Chapter 7 - Sergey
Katya fought harder than I ever expected her to, and for some reason, it has me more turned on than it should.
I knew she wouldn’t come quietly or willingly without some leverage behind me, not with the amount of fire she has tucked away inside her, but I wasn’t prepared for the way she needled at my patience. For every sharp word that left her mouth sounded more defiant than fearful.
Even so, I didn’t miss how the panic lingered in her eyes when she assumed the worst of me. She probably thought I was there to attack her or do something unspeakable.
It sounds ridiculous in my mind, given how badly I’ve wanted to have her this close. To break the invisible boundary between the stalker and the stalked. But of course, it’s all the same to her.
Worst of all, I wasn’t ready for how much I liked it. The combination of her fear and determination to fight me to the bitter end.
She tried so hard to get away from me in the condo, but it wasn’t enough. She twisted in my grip, refusing to give an inch despite being overpowered. She looked at me like she hated me…like she wasn’t necessarily afraid of me, but was more so operating out of raw instinct.
It’s both infuriating and intoxicating.
Now, she sits across from me on the jet, silent and unmoving like stone. Her arms are crossed tightly against her chest in silent protest, I imagine.
Kat hasn’t said a word since we left New York, and while I don’t expect her to, given everything that has happened, a small part of me is disappointed by the silence.
She’s pretending I don’t exist, and it’s driving me crazy.
But, as annoying as it is, I can’t be completely bothered by it. Not while my plan has mostly unfolded as expected, and I got exactly what I wanted.
With the paperwork signed and filed, and everything said and done, she has become one of us.
Kat is my wife now.
Legally, she’s bound to me and our business. She’s tied to me in a way Yuri won’t be able to ignore, and so long as that tether is strong enough, it should pull him right into the open.
As much as I want to focus on the triumph I should be feeling, and all the ways my assignment has prevailed, I can’t focus on it. Not with her sitting there like none of this is truly reaching her while she stares out the window.
Her quiet defiance has me wanting to poke at it even more.
After a moment of watching her, I hum to myself. “You’re awfully quiet for someone with so much to say earlier.”
Kat doesn’t say a word. She doesn’t even turn to look at me. She lets that heavy silence hang between us.
Faintly amused, I stare at her. “Still mad?”
Her fingers tighten against her arms while they remain crossed over her chest. Of course she is. I took her freedom, and for someone like her, that would likely be worse than death.
I don’t entirely love how angry she is, but I won’t deny it brings me a sense of satisfaction knowing things are moving along as they should, and once we get to Vegas, I’ll have nothing left to worry about.
You can’t get any closer to a surveillance target than marrying them, right?
“Or are you trying to figure out how to kill me mid-flight?”
I’m pushing it, I know that. But I can’t help it. She makes it too easy.
And that’s what gets her.
Kat finally looks at me with a glare sharp enough to cut if I were any closer.
“You think this is funny?” She asks, not afraid to snap at me.
Having those eyes on me stirs something in my gut, and I grin at her. “I think anger looks good on you.”
She almost deadpans at that, seemingly pushing back whatever reaction threatens to rise to the surface. But, being as stubborn as she is, Kat presses her lips into a tight line, and she shifts subtly in her seat as if to put more distance between us. “Go to hell.”
“I’m already there, sweetheart,” I muse. “You might as well get comfortable. I’m not going anywhere.”
Kat grits her teeth and forces the words out. “I don’t know what kind of women you’re used to dealing with, or which type you think I am, but you don’t get to smirk and charm your way into my good graces.”
“That’s assuming I want in your good graces.”
“Right,” she utters, giving a humorless laugh. “You just want to use me to get to my brother. Congrats, Sergey.”
Do I want to be in her good graces?
Something about her assumption, while it isn’t unfounded, irks me.
Even if it’s satisfying knowing she has no choice but to do as I say, that doesn’t mean I want to completely extinguish her fire. Her hardened nature is something that pulled me in, but I don’t necessarily want to break her, regardless of how tempting that sounds.
A little fear is fine, but I don’t want her to hate me entirely.
At this point, I don’t know whether it was the assignment or the growing need for her clawing at my chest that drove me to marry her, and I don’t know which of those options is worse.
I shouldn’t care about what she thinks of me, but at least part of me does.
Something shifts in my attitude, and I murmur with a slight bristle, “I’m protecting you.”
“From what, my own life?” Kat demands of me with utter disbelief. “You don’t get to play these games, hold me hostage, and claim to be some kind of savior. I didn’t need saving, and you’re nothing but some thug in a suit. You and your family are just going to get everyone killed.”
Her words hit me harder than I’d like to admit.
She doesn’t know me, and she doesn’t know what I’ve sacrificed, or that of my family. She doesn’t know that I’d bleed for them in a heartbeat, even if they piss me off some days.
But the pure conviction in her words kickstarts that attraction in me all over again.
I know she’s tough, which is both maddening and so appealing that it makes me feel like I’m going crazy, and something about that puts me off kilter.
Kat is unlike anyone I’ve dealt with before, and I find myself walking a thin line of rage and respect.
