Chapter 24
Ekaterina
My world is spinning – thoughts, plans, fears, death – but in this moment, we are in the center. Artem’s lips kiss my temple, my jaw, then the corner of my mouth, as light as the touch of a delicate butterfly, the complete opposite of what I would normally expect from my monster.
I am too tired to keep fighting him. Too tired to keep fighting even myself...
Although an entire world is looking for us and probably wants to kill us, his embrace gives me the most pleasant feeling of safety.
But reality strikes me hard, and I immediately push him off me. All the chaos he has created in order to marry me will have devastating consequences for a lot of people.
I sit up at once, pulling the fabric of the corset over my bare breasts, though it barely settles back into place enough to make me somewhat decent.
“What happened?” he asks, confused.
“Today happened. All of it. My question is: what happens now?” I ask, feeling my heart tighten. “Oksana will lose her share of the gallery too. Oliver is going to take everything from me—”
“He’s not going to take anything from you,” he interrupts, sitting up as well and tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.
“That’s what you think. I signed a document— ”
He exhales loudly, almost bored, cutting me off again.
“The penalties were paid the moment I fired the first bullet in that cathedral.”
“What?!”
He doesn’t answer, but stares into the distance, slightly frowning and thoughtful.
“Maybe I should have set fire to the cathedral,” he says, sounding genuinely serious about it. “Sasha would have been delighted.”
Then he looks at me and speaks in the same calm, almost cold, way. “It would have been cute.”
“Artem!” I exclaim, shocked. “It wouldn’t have been cute at all!”
“I don’t use that word often, but I suppose it fits.”
“You would have set fire to a historic building without thinking about all the people inside or the damage you would have caused?”
He frowns a little, and I try to figure out whether this man has any limit when it comes to destroying and killing.
“I didn’t say I would have blown it up. That would clearly have caused casualties. But a fire would have given people the chance to get out. I’m only talking about the altar, or whatever that area is called where the sinful priest intended to marry you to that fucker.
The place was already defiled by people like him, believe me. As for the guests, I assure you I would have made sure no innocent person got hurt. But there were a few there who deserved their fate.”
I stare in his unique eyes as though he is an alien, because it is as clear as daylight that, in his head, the world is completely different from the way I see it.
“I can’t understand where all this desire of yours to hurt comes from! You talk about killing and destroying things as if you were talking about chopping peppers for a salad and throwing the scraps in the bin!”
A smile almost touches his mouth.
“Finally, you understand me!” he exclaims with a hint of delight.
“No!”
He kisses me quickly. “You will. In time.”
OhmyGod… Who the hell have I gotten involved with?
“I need to call the boys so we can organize ourselves.”
He starts to get up, but I catch his arm, stopping him.
“We’re not done talking! What do you mean you paid the penalties?”
“With money,” he answers simply. “But we’ll continue the conversation after they arrive. You’ll understand much better everything that’s happened lately, and I’ll answer any question you have.”
I immediately look down at the ruined dress on me.
“I need a shower.”
“We’ll be here. Come back when you’re done.”
I rise from the couch, and he does the same, quickly tucking his semi-hard cock back into his trousers, along with his shirt.
In two seconds, he looks just as he did before.
I, on the other hand, am painfully aware that I am a disaster.
“Where’s the bathroom?”
“I’ll show you.”
He takes my hand, lacing his fingers with mine, even though I resist for a second. He also takes the opportunity to give me a little tour, explaining what I can find in the spacious apartment.
To my surprise, of course he also has a room with a piano, which he brought especially for me.
But the bedroom is a pleasant surprise.
“I redecorated it a few days ago,” he tells me as I step into a room in slightly warmer tones.
The dark gray is not entirely gone, but it’s combined with a pleasant shade of cream, while the splash of color comes from two large plants placed on either side of the glass wall that opens onto an enormous terrace.
“The bathroom is there.” He is pointing toward a door, then indicates a sliding wall. “And in the dressing room, you’ll find clothes to change into. In your size.”
“You bought me clothes?”
He looks at me strangely. “Plus jewelry, accessories, and shoes, of course. If you need anything else, tell me and we’ll take care of it.”
I drag a hand over my face.
“Too much is happening in far too little time,” I say with a sigh that makes him come closer.
