out, he has no choice but to find someone else. He’ll take the money instead of you.”
She simply stares. “Did you hit your head downstairs?” she finally asks.
I raise my brow. “No.”
“Because that’s the only explanation I can come up with.”
I remain silent as I hold her gaze.
She stands abruptly and begins pacing. “No. I’m not doing this. I ran away to avoid an arranged marriage, River.” She pauses to look at me. “This is my life, not a show. Besides, I’ve always known whose son Royal is and what that name buys in this city, so when did he suddenly become Batman?”
There’s the woman I’ve been missing all afternoon. Brown eyes burning bright, fury giving way to panic by degrees.
“This is insane.” She presses both hands against her temples. “It’ll trap me. The same way my father trapped my mother.”
I take a slow breath as I take in her fearful gaze. I stand and gently tug her closer, pulling her into my arms.
She doesn’t resist.
“I’m not your father, Nadia. I’ll protect you.”
“I know,” she whispers as she pulls out of our embrace.
“Once Ivan marries someone else, we’ll file for an annulment or a divorce. You’ll be completely free, and it will buy us enough time to deal with your father,” I explain.
I know she’s mine, but she doesn’t know it yet. If she wants out, I’ll give her a way out until I can convince her otherwise.
Nadia stares at me in confusion. “Why would you agree to all this?” she asks.
I already know the real answer. Because somewhere between bickering over everything and watching her find tiny moments of happiness, she quietly became important to me. But I’m not ready to admit that.
So I shrug instead. “It’s a piece of paper and a signature. Costs me nothing.” The lie comes easier than it should.
She watches me carefully, studying me for what feels like forever before finally releasing a long breath. “I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this.”
A small smile tugs at my mouth. “Good.”
For now, that’ll have to be enough.