Chapter 2 - Daria
Just when I thought I was already in hell, it turned out my initial situation was more like a daydream in comparison. Things could definitely get much worse.
And that they did.
My mind was in a scramble while my heart raced as I tried to process everything—Rurik being locked up for his plan failing, me being hauled away by Ivan, and having to face whatever fate he decided to deal me.
With no regard for my thoughts or feelings, I was leaving my brother’s control just to be handed over to Ivan…to the Fokins.
Even if my involvement only extended to being used by Rurik when he needed me to further his plans, he told me enough about the Fokin family to know they weren’t small dogs in the crime world. They were no joke, and they proved that the moment they busted his attempt to get in their way.
One way or another, he was going to pay for it, and I had the feeling I was going to have a similar fate.
After being forced onto the private jet, I glared out the window while watching Ivan talk on the phone. I was strapped to the seat as tightly as possible, with the seatbelt digging into my wrists uncomfortably.
I felt like a criminal—but one who was about to face justice outside of the law. My fate was in his hands, and something about it made my skin crawl.
Even if I was angry for being hauled around and wanted nothing more than to avoid wherever the hell they were taking me, I couldn’t ignore the guilt that bubbled up inside my chest just from looking down at Ivan.
He had been so sweet to me before when I didn’t deserve it. My goal had been to get to Olivia, but Ivan managed to wedge his way in with his flirty looks and suave words…he seemed genuinely interested in me, but there was nothing I could do.
I hated my involvement in deceiving both him and his family, yet, Rurik had his claws in me. He orchestrated it all, and I had the feeling trying to explain that to Ivan would do as much good as speaking to a wall.
He was furious with me—that much was clear.
I couldn’t blame him, but I still didn’t like how he was treating me, as if I had purely malicious intentions.
If I could’ve met him and the others without my brother being involved, pulling the strings behind the scenes, then things could’ve been so different. I would’ve gladly been myself and tried to be as genuine as possible.
But that wasn’t reality, and I couldn’t take it back.
My stomach twisted the moment Ivan got back on, and the crew began preparing for takeoff. Of course, I couldn’t go anywhere…not with the elaborately placed seatbelt digging into my skin.
Ivan sighed heavily from behind me, then he murmured some words I could barely catch to the few men around him. He was close, yet far enough away for me to be able to breathe normally. At the very least, not having to look at him gave me a break from the guilt that made my whole body ache.
I couldn’t tell what was worse…being able to feel his absolute wrath even from a distance, or knowing that I couldn’t be completely angry with him because of it.
The attendant walked by dressed in her finest with several crystal glasses in her grasp to give the men, and I made a point to catch her eye, hoping she might feel bad for me.
I wasn’t sure what I hoped she would do, but it was at least worth the shot. There weren’t very many options laid out in front of me.
Her blue-tinted gaze locked with mine for a beat, long enough for me to will a desperate expression onto my features. Then, just as quickly, she glanced away and handed the drinks over, receiving a few murmured ‘thanks’ in return.
When she returned to the bar cart, I kept the heat on her, silently screaming at her to help me somehow. Even if she’d likely get fired for even attempting anything, I couldn’t just sit there.
She glanced in my direction again, and her eyes softened fractionally—just enough to give me hope.
“Ignore her.”
Ivan’s voice shocked the attendant out of her thoughts, and she immediately averted her gaze, then nodded and busied herself. After a moment, she threw a disapproving look in my direction before disappearing again.
Irritation spiked within me, even if it had been a long shot.
Forcing out a breath, I tried to calm the rage that was gradually festering more and more within me.
I hated how everything was unfolding, thanks to Rurik and his ridiculous plan. I hated how he had his grip on me for so long and landed me in that position in the first place.
Once the private jet was in the air, and I watched while the ground receded beneath us, I couldn’t shake the fear that turned my stomach.
Ivan never told me where he was taking me, and that left far too many possibilities looming above me. Without any warning, Mexico was gradually becoming a distant thought, and while I didn’t have any real ties to the place, the unknown didn’t offer me any comfort.
Knowing he could be taking me anywhere made me half-tempted to hurl whatever was left in my stomach. He had too much power…too much influence. I had every reason to believe he’d use it all against me.
After being left to stew for some time, I heard the shuffle of someone behind my chair, and at a moment’s notice, Ivan walked by me. My senses were full of him as he sat across from me and placed his complete attention on my face.
The tight line his lips formed while his brows just barely furrowed told me everything I needed to know about his mood. He was still pissed, of course, and part of me wondered if he’d ever look anything but angry again.
Unnerved by his relentless staring, I wanted so badly to look away, but I wasn’t prepared to give in like that. Not yet, anyway.
After a moment, he murmured, “Is my guest comfortable?”
The smugness in his voice made me bristle, aware that he wasn’t being genuine. Still, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to entertain the question.
“No…the opposite, actually.”
“Good,” Ivan returned with every drop of malice he could manage. His brown eyes looked even darker for a moment. “That’s exactly how it should be.”
My brows pinched together at how directly cruel he sounded. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me,” he uttered, eyes roving over me with equal measures of disdain and assessment. “You don’t deserve to be comfortable. Not after what you did.”
That guilt threatened to tighten around my throat like a vice, but I schooled my emotions. “You’re acting like I shot you.”
His upper lip twitched at that as if barely restraining himself. His low, simple response made my skin crawl. “You might as well have.”
Something about those words only made my stomach drop further. I knew I deceived him and his family…but did it really hurt him that badly? He hardly knew me after all. He certainly didn’t know a lot about me—the real me.
