Chapter Twenty-Two
She thought I didn’t know about the secondary access protocol that her friend, Jimmy, had installed on her laptop. She was wrong. I purposely didn’t have my men deactivate it because I wanted to know the first thing she’d do when she had access to the internet.
I honestly hadn’t thought that she’d get straight back to the investigation. A part of me thought she was going to try to send a secret message to her friends or something. But she didn’t do any of that. Instead, she chose to bury herself in work.
What she didn’t know was that I had access to her screen and was watching everything she did on that laptop in real time. All the searches and the secret about her father she ended up discovering.
I’d never met such a nosy individual who never let anything rest. Aria was so resilient that it was impossible to keep things from her. Except she didn’t wanna find out what was being hidden from her.
It was almost like she was drawn to the truth wherever it was hiding. And when she set her mind on something, she always found a way around it. That was one of the many things I admired about her.
I’d already confirmed that she was a direct continuation of a prior financial breach tied to her father’s advisory work.
The original collapse of Bratva-linked offshore assets was partially enabled by structured compliance systems her father had helped design. I had tracked this connection long before I had her brought to the mansion.
Despite everything her father helped destroy, I never saw her as guilty. Aria had absolutely nothing to do with Charles Bennett’s crimes against the Bratva. She was just an unresolved extension of that damage.
Her investigation was not just out of curiosity but also a repetition of the same structural pattern that had once weakened the Bratva network. At this point, keeping her outside controlled systems was now a long-term instability risk, not a short-term threat.
I was in my study at home that afternoon when she barged in without bothering to knock first.
“Please, come on in,” I said quietly, my voice dripping with sarcasm. “The door is open.”
She marched toward my desk, wearing a pair of jean shorts that left her alluring thighs exposed and a white tank top that slouched off one shoulder, revealing her bra strap.
Her blond hair was neatly combed today, cascading down her back in effortless waves. When she stopped in front of my table, I noticed her lips were glassy—glossed to perfection.
If I didn’t know better, I’d have thought this was a deliberate effort to look good for me.
For some reason, her gentle swells seemed a bit more generous than usual. Her skin glowed in the soft light, and her blues sparkled in a way that thawed something frozen inside me.
“How long?” she demanded, her voice low and even, palms on my table. “How long have you known?”
I raised my brows in bewilderment. “Are you allergic to specifics?”
“Don’t bullshit me.”
“I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about.” I leaned back in my chair. “Maybe shed some more light.”
“The other day I asked you why you’re doing this—why you tracked me for weeks and eventually had me kidnapped.” She paused, as if letting the words settle. “Tell me why I’m just finding out now that my father was part of a small group that weakened your organization twenty years ago.”
I stared at her silence.
“How long have you known that Charles Bennett was my father?” she questioned, watching me closely. “Did you know from the beginning? Was that why you targeted me?”
“What difference does it make?”
“Just answer me!” She raised her voice a little higher. “Please.”
My fingers loosened the tie around my neck, and I rose to my feet, quietly walking around my table. “I didn’t know at first.” I halted in front of her. “But I figured it out.”
“When?”
Silence.
I stared into her beautiful eyes, wondering why I couldn’t make her legally mine.
“Rodion,” she called my name in a way no one ever had. “I need to know the motive behind keeping me here. Are you doing this to settle an old score? Did you sleep with me just to get back at my old man for what he did twenty years ago?”
That question landed as a slap to my reputation, and I couldn’t understand why that thought would even form in her head.
“Tell me, Rodion.” She stared into my eyes, searching for answers I had yet to give. “Did you steal my future—my freedom—as some kind of punishment? Am I paying for my father’s crimes against your organization? Is that what this is?”
She looked at me like, deep down, she didn’t want her assumption to be true.
“You think so lowly of me, Aria,” I said, closing the small distance between us.
“For once, just tell me the truth without going around in circles.”
Something about her tone and the expression on her face melted my stone-cold heart.
“You’re not here because of your father,” I said, holding her gaze. “You’re here because I want you here. With me.”
She refused to take her eyes off me, her chest heaving slowly.
“If I wanted to punish you for Charles Bennett’s actions against the Bratva, I would’ve handed you over to those above me the second I found out.”
She swallowed hard and said nothing.
“You seem to be treading the same path as him,” I added. “The same mission passed down from father to daughter.” A pause. “How can I be sure that he didn’t put you up to this—that you’re not trying to finish what he started?”
“I’m not sorry for trying to expose the truth, Rodion,” she said, her voice stern and steady. “But contrary to what you might think, I didn’t even know my father had it in him to pull a stunt like that.”
That was my girl—fearless and unapologetic even in the presence of the man who had her life in his hands.
“Excellent. Now that that’s out of the way,” I said, stepping away to grab the remote control on my table. “I have a question of my own.” I turned on the TV mounted on the wall.
