Chapter 13 - Ivan
I had experienced different kinds of victories while working with my siblings, some big and some small, but there was something different in the way I triumphed over Daria.
That irritation I had with her was ever-green, and with her being under my roof for over a week, I could spend every waking moment at home reaping the benefits of my effort.
Legally bound to me and given no choice but to comply, she had mostly thrown in the towel and accepted defeat.
She was suffering—there was no doubting that.
As much as I had soaked it in initially, something about the sight of her almost moping around started to bleed the joy out of my victory. I didn't want to admit it, but the shine only lasted for so long.
To my dismay, the plan was so effective in crushing her spirits that I had nothing left to leech off. Where her new fire had been was only ash, and only I could take credit for that.
While I got exactly what I wanted, it didn't take long for me to find less sadistic glee in my antics, and I couldn't find the same interest in tormenting her as I once did.
My gloating eventually came to an end despite myself, and as a result of winning far too easily, given my upper hand from the start, I was left with a restless, annoyed wife.
Before, she used to get riled up by my arrogance and teasing...she would fluster the moment I switched my smooth voice on and crowded her personal space. She would show bravery while talking back to me, and that was what made it fun. Attempting to tame her had become the game, and while it had been exciting at first, it didn't have the desired effect anymore.
In any other case, I would've moved on once the boredom set in, but I couldn't in that set of circumstances. Technically, there were lots of ways I could handle the situation, but for whatever reason, I couldn't stomach the ones that involved hurting her.
I told myself I wouldn't harm her in the first place, which I followed through with. Because of that, it felt impossible to start. Especially when I couldn't see that spark in her anymore.
As a result, I found myself second-guessing my decision to do something so drastic and legally binding.
One night, after watching her glide into the bedroom and settle beneath the sheets, she looked exhausted, but her breathing didn't change the entire time I stayed awake. She lay there, eyes open, and I doubted she slept at all.
The chase had been fun, but when she wasn't fighting back, that desire in me began to ebb.
Even while I entered the kitchen to grab more coffee before heading out to work, I found Daria sitting at the kitchen island while she ate. I looked her over briefly before reaching the coffee machine to pour myself some.
I murmured a 'good morning' to her while the dark liquid poured into my travel mug, and while I at least expected a half-assed response, she said nothing.
Brows raised, I glanced over my shoulder to find her looking down at her plate, not even bothering to meet my gaze.
"Morning," I repeated expectantly, assuming she'd take the hint and at least muster up the courtesy to say it back.
But she didn't.
Instead, Daria stood, leaving her half-eaten toast behind, and exited the kitchen entirely as if I had the plague or something.
I stood there for another moment, brows furrowed, before I put the remaining coffee back and screwed the lid on my mug.
Frustration stirred within me all the while I headed out, unable to get my mind off of how miserable she had been consistently as of late.
Even if I was the one in control, Daria was pulling away from me in the only way she could, and while I wanted to remain indifferent, I couldn't. I didn't understand it, but it bothered me.
Forced to push the irritating thoughts aside, I climbed into my car and left the house, wondering how I'd justify keeping Daria around to myself.
After seeing the dejection on her face, grief as clear as day, a fleeting thought moved through my mind. It would be a mercy to get an annulment and let her go. To let her start over again without me or her brother. Maybe then she'd be able to live as her real self after discovering who that version of herself was.
But that wasn't an option. Regardless of how her lack of a fight was pulling me down, too, I made my decision and had to deal with it.
The sickening crack of my knuckles colliding with an old associate's face was an effective way to get my mind off everything.
Standing on those isolated docks of the marina we owned, I gripped the man's collar while he slumped over, heaving in deep breaths while blood dripped from his shattered nose.
"Please...stop..."
His rasped words were music to my ears, and rather than hear his plea in the way he wanted, it only made me hit him again. And again.
Aleks and Dima stood behind me, arms crossed while they witnessed the beatdown I was gladly handling him. They didn't say anything at first.
Every time my fist connected with his bloody and bruised face, a sense of satisfaction and achievement moved through me. Even if he wasn't fighting back, he deserved the beating, and he was someone I could morally lay a hand on without throwing my ideals out the window.
The man wept pathetically with his swollen face, which made me only want to hit him more. But Aleks put up a silent hand to stop me and took a step forward.
Interrupting my momentum, I reluctantly complied and released his collar, letting the man slump back against the cement retaining wall behind him.
Taking a step back, I clenched my fist through the faint ache, savoring its sting.
Aleks, taking the reins again, crouched in front of the man with his lip curled in disdain.
"My rules are very simple, Reggie...you make sure my shipments are ready on time. You make sure everything moves as expected, with every last gram included on those damn boats," he uttered, tilting his head while he looked down at him. "Whether it was you or one of your guys, you're the one paying for what was skimmed off the top. This is your first and only warning."
Reggie, bloodied and trying his hardest to not choke on his own blood, nodded as well as he could.
"I like you, Reggie. You've done well by us up until now, which is why I had my brother here knock some sense into you instead of putting a bullet right here," Aleks taunted with a faux gentleness to his tone while he pressed a gloved finger against his temple. "But now, I want you to understand what I'm saying...no mincing words."
