Chapter 3 - Marlen
She’s become an unstable firecracker. Fascinatingly wild and erratic. It’s like she’s lost control of herself, and if she got half the chance, she’d rip me open and tear me to shreds. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a woman this angry before.
She shifted from bewildered, on first arrival, to antagonistic and argumentative… but now that she’s found out I still intend to marry her despite taking the wrong girl, she’s outright fuming.
Her rage is glowing like fire in her dark eyes. So brown they could be black in this light.
Her full, pink lips are pouted, and her face is turned up toward mine, her expression set in stone.
Long dark brown waves hang over her shoulder, where most of her hair has fallen from the high bun she had it in.
I brush my hand over her shoulder, letting my fingers touch her silky strands.
The movement makes her eyes flare darker.
She’s beautiful.
I shove the thought away. Who the hell cares if she’s beautiful? Retracting my hand, I clench my fist at my side.
And she smells like strawberries and vanilla.
I clench my jaw.
This situation is getting tedious. I could argue with her all night, but the outcome would be the same. She is marrying me. No matter how fiercely she disagrees.
“There’s a car here,” Bardil says, looking out the window.
“It’s the lawyer,” I reply. My stomach twists for a moment. Am I making the right choice? I wanted Nikita. She’s an Abashin. I sister for a sister.
Fuck it. The Abashins and Shevs are practically like family anyway. They want to get that close and share the revenge issues. Besides, I really don’t have much choice here.
Grabbing her wrists, I pull her away from the sofa.
“Where are you taking me?” she snaps.
“Stop fighting, Stefania, it will get you nowhere.”
She sneers and pulls harder to get away.
Reaching out, I wrap my arm around her waist and tug her closer, locking her against my side.
Her body is petite and soft. My arm is wrapped around the arch of her back above the perfect curve of her ass, and as she moves, her body brushes against mine and sends spikes of electricity through me.
Closing my eyes for a moment, I fight for control of the unexpected thoughts that sneak their way into my mind. Desire is teasing me and testing me.
When I open my eyes again, she’s glaring up at me, and her scent is even stronger than before.
“My family will destroy you; they won’t let you get away with this.
They’ll do anything to get me back. We don’t let people do bad things to the ones we love!
” she warns me, a cold edge to her words that brings a deeper truth to them.
It’s her tone that makes me realize she’s just given away her secrets.
Her weakness.
The realization makes me laugh. The sound spills from my lips like a mockery as I release her and step away. Her face floods with surprise. She takes another step away from me, creating more distance between us. She glances to her left and right, trying to figure out what I’m up to.
“What are you doing?” she asks nervously.
“I’m letting you go.” I smile, as cool and calm as ever.
“Really?” Her voice is high-pitched and filled with hope.
“Sure, like I said, you weren’t the one I wanted to begin with.
You can leave. I’ll have my brother drop you off at your car.
Then I’ll take Nikita instead. I’ll force her to marry me.
I’ll force her to share my bed like a good little wife should.
She will obey me, she will do as I say. I will take her and make her mine in every single way. ”
Stefania’s jaw drops open, her eyes flare wide with horror, and I smile wider, knowing my hunch was right.
“You… you can’t do that to her. You can’t hurt her,” she stammers.
“I can do whatever the hell I want, girl. Now go. If you aren’t going to marry me, I need to get Nikita.”
“No, please, leave her alone,” Stefania begs, cautiously stepping toward me again.
“You’ve made your choice, Stefania,” I say coldly, turning my back on her. “Bardil, untie her, drop her back off at her car.”
“No,” she shouts. “I’ll do it. I’ll sign the papers if you promise to leave Nikita alone.”
Clenching my jaw to hide my triumphant smile, I turn to face her again. “How sweet of you to protect your friend like that,” I muse, sarcasm dripping from my words.
“Take these stupid ropes off my wrist,” she snaps, holding her hands up to me.
“You’re going to co-operate?” I ask.
She steps closer, and I take her delicate wrists in my hands, working at the knots to free her.
“Not because I want to. Only because I have to. Because, like I said before, you’re a monster and I won’t let you near my friend.”
Stefania’s eyes glitter with tears, which spill over and roll down her cheeks. Even though I don’t know her very well, I can tell they aren’t tears of fear or sadness. This is pure anger. A surge of emotion. A burst of livid, raw rage.
As soon as her wrists are free from the ropes, she pulls away from me.
“Let’s get this over with,” she snaps.
“The lawyer is waiting in the dining room,” Bardil says, gesturing with a tilt of his head.
Stefania marches ahead of me in the direction he showed, drawing another fascinated smile from me. This girl is a piece of work. I wonder why she isn’t scared. It’s either arrogance or stupidity. Neither would surprise me, considering her family name.
I walk into the dining room behind Stefania, who is standing at the table, glaring at the lawyer and his assistant.
Killian looks toward me. “This is Brandon. I brought him in case we needed a witness. He’s studying law.
” My eyes trace over Brandon. Despite obviously being older, he looks fifteen, with red cheeks, pale skin, and a nervous twitch.
He will never survive as a lawyer, not in my world.
His entire aura is weak. Shifty. Scared.
“My brother is here.” I cock my head toward Bardil. “He can witness.”
“Actually, I have some things to do if you don’t need me anymore?” he says.
I narrow my eyes, curious why he’s in a rush to get away.
“Give us a moment, please,” I say to the lawyer, who nods.
Stepping out of the dining room, I call Bardil to walk with me to the front door. “What are you up to?” I ask.