While his flicker of sincerity caught me by surprise, I pulled myself back in and let go of a breath.
“Are you at least going to tell me where we’re going, or what you plan to do with me?”
Ivan looked me over for another moment, and he seemed to enjoy every second of suspense he condemned me to. “There are many things I could do with you, but I’m assuming you don’t want to know what I’m thinking.”
On one hand, he was right. The furious gleam eclipsing his eyes left enough to the imagination, and I had every reason to believe whatever those thoughts were would only make matters worse for me.
Yet, a part of me was still curious. He seemed so hard to read, unlike how he had been in Mexico.
I grit my teeth, irritated by his refusal to answer me completely. “ Where are we going?”
“You’ll have to wait and see, little prisoner…”
Those taunting, mocking words were enough to make my blood boil all over again.
Even if I managed to hurt him while carrying out Rurik’s plan, he had no right to treat me that way…to see me as nothing more than a crook and a con.
And yet, the ruthless undertone to his words…how he seemed to mean everything he said worried me.
He was a brutal man from an even more brutal family, and if he wanted to, he could cause me unbelievable pain. It would be easy for him, too.
But whether it was my pride or sheer stubbornness, I was too angry right back at him to fawn.
I had no choice in everything, and because of my brother’s actions, I was paying for something I was coerced into. I never wanted to trick anyone in the first place—certainly not Olivia or Ivan.
While he held my gaze a moment longer, he broke that tense stare to glance out the window as the jet began its descent. He leaned back in the seat and waited, nearly burning through me with those eyes.
Before, I thought they were beautiful. I enjoyed every chance I had to look at them, but then and there, I hated how they seemed to look into my soul—firm on their assumptions of me.
When I couldn’t handle it anymore, I tore my eyes away and looked out the window, silently hoping I’d make it out alive.
When the jet landed and slowed to a stop, Ivan huffed out a breath and stood before reaching out to unravel the seatbelt from around my wrists. He gave me a warning look while grabbing my forearm and slowly loosening it.
His gaze flickered to my face almost cautiously, but I sat there patiently and bided my time.
He clearly expected me to do something but would surely prefer I didn’t. With him standing so close and being well aware of how frustrated he made me ever since hauling me away, I couldn’t resist the opportunity.
The second my hands were freed, my palm connected with his cheek in a sharp slap that made my skin tingle afterward.
His face whipped to the side, pausing while he registered what I had just done, and the fury that flashed in his eyes almost made me regret it. Almost.
In a blink, Ivan grabbed my wrists again and pinned me in my seat. I could practically taste his anger by then, and I didn’t miss how his jaw clenched.
“You are in no position to resist me,” he uttered, face tight with barely contained rage. His eyes burned into me as every dark thought conceivable moved through his mind. His words fanned against my lips, making a discreet shiver run through me. “If you’re going to be a little shit, then I’m going to treat you like one…”
I winced slightly at his threat, subconsciously trying to pull back from him to no avail as the seat left me with nowhere to run. His fingers tightened around my wrists, and I resisted the urge to yelp from the subtle sting.
It still put me on edge, even if I didn’t know what that entailed.
“You’ve caused enough trouble already…and I’m going to get back at you for all of it,” Ivan muttered. There was no understating the lethal rage in his eyes. All the while, he voiced what seemed like an uninterrupted stream of consciousness. “You’ll pay for deceiving me and my family…for parading around as someone you never were.”
Ice moved through my veins while I had no choice but to face him and to accept his judgment regardless of how I knew more about the nuance of the situation than he would ever want to hear.
When I didn’t say anything, his heated gaze lingered on me even while he used his spare hand to reach into his back pocket. If the circumstances had been different, I knew I’d be a complete mess for him…burning under his scrutiny. But at that moment, my heart squeezed in suspense.
Some of that gripping fear melted into curiosity and confusion the moment I spotted the silken material that splayed across his palm.
With another warning expression, he adjusted my wrists forcefully in front of me, allowing his grip to loosen by a fraction. “Hold your wrists out…and don’t move.”
That strain in his tone was enough of a reminder to not step out of line for the time being…not while he was already so close to snapping so completely. Regardless of my irritation, I didn’t want to find out what he’d do if I tried crossing that line again.
Sighing reluctantly, I kept my wrists there like he demanded, not moving even when he tentatively loosened his hold on me. His eyes flickered from mine to my wrists before he slowly wrapped the midnight blue silk against my skin. The soft material seemed almost…tender in comparison to the cuffs I expected.
As angry as he was, Ivan put the restraints around my wrists with surprising care—a gentleness that seemed far beneath him. He was quiet all the while his attention remained fixed on pinning my hands together, tying them a bit tighter.
With the tension in the fabric unforgiving against my skin, it still felt more pleasant than I imagined he would offer me. Something about that silence between us, while I waited with shallow breaths, was intimate enough to catch me completely by surprise.
I had half a mind to assume he could hear how frantically my heart pounded against my ribcage.
But even with his careful ministrations and the softness of the silk around my wrists, the raw anger never relaxed from the creases between his brows, or the faint scowl on his lips. Somehow, he managed to keep it all in.
Once he pulled back, seemingly satisfied with his handiwork, I let go of a more fulfilling breath and looked down at the bindings.
They looked delicate enough, but as I pulled faintly on the restraints, the knots he tied into them only became tighter…more restrictive.
I couldn’t help but consider how it seemed all too fitting.