Reggie swallowed hard, barely able to look at any of us through his swollen eyes.
"The next time we catch wind of our product being short, you will not live long enough after the fact to make it right. You'll be floating somewhere past this marina, feeding the ocean life. Got me?"
Aware that his life was in the balance, Reggie nodded frantically while he sucked in rigid breaths.
Wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, I watched Aleks stand again, casting the man a final glance before turning away, no longer interested in even looking at him.
The moment we all pulled back, Reggie slumped even further, hardly able to move beyond that. Message received.
Not thinking much of it, I left that confrontation feeling a bit lighter than before after getting the chance to blow off some steam.
While some of my brothers weren't too keen about using their fists, it was something I craved. Like a release that helped to balance me out.
And between dealing with Daria's attitude and not giving in to my urges, I damn well needed that release more than anything.
***
Upon walking into the house at the end of the day, I fished my phone out and pulled up the camera feeds in the house. Even if I was moments away from checking in on Daria in person, it was faster and more efficient for me to find her that way.
Spotting her in the upstairs hallway, I watched and approached the front door before my brows furrowed when I realized she was carrying something while entering the master bedroom.
Then it clicked...it was a fire extinguisher.
What did she possibly need that for?
But the moment I put two and two together, my eyes widened slightly and I didn't waste a moment.
Slipping my phone back into my pocket, I ran inside and hurried up the stairs until I reached the bedroom.
Daria raised the red fire extinguisher above her head and poised to throw it at the window.
"What the hell are you doing?" I snapped, striding through the room with several furious steps.
Daria nearly jumped out of her skin, but her brows furrowed the moment she caught my gaze. "I'm trying to get the hell out of here."
That both made my heart clench and burn with anger at the same time. I tightened my jaw and cut the space between us before grabbing at the fire extinguisher.
"You'll break your arms before you ever break that window," I rasped, getting a firm grip on it while she fought against me before I yanked it out of her hands. “Are you an idiot? You were just going to try and break the window and attempt to scale all the way down?"
Daria's expression was both pissed off and desperate when she went to leave the room. “It's better than being stuck in this hell hole with you—”
Before she could leave, however, I grabbed her wrist, making her breath catch as I dropped the canister to free my other hand and grab her waist, pushing her back into one of the armchairs.
"That's it..." I muttered, reaching for the silk restraints that were waiting inside the wardrobe next to us. Forcefully, I wrapped them around both her wrists again, tying them tight enough to make her wince. "If you want to act like a prisoner, then so be it..."
With wide eyes, Daria then glared at me like a wild animal. "What, you're going to keep me tied up now?"
"If that's what it takes to make you behave…”
Her anger slipped ever so slightly to reveal a trace of fear in her features, well aware that I kept my word.
As I promised, if she was going to break my rules, then she had to face the consequences.
Still carrying my previous anger from the day's events, I was more than willing to teach her a lesson then and there.
I was furious all the while I guided her arms up and behind her head with one hand while the other grabbed her jaw, forcing her to look up at me.
Those brown eyes were overcome with an array of emotions, and her parted lips that allowed her quiet pants to escape didn't help my weakening resolve. The precarious thread holding my self-restraint together was pulling apart piece by piece just from looking down at her in that submissive position.
She narrowed her eyes at me. "You're an asshole."
"I'm afraid you're not much better than I am," I muttered, forcing her head back a touch, causing her to swallow hard.
Despite myself, I watched the way the length of her throat moved with the adjustment. The flicker of fear in her eyes paired with it only stirred that deeply rooted desire within me. The seed that had been planted the moment I met her in Mexico.
Despite how closely I loomed over her, I reminded myself to keep it together. To hold out a bit longer.
But I didn't have a course of action in mind. I moved blindly with my rage and tied her up with no idea of what I planned to do next.
Instead, I unintentionally laid her out before me like a feast, ready for the taking.
Everything about the picture in front of me drove me absolutely insane, and with her jaw in my grasp, I could only feel more of that resolve crumbling away.
Pausing, able to feel just how close our faces were, both of us seemed to hit that wall at the same time. Knowing our lips were a small distance apart only made me ache within the confines of my slacks more.
Far too tempted to pull back, losing all sense of reason, I leaned in further until I could feel the soft, frantic puffs of her breath against my lips. It sent a shiver down my spine, and it became incredibly clear.
We both wanted it.
The slight daze in her eyes and the way she didn't pull away from her seat told me everything I needed to know.
With the last of my determination crumbling, I sliced through that remaining space and pressed my lips firmly against hers.
Daria's breath caught in her throat at the contact, but after a moment, she eased into it, seemingly melting on the spot.
It was different from the kiss I took from her on our wedding day. Those two instances were leagues apart…and something about that one made me feel like a starving man.
All the while our lips melded together, and we let it get away from us.
Before I knew it, I was pushing further against her, humming into her mouth at the breathless sounds she made. I kept my grip on her jaw while the other landed on her waist, roaming against the body I had been keening for ever since I laid eyes on her.
In giving in to that temptation, I was leaving more of myself and rational thinking behind, but I didn't care. Not while I was preoccupied drinking in the softness of her lips, and the addictive way her body seemed to seek mine out.
There was no way in hell I was going to stop anytime soon.