I pull in a breath to try and wrangle my confused thoughts, leaning forward. “You should watch that mouth, Kat…you’re in my world now, and that attitude won’t do you any favors.”
“I don’t care,” she utters, giving me a look that says it all. She hates me, and this is the last thing she wants to deal with. “You dragged me into this, and you don’t get to tell me how to behave.”
My eyes lock with hers, allowing the warning to enter my tone. “You should.”
She doesn’t even flinch.
I certainly have done exactly that, and while I can be one to entertain resistance and the amusing parts of getting her to do as I say, I’m not a complete pushover.
The infuriating yet intoxicating edge remains in her eyes, and I can’t tell if I want to shake her or shut her up with my mouth.
Both, apparently.
But I keep my hands and lips to myself while I sit back in my seat, running a hand over my mouth.
Eventually, the wheels hit the tarmac as we land in Vegas, and we get off the jet. Phone in hand, I watch as it reconnects while two guards haul Kat to the waiting vehicle.
Two missed calls from Roman. Not out of the ordinary, but certainly not a good thing.
Sighing, I click the notification and initiate the call, bracing myself for whatever might be ahead of me.
It rings once before his voice cuts through, drippy with fury.
“What the fuck did you do?”
And here it is.
“You’re welcome,” I say dryly, standing several paces away from the jet while the crew begins their maintenance.
“Don’t even start, Sergey,” Roman returns, leaving no room for goofing off. “I just got off the phone with our lawyer in New York. You’ve married her without thinking to run any of it by me? Do you realize how many problems you’ve just stirred up?”
Pulling in a breath, I urge myself to stand my ground and defend my actions to some capacity.
Knowing Roman, he can be brutal when something doesn’t go his way, and it takes reasoning to get him to see it from a new angle. If he decides to be swayed at all.
“She’s the perfect leverage, Roman. Yuri won’t be able to ignore this, and if marrying her to one of us will pull him out into the open, then so be it. Someone had to force his hand, and it didn’t seem like anyone else was willing to.”
I swear, an irritated growl comes from his end before his tense words reach me. “Nobody was jumping the gun because I said not to. Because I didn’t clear it. I told you to keep an eye on her, not pick her up off the street like a fucking stray dog.”
The raising of his tone is nothing new for me, but hearing it now after everything I did to make this happen has me on the verge of snapping.
Clenching my jaw, I try my hardest not to let that irritation slip. “I handled it.”
“You compromised the assignment, Sergey! I gave you full rein to handle the situation because I assumed you understood the basics of surveillance. The Balakin girl was never supposed to be aware of you or your job until we had reason to believe she was working with her brother, and Christ's sakes, you let that all go to shit,” Roman barks at me, not at all pulling his punches. “You got yourself hitched and flew her to Vegas without my clearance. Do you understand how that risks every aspect of our mission? Every piece has been delicately laid, every man put into place as they should be to make sure we handle this properly. Now Yuri will know we’re onto him, and he’ll see this as direct retaliation. ”
“Isn’t that how this will end anyway? With retaliation from both sides?” I question, struggling to hide just how angry I was getting in return. “One way or another, we were going to hit back for everything he has done, so why not get ahead of him?”
“That’s the problem. We don’t know without a shadow of a doubt that Yuri has been orchestrating the attacks, and now, if it isn’t him, he’ll interpret this as us needlessly hitting first. That’s what we were trying to find out, and your dumb ass moved without my permission.”
It takes everything in my power not to crush the phone in my hand.
“I did what needed to be done.”
“No, you acted impulsively,” Roman growls out. “You always do this. And you wonder why I can’t trust you with the bigger jobs.”
That nearly sends me over the edge. That rage spikes in my chest, and I can’t keep up the dam of pent-up frustration anymore.
“I did what I thought would help everyone by keeping Katya close, and so we can use her to get the upper hand. But you don’t see it that way, do you? You never do. Instead, you sit back and treat me like I don’t know any better,” I retort, barely keeping myself together.
“Because you prove me right time and time again!”
“Go to hell,” I mutter, hitting the end button before Roman can say anything else.
The call cuts off, leaving me to the lingering noise of the jet in the background.
Huffing out a breath, I run a hand through my hair to calm the pulsing rage beneath my skin.
Roman doesn’t trust me, and he never has…at least, not with real power or decisions that truly matter. And still, something as minor as tying up a loose end has him losing his mind.
He thinks I can’t handle the simplest jobs without fucking up, but this time, I’m going to prove him wrong.
Katya is the key. She doesn’t know it yet, but she’ll be the reason Yuri comes out crawling on his knees.
And when this is over, Roman won’t be able to deny that I was right all along.
When I finally reach the vehicle waiting for us, I climb into the back seat wordlessly next to Kat.
Her expression is made of pure ice while she stares out the window, refusing to say anything to me.
She’s furious with me.
Good. I can work with that. At the very least, she feels something. And eventually, I’ll make her feel everything.
At this point, I don’t know who I’m doing all of this for, but I don’t care.
I have her, and that’s what matters.