Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 92133 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 461(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92133 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 461(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
At first, I didn’t move. I couldn’t. Even breathing was difficult. I was frozen in place. He stepped closer, and the heat behind him seemed to increase.
Ever since I’d been told Andrei was to be my husband, we’d not spent any time together. I’d been called to my father, where I’d been told what was going to happen. I was not sure whether others thought I had an opinion about what was going to happen in my life. That never happened. I wasn’t asked.
No, I was told by my father with Andrei present and another man who made my blood run cold. He looked so terrifying. Ivan Volkov. Head of the Volkov Bratva. My father’s new boss. My new nightmare.
I felt sick to my stomach just thinking about him. I gave nothing away to my husband who stood way too still. He didn’t touch me. Other than the kiss in church and the few times he’d taken my hand, he never touched me. He often avoided it.
This was great. My husband detested me without even knowing me. This was how my life was going to end up. It probably didn’t help that I might have flinched in church. He’d grabbed my arms and pulled me close.
The kiss was dull. My very first kiss hadn’t made my heart sing or cause me to instantly fall in love with my husband. If anything, it made this whole marriage thing seem even more of a farce. There was no love between us. There was no anything.
He didn’t touch me, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw the knife he’d pulled out. Fear raced down my spine. I didn’t have time to run or move. He slid the blade between the center of my back and the dress. One tug, and that was it, the dress gave way and I had no choice but to hold it against my breasts to gain any modesty.
Tears filled my eyes and I hated them. I’d never been the kind of woman who constantly gave in to crying. I am strong. Being around Andrei, I felt anything but.
Without looking at him, I charged toward the bathroom, slamming the door closed. There was no lock. Nothing to protect myself.
I didn’t have long before the door was pushed open. I stepped away from it before it could hit me in the face. Spinning around, still holding the dress in my hands, I backed away. Andrei advanced toward me.
He looked … dangerous. Not in a good way. He still held the knife in his hand. Without even looking at it, he flicked it away.
I kept moving back until the wall stopped my escape. Stupid wall.
His hands went either side of me, trapping me in place. “Don’t ever run from me again. You won’t like it.”
“I … I didn’t mean to run.”
“Then don’t.”
He stayed like that, staring at me.
I couldn’t keep looking into his eyes. They were a deep brown, all-knowing, penetrating. At times, I had to wonder if they were mostly black. He wasn’t a good man.
“I won’t. I promise.” I’d do and say anything to get him the hell away from me.
He didn’t leave right away.
Time seemed to stop for me the longer he just stood there. Did he like how he scared me?
I waited. I wanted to tell him to leave me alone, but in the end, he was the one who left. I just had to wait and I suddenly realized this was what our marriage would be like. No matter how uncomfortable I was, Andrei had all the power. He would do whatever the hell he liked and to hell with the consequences.
I didn’t like this at all.
****
Andrei
Most men the day after their wedding are probably comatose from all the fucking they got done. Not me. Nope. My little virgin bride was still fucking pure.
She’d been shaking like a leaf when I finally finished in the bathroom last night. The bed had shaken like it was on vibration or something.
Raping women was not one of my skills.
I didn’t want to start my marriage off by forcing my wife to take my dick. Even though Ivan expected it.
He was my boss, my Pakhan, the leader of the Volkov Bratva—the reason I’m one of the six men he trusted to control this State. Running a hand down my face, I stare out the car window, heading right back to my place where I had business to deal with.
Ivan had been present at my wedding. Of course he had. He’d been the one to change Bethany to Adelaide. There was no way I could have gone against him, even though Adelaide wasn’t fit for this world.
She didn’t understand the life she’d just entered. Like last night, Bethany would have enjoyed me fucking her. She’d have relished being part of the Volkov Bratva, the most feared Russian mob ever to rule the States. Ivan had taken us all into a new era. He changed the rules, adapted them to suit himself. It made me smile just thinking about it.