Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Daisy
One second I was laughing at what Jac was saying, and the next Ilya was there, coming towards us like a bull in a china shop. I didn’t even have a chance to react properly before his fist had made contact with Jac's teeth and shattered them. Blood sprayed, hitting my shocked face.
"Ilya, no!" I tried to get in between them again, but I was too slow. Either that, or Ilya was too quick. Like a man possessed, he didn’t let up. Over and over again, his fist made contact with the other man’s face, and when Jac sagged backwards against the bar, Ilya fisted his collar and yanked him back to his feet, smashing his head into his with a sickening crunch of bone.
This time, when Jac's legs buckled, Ilya let him drop to the ground. Groaning, he curled up into a ball, desperately trying to protect himself.
Uselessly, because the kicks Ilya was aiming at him were brutal.
I heard the sound of ribs breaking even over the sound of the screaming patrons who were running towards the doors.
"Ilya, stop." Finally, I managed to grab his arm without him throwing me off like an annoying fly. "Please, Ilya, you’re going to kill him."
Slowly, Ilya turned to me. His eyes nothing more than blue fire. "Good."
His tone made me flinch involuntarily.
Just then, someone stepped between us, forcing my hand to my side again. "Someone called the cops," one of Ilya's men said gruffly, giving me a side-eye that screamed that this was all my fault. "We need to get you out of here."
Ilya's shoulders moved up and down as he panted. "Let them come." Finally, he blinked. And it was like he saw me for the first time. His eyes raked across my face and narrowed. "Are you hurt?"
Confusion pinched my eyebrows together. "No, why—"
His hand lashed out; his thumb brushed against my cheek and came back red with blood.
"Oh." I knew blood had hit me, but that looked like a lot. "It’s not mine."
Ilya's attention turned back to the groaning man at his feet. "Good."
The threat of violence was back on his face.
"Yeah," he seemed to be talking to the man on the floor.
"I am her ex. Although 'ex' is—" His toe nudged at the grinding ribs under him, and a groan of pain fell from Jac's lips. "I’ll let you live this time, but you so much as look at her again and I’ll break every bone in your body.
Daisy is mine, and she will always be mine. Is that understood?"
I wanted to smack him upside the head. Ilya had said so himself. I was his ex. He didn’t get to beat up every guy who looked in my direction.
"I am not—" I began to say.
"Go home, Daisy."
"This is my night off, and—"
He turned to me angrily. "I said go home, now. Your night off is over. I want you gone before the police arrive."
Feet planted firmly apart, I lifted my chin defiantly. "Maybe I want to watch you get carted away in handcuffs."
Ilya rolled his eyes like he had never heard anything so ridiculous. And maybe he was right. Everyone knew who and what he was. Yet, as far as I was aware, no charges had ever stuck, so I doubted a bar brawl would be the thing to ruin him.
"I won’t ask you again, Daisy."
I didn’t back down. He could look at me like that all he wanted. I wasn’t his to boss around. "You didn’t ask me to begin with," I pointed out, my hands on my hips as I glared at him.
"I will count to five, and if you haven’t moved towards that fucking door, then so help me, I’ll put you over my shoulder and carry you home myself."
"You wouldn’t dare."
It was the wrong thing to say. He didn’t even bother to count to five. Ilya simply stepped forward, dipped his shoulder into my stomach, and lifted me like a sack of potatoes over his shoulder.
"Sort this out," he ordered the men that surrounded us. "She was never here. Is that understood?"
A murmur of agreement went through them. Not that Ilya bothered to wait for them. He already knew they would clean up his mess. Just like everyone always did.
"Put me down." I beat at his muscled back. "I can walk, Ilya. Put me down right this second."
"No."
Fucking typical Ilya. He always expected to be obeyed. It was a major character flaw. I lashed out, my hands beating at his back and my feet flying. "Put me down."
"No." His hand came down once, hard, against my ass in a stinging slap.
"Ow, Ilya, don’t do that." The slap had lifted my skirt even higher, and I could feel a cold breeze against my ass cheeks. Desperately, I reached up to cover my ass.
"If you didn’t act like a brat, I wouldn’t have to punish you like one.
" He slapped my ass again, and again I howled in pain.
"Why do you find it impossible to behave?
" he asked in a low growl after several minutes of silence.
It sounded almost like he was talking to himself.
"Why do you have to push me, Daisy?" he growled out as he walked into his building without even pausing. If anyone thought it was strange that the high and mighty Ilya had a woman over his shoulder, they didn’t say anything.
They were all probably too afraid to. They would have good reason to be scared of him.
He was a blue-eyed monster with the face of an angel.
"I am not yours to boss around, Ilya," I growled out as he stepped into the elevator. And it was only when the doors had slid shut and there was no escape that he let me drop to my feet.
Glaring at him, I yanked my dress back into place, and he followed the movement almost hungrily. "And stop looking at me like that."
Crossing his arms across his chest, he leant against the wall. The epitome of calmness.
I fucking hated him.
"I will look at what is mine any way I like. You put yourself in danger tonight, Daisy." His voice was oddly calm, but his eyes weren’t. They were angry. Angry at me. That was fine. I was angry as well.