“I figured now is as good a time as any to start setting some traps and misdirection. The Shevchenko and Abashin families are going to start looking for her as soon as they realize she’s been taken.
Maybe even tonight, who knows. But I want to get out there and start generating leads for them to follow up on.
Anything that points away from us and keeps them too busy to consider who really took her. ”
I snort in approval. “Good thinking, let me know how it goes,” I say, pushing the door open for him. He smiles before he steps outs. “Good luck with that,” he laughs, waving his hand in the air to say goodbye.
With Bardil gone, I secure the front door. This house is a fortress, and with our special guest hanging around, I want to make sure security is tightened.
Returning to the dining room, I find Stefania sitting on one of the chairs, reading over the marriage contract.
Sarcastically, I huff, “What’s mine is yours and what’s yours is mine?”
She rolls her eyes, her lips pulled in distaste. “Asshole,” she mutters quietly under her breath. Stefania has pulled her hair loose from the messy bun and retied it, maybe brushing it with her fingers. She looks stunning, and for a brief moment, I get distracted from the reason we’re here.
Killian clears his throat. “Are we ready?” he asks, stepping forward to hand me a set of papers.
Killian looks like a lawyer who was built for the Bratva world.
Even though he’s a short man, he’s rugged and has a dark, piercing gaze.
He’s quiet, but when he speaks, he’s confident and direct.
“There are two copies of the marriage documents. I need you both to sign both of them, then we’ll witness. ”
I take the documents and the pen he hands me. He stands next to me and points at each space I need to sign. Next to me, quietly fuming, Stefania is following the same process. With the documents signed, we swap and do the whole thing again.
“That’s it,” Killian confirms, taking the paperwork and tapping it on the table to straighten it into neat piles.
“What? You aren’t going to say anything?” Stefania huffs miserably.
“I now pronounce you man and wife?” Killian smirks.
She rolls her eyes, clearly realizing she didn’t want to hear it after all.
“I’ll have these filed tonight. The second copy is yours.”
“Thanks, Killian, I appreciate you coming out here so late.”
After walking the lawyer and his mousy assistant out and locking the door again, I head back to the dining room. Stefania hasn’t moved, but she looks more bitter than before.
“Alright, what now? Where are you taking me now? A dungeon? A closet? A basement?” she mutters angrily.
“No, nothing like that. If you follow me, I’ll show you to your room.” I cock my head to the side, gesturing toward the door.
“What? In this house?” she stammers.
“Yes, in this house. Where I live,” I sigh, getting impatient.
“You want me to live with you?” The disbelief in her voice is stark.
“Where the fuck else were you going to live, Stefania? Would you prefer I lock you in a basement?” I snap.
“Actually, maybe, yes!” she blurts out. “I don’t want to live with you.”
Stefania is standing now, her hands on the curve of her hips and her brows knitted together.
I chuckle. “Do what you want, Stefania, just remember the alternative if you change your mind about co-operating. And if you are going to be so ungrateful about having your own room in my home, perhaps I should make you share my bed with me?”
Her mouth drops open in shock. “Why are you doing this? Don’t you care what your sister would think of you?” she snaps at me.
The questions set off a fire inside me.
“My sister?” I shout. “My sister, whom the Abashins stole from me? You want to point the blame, call me a monster. You all want to pretend you’re so innocent, so kind, so generous.
Your gall is unbelievable, girl.” My patience disappears in a flash.
Forcing myself to bite back my anger, I reach out and grab her arm.
“I’m sick of your shit,” I snarl, dragging her out of the dining room and up the stairs toward the bedrooms.
Pushing open the guest room door, I shove her inside.
The Abashins and Shevchenkos have made me out to be the monster, the cruel one.
So fine. I’ll teach them all a lesson. There are consequences for messing with my family and me.
There are consequences for making us look bad while you’re the assholes who are playing dirty.
Messing up my brother’s event, blaming it on disgusting reasons, and accusing him of doing horrible things.
Stealing my sister. I won’t stand for it anymore, and it starts here.
Stefania will pay. She’ll learn the lesson first.
Standing in the doorway of her bedroom, my eyes stab into her. She glares back at me, but there is a nervous hesitance in her. Stefania can see the darkness in me.
“Just remember, you are worthless to me, girl. I didn’t even want you.
You are nothing. If things don’t go well with you, I’ll discard you like the nothing you are and move on to the girl I meant to take.
” I spit my words with vengeance and anger.
Hatred spills from me, aimed at her brothers, her family, her allies.
Stefania stares, wide-eyed and in disbelief, and says nothing.
Stepping back, I grab the door handle and slam it closed.
There’s no reason to lock it. She has free roam of the house. There’s no chance she’s escaping this prison.
Walking away, my body feels heavy with the emotions I’m carrying.
So much negativity, so much hatred and anger.
I want to purge it all. And I will. It’ll just take time.
Bardil will redirect her family’s search.
They’ll never find her, and while they search, their anguish will grow; they’ll begin to fear the worst. Their psychological torture is just the beginning of this game.
By the end of it, they’ll be weakened wreckage, like a ship torn ashore by a storm.
Broken and ravaged by time and elements beyond their control.
They’ll learn, right in the end, never to mess with me again.
I owe it to my brother to make right what they did to him. Accusing him of human trafficking is horrific. Putting that on my family name to try and shame us, to try and chase away our allies… It’s disgusting. If they want to play dirty, I can play dirty too.
It’s going to be a long game, but it’s going to be worth it.
And it all starts with her.