On the screen was black-and-white footage of Aria sneaking into one of the maids’ rooms.
The second she realized what was happening, her breath hitched, and her gaze dropped to the floor.
“Do you wanna tell me why you snuck into Yelena’s room last night?”
She brushed her hair behind her ear.
I walked back toward her. “According to the footage, she walked inside moments after you did.” I stopped in front of her, my height towering over her frame. “The two of you spent a couple of minutes behind closed doors. Now I’m interested in hearing what the conversation was about.”
“It was nothing serious, all right?”
“Then why are you so nervous?” I raised her chin, forcing her to look into my eyes. “Were you two planning your escape?”
“What? No!” A hint of fear flashed in her eyes.
“Don’t lie to me, Aria,” I growled, my expression dark and sinister.
“I’m not, I swear.” Her breath shook as she began slowly retreating.
“What were you two talking about?” I pressed on, approaching her with menacing steps.
“Nothing—just girl stuff.” She continued to withdraw from me until her back hit the wall behind her.
“You have five seconds to start talking; if not, I’ll make sure Yelena suffers the consequences.” I meant every single word, and she knew it.
She knew I wasn’t bluffing.
“What? You can’t do that!” Her voice trembled under the weight of her anxiety.
“Five…”
“Rodion, stop this, please…”
“Four…”
“I swear, she didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Three…”
“What do you want me to say?!” she cried out.
“Two…”
“I promise, it’s not what you think; I’m not trying to escape!”
“One.”
“Fine! I’m pregnant!” she snapped at me, hands in her hair, her face a mask of frustration.
“I’m pregnant, Rodion! I’m pregnant, I’m pregnant—I’m pregnant!
!!” She pushed against my chest, tears welling in her eyes, her loud voice echoing off the walls.
“There, I said it—I fuckin’ said it! I’m pregnant with your child! Happy now?”
I stood there, frozen in place, watching her chest rise and fall with ragged breaths. She was furious, confused, and afraid, and I couldn’t yet read what was in her eyes.
“You’re pregnant?” The question fell off my lips before I could stop myself.
“Did I stutter?” Her voice dropped this time, laced with a hint of disdain. “Congratulations, you’re about to become a father.” The sarcasm in her tone couldn’t be more obvious.
The world stopped, and everything else around me faded into the background. I stared at her in the stillness, a mix of emotions flooding me all at once—shock, confusion, and some strange sense of joy.
“Yelena and I weren’t planning my escape,” she said calmly. “I went into her room looking for her pregnancy test strips—don’t ask me how I know about it.” A pause. “She gave me one; I used it this morning, and it tested positive, so…”
I took a step back to process this information, my mind reeling with thoughts. The child in her womb was my legacy, future heir to everything I’d built over the years. That realization alone warmed my heart in a very strange way.
“This changes everything,” I said to her, a small grin tugging at the corners of my mouth.
“Yeah, no shitting!” She drew closer, meeting my gaze. “Now what? What do we do about this situation?”
“The only thing we can do.”
Her brows knitted together, suspicion etched on her face. “Which is…?”
I looked her dead in the eyes and said, “Get married.”
“Huh?” Her brows arched slowly.
“You’re pregnant with my child, and you will not have my child out of wedlock,” I said, my tone laced with finality.
“Whoa, whoa.” She let out a nervous chuckle. “Slow down there, mister; I think we’re moving too fast.”
“No. We’re moving at the right pace.”
“Please, can we—can we, um…can we talk about this first before making any rash decisions?” she stuttered, fear flickering in her eyes.
“There’s nothing to talk about,” I said. “Your status has been lifted—you’re no longer my prisoner; you’re my fiancée and the mother of my unborn child.”
“Rodion, think about this for a minute.” She grabbed my hand as I tried to return to my desk, pleading with her eyes. “Please.”
“Think about what, exactly?” I spun around, my voice a bit more intense than I’d meant. “Marrying the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, or her giving birth to my child in the near future?”
Her expression was way too soft, like she was about to break down in tears.
“Tell the truth, Aria. Do you have a problem keeping this child?”
“No!” She shook her head, fighting back the tears that welled in her eyes. “No, I don’t. In fact, I wanna keep it—it’s just…it’s the marriage I’m not sure of.” A lone tear trickled down her cheek. “Please, don’t make me do this; I’m not ready to be a wife.”
I faced her squarely, masking the pain of watching her cry. “You’re not ready to be a wife, or you’re not ready to be my wife?”
She swallowed and wiped her tears. “I have my whole life ahead of me. If I’m bound to you forever, I’ll be forfeiting my goals and ambition.”
“Says who?” I asked her.
No answer.
“This child will not be born outside the confines of marriage,” I stated bluntly. “You will be my wife, and I will be your husband. End of discussion.”
Her head dropped to her chest in dismay as she realized her fate had been sealed.