He catches me gently by the nape, lifting my chin toward him with one finger. “I’m here.”
“Exactly. You’re the cause of this chaos,” I say, my lips pressing together slightly.
He lifts one shoulder. “And you haven’t even seen all of it yet.”
“Oh, God,” I murmur, closing my eyes, exhausted.
“You just need to trust me, dusha moya. The war has just begun, but you need to know that I will never allow anything to happen to you, even when you think there’s no way out.”
His gaze is piercing and serious, his voice truly convincing.
As mentally exhausted as I am, I can only wish he’s right, because at this moment, I have no other option.
Artem Voron has destroyed my chance at a normal life, throwing me back into the claws of Bratva, but he, with his mad obsession, also seems to be the only one who can keep me alive.
“Promise me,” he demands with a harsh tone. “From this moment on, you trust me. You talk to me. You tell me anything that upsets you.”
“I promise. But I hope you have a solution that gets us out of this alive, otherwise I’ll kill you with my own hands.”
“Hope has no place in our world, Katya. I rely on certainty, even though I would enjoy dying by your hand.”
I frown. “You’re insane. That is the certainty of the moment.”
“And here I thought I was being romantic.” A small smile appears on his damn handsome face.
Bastard.
“And what do you mean, hope has no place here? As in, bad things are definitely going to happen?”
The corner of his mouth lifts even more.
“We’re part of Bratva, Ekaterina. Of course bad things will happen to us.”
I pull away from the hand touching my face and look at him, frowning, almost sad.
“I was no longer part of Bratva, Artem. That’s exactly why I moved to London, to break away from this world. That’s exactly why my father made so many sacrifices, so I could live a life as normal as possible. And I really was on the right path.”
His eyebrow rises in an ironic way, the same kind of smile still on his face.
“You really haven’t understood, have you?”
The air catches in my throat. “Understood what?”
“You were the biggest pawn, Ekaterina. Your marriage to Oliver Prescott III would have secured the organizations in Russia access to the largest gateway to and from South America. The shortest route and the least inspected by the authorities.”
I feel everything shake around me.
“What are you saying?”
“I opened a connection hub here, but the great Vors wanted to solidify the transfer toward Moscow too, not just stop here.”
A thousand questions spin through my head until I feel my legs almost give way. I barely manage to keep my balance.
“And what does Oliver have to do with it?” I am completely confused by what he is telling me.
“Your former fiance appears to be an important pawn in all of this. The discussions for this partnership were held with his father, the great Lord Prescott, who has been looking for partners for the arms trafficking he’s been running for a few years. With his connections and our weapons,
money would rain from the sky for both sides.”
I take a step back and sit on the edge of the nearby bed, feeling my entire reality quake, apparently built, according to him, on one enormous lie.
“I thought he was sincere and that...”
“That you were living in a love story?”
“Yes,” I say softly, almost disappointed.
“You do. With me.”
His smile is full of pride.
I glare at him.
He has the nerve to be romantic while everything burns around us, and on top of that, I realize that, for two years, I was lied to by a man who let me believe he loved me.
Betrayal makes me wonder how many people around me are still doing that. Including the one in front of me.
“How do I know you’re not like him? You just destroyed one wedding to force me into another, with you.”
His face darkens, and a muscle twitches in his cheek.
“Because I have nothing to gain from this. Things were going very well for me before the Vors got involved, with their desire to expand into a place where I had settled and was gaining more and more ground on my own.”
“And now, with my kidnapping from the wedding – which I assume marked this partnership
– I guess the agreement between the Lord and Bratva has collapsed, hasn’t it? And you’re the only one who benefits.”
My heart clenches as I say the words, shaping the beginning of a truth that could be extremely dangerous and painful.
“Is that why you stopped the wedding?” I ask, my voice trembling. “To reclaim your supremacy in the area without bringing all Bratva onto the territory you’d already gained?”
His face is unreadable. Not even a flicker of indignation at my accusations or a glint in those cold eyes that might offer me even a drop of comfort. At least he could argue with me...
I feel like I’m falling into a dark abyss.
“And if that were true?” he says.
My heart tightens, and an agonizing pain pours through my body.
“No...” My voice breaks, and my hands begin to tremble. I clench the feathered fabric of the dress in my fists, even though the blood, still wet in some places, stains my palms.