Chapter 19 #2
He sighs, running a hand through his dark hair. “It can wait until morning. It’s been a long day.” He starts to unbutton his shirt, his back to me.
“No, it can’t,” I insist, shoving my fear down, because I have to do this.
He turns, his expression hardening. “What is this about?”
“It’s about us, you and me. Whatever this is.
” Waving my arms without direction, I step closer.
“You say ‘I love you’ in the heat of the moment, then you run, and the next morning there are diamonds and flowers like it’s a consolation prize.
Like you’re trying to buy my affection. Buy my loyalty.
Buy whatever bullshit you want me to believe.
Treat me like a queen because that’s what every woman wants, right? Except I don’t.”
Viktor’s eyes narrow, and a muscle ticks in his jaw. “I give you gifts because I want to. Because I care for you and Eliza. Is something wrong with that? Is that not enough?” His voice is low, dangerous.
“No, it’s not enough!” I blurt, my frustration over the entire situation finally overflowing. “I don’t need things, Viktor. I need you. I need honesty. I need to know this isn’t just some transaction for you, that I’m not just a means to an end, a mother for your child.”
He takes a step towards me, his presence suddenly overwhelming. “I told you exactly how I felt about you. I already told you I don’t think of you that way. Was that not enough?”
I take a deep breath, forcing down the fear at the glimmer in his eyes, at the menace in the step he takes toward me. My next words aren’t going to make him feel any better. “You said those words, but you haven’t backed them up with actions.”
“You think I don’t care? I invited you into my house. I provide for you and Eliza. I
ensure your safety. What more do you want?” His voice is quiet, but in that quiet, I hear underlying anger, even a threat.
“You forced me into your house, Viktor. Remember? I didn’t ask—you told.
You ordered. I had no say. You weren’t honest with me about who you were when we met, and now I’m in a situation I have no control over whatsoever.
And my life and my daughter’s life are in danger because of you!
Believe me, if I didn’t have to be here, I wouldn’t. ”
“But you are here.” Viktor’s words are frigid and sharp as a knife. From the chill that runs down my back as he steps toward me again, I almost feel like he’s holding one. “You live in my house; you carry my child. You are mine to protect.”
I gasp as though he’s punched me in the gut, and I can’t regain my breath for one heartbeat, then another, and another.
“I am not your possession!” I finally retort, stepping back.
This isn’t the Viktor who held me, who whispered sweet words.
This is the Bratva boss, the man who controls everything around him.
“I am a person, Viktor. With my own feelings, my own needs. And if you can’t see that, if you can’t give me an actual relationship with actions and not just meaningless words and gifts, then this isn’t going to work. ”
Viktor’s face darkens, and his eyes flash as every enormous inch of him towers over me.
“You think you can just walk away? You think you can deny me access to my child? You will not make demands of me, Leah. You will understand your place.” His voice is soft, but it’s a terrifying softness.
“I decide what works. And this will work.”
The air crackles with tension, heavy and suffocating.
Viktor’s words, his tone, are a stark reminder of who he is, that I’m now part of his dark world.
He’s not just a man who struggles with intimacy; he’s a man who expects obedience, who sees control as his right.
And in that moment, the glittering bracelet still sitting on the dresser feels less like a gift and more like a chain.
A cold, clear thought settles in my mind: I can’t be near him right now. I need to protect myself and Eliza from this kind of suffocating control.
Without another word, I turn and walk out of the bedroom. I don’t look back. I walk down the silent hall, past the closed doors, until I reach Eliza’s room.
The nightlight casts a soft glow over her sleeping form, her small chest rising and falling rhythmically. I slip into bed beside her. The soft, comforting scent of her shampoo fills my senses as she sighs and cuddles up to me. And for the moment, I feel a sense of peace with my child in my arms.
I listen to Eliza’s gentle breathing, the sound of the occasional car passing below, or one of Viktor’s guards walking the halls.
My own heart still pounds a frantic rhythm against my ribs. Viktor’s words echo in my head: You are mine to protect. You will understand your place. I decide what works.
It’s not just a lack of emotional connection; it’s a terrifying assertion of power. The pakhan sees me as something he owns, something he can control, not a partner, not an equal. The realization chills me to the bone.
How could I have been so blind? So foolish to think that a man like him, in his position, could ever truly be vulnerable, truly open?
He’s built an empire on control, on dominance.
Why would he relinquish that for me, for us?
The “I love you” feels like a cruel trick now, a momentary lapse in his carefully constructed facade, or worse, another tool of manipulation.
Sleep doesn’t come easily. Every creak of the house, every distant sound, makes me tense. I imagine Viktor in his room, seething, perhaps already plotting his next move to reassert his authority.
Because I’m pretty sure no one says no to the pakhan of the Antonov Bratva.