"I was talking. That’s all." Hands on my hips, I rounded on him. "I was having a nice, civilized conversation with a man who made me laugh, and you got jealous. I am not yours."
The elevator doors whooshed open, and I stepped out first, giving him my back. Which was probably a bad idea.
He launched himself out after me. Grabbing me by the elbow and spinning me around, and if looks could kill, I would have dropped down dead on the spot.
"Don’t you dare—"
"Papa?"
We both turned at the sound of the tiny voice. Ilya's hand dropped to his side like a lead balloon as he stepped around me to face our child.
"Hey, little buddy." Crouching down onto the balls of his feet, he opened his arms wide. "What are you doing up? Did you have a nightmare?"
Even as I watched, he wiped his bloody knuckles clean and then passed the handkerchief to me for me to do the same. It was only then that I remembered all the blood that had splattered on my face. I knew he had rules that no violence got brought home. It was one of the rules I actually agreed with.
"Let’s get you back to bed." Ilya said.
Alec didn’t move.
"Why don’t I get you a glass of milk as Papa tucks you back in," I quipped. He liked warm milk at bedtime, but I also wanted to wash my face, even quickly. The blood had dried.
"You were shouting."
Both Ilya and I froze.
Slowly, Ilya straightened, throwing me a look like this was all my fault. I glared right back at him and carried on splashing cold water on my face and then rubbing it with the cloth he had given me.
Sure, I’d been shouting too, but this was his fault, so he could sort it out.
"I know," Ilya said evenly. "And I’m sorry if that frightened you. I promise we won’t be shouting anymore. Isn’t that right?"
It took me a second to realize he was talking to me. "Sure is." I forced my lips up into a smile.
Alec continued to stare at us. His wise-beyond-his-years eyes narrowed as they flicked between us. "Okay." He yawned, not even bothering to hide it with his hand. "I’m tired."
Ilya chuckled. "No doubt, it’s the middle of the night. Let’s get you—"
He had taken a step forward to scoop him up when Alec shook his head. "Daisy. I want Daisy to take me."
It happened in a second. Ilya's face crumpled, but the look of pain and shock only lasted a second before he schooled it away. Pressing a kiss to his son's forehead, he nodded. "Good night, Alec."
"Night night, don’t let the—" his young face lifted expectantly. Ilya just looked at him blankly.
Sighing, I crossed the space between us and lifted him into my arms. "Don’t let the bed bugs bite," I finished as I carried him to his room without looking back.
Coming out of the bathroom half an hour later, gently rubbing my hair with a towel, I was still trying to make sense of everything that had happened, only to come face to face with the man who was the cause of all my problems.
Ilya was sitting on the edge of my bed. Eyes glued to the bathroom door like he was waiting for me.
"What—" I squeaked, and then gathering my wits about me, I glared at him.
"What are you doing in here, Ilya?" Suddenly I was hyper-aware that I was wearing nothing but a towel.
And he was aware of it as well, because his eyes kept darting down from my face to the swell of my breasts.
Every time he did, he got angrier and angrier.
"Get out, Ilya." Moving towards the vanity, I tried to ignore him. Not that it was possible. Ilya didn’t move a muscle.
"No," he said finally. His eyes traveled to meet mine in the mirror.
"This is my room, and I don’t want you in here.
" Now I’d come to the vanity, I didn’t know what to do.
Sure, I could pick up a comb and begin brushing out my hair, but that would lift my arms, and I didn’t want to risk the towel falling down.
Instead, I just stood there. Arms locked at my sides. "I want to go to bed and—"
"Are you really trying to kick me out, Daisy?" He stood up slowly, stretching up to his full height. In the mirror, I watched him turn towards me, and my heart slammed into my chest at the look in his eyes. "Of my own home."
I crossed my arms. "Not out of your home. Out of my room."
"I own this room." Crossing the rug, he came to a stop right behind me. Towering over me with a murderous look on his face. "We need to discuss what happened earlier."
I whirled around. Which was a bad idea, because he was so close that my nose almost skimmed his chest.
"No, we don’t." I took a hasty step backwards, my ass bumping against the vanity and sending bottles flying.
He caught me around the upper arms, steadying me, but not really.
Nothing Ilya ever did was from kindness, and his hands were cruel around my arms. "We don’t need to talk about anything but the fact that you are an animal. "
"An animal?" He mouthed the words, his eyebrows arching upward.
"Yes. You might own this place, Ilya. You might even think you own the city.
" My eyes narrowed as I tilted my chin up.
"But you don’t own me. We have a contract," I pointed out, although I wasn’t sure if it would hold up in court.
"You are not allowed to come in here; you are not allowed to meddle." I frowned. Something was happening in his eyes that I just couldn’t understand. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to.
"You are not allowed to attack the people I—"
He flicked his fingers up, and the towel around my body loosened. But instead of letting it fall, he grabbed each end and yanked me towards him.
"We have never been good at following the contract, Daisy." His eyes darted downward to feast on my naked body. "I don’t see why we have to change now."
"Ilya," I whispered.
"No, Daisy. You’re mine, and I don’t need a contract to tell me that."