Page 43 of Forced & Obsessed By the Bratva King
I shrug and turn around to take in the rest of the office. The wall is dominated by a large painting of a man with a half his face burned into a skeleton and hiding a devilish grin, while the other half looks normal, with a cigar pressed to his lips.
Despite his poor taste in color, he has an eye for art.
“I’ll use anything and everything I find against you, Leonid.” Having had my fill of glancing around his office, I stop moving and shift my full attention to him. “Why did you make me move into your room?”
He leans forward and steeples his fingers in front of him. “My house. My rules.”
Frustration bubbles inside me, but I keep it down with a flash of a smile that barely reaches my eyes. “How do you manage to keep your dirty business running with such a nasty attitude?”
He grins. “My gun always does the talking.”
My breath hitches with how easy it is for him to confess something so heinous like it’s normal. “Do you think human lifeis worth that little? How do you sleep at night knowing you’ve killed so many people?”
“I don’t.” He leans back in his seat, swiveling slowly from side to side and watching me with a look that’s so calm it turns my blood into ice. “Being a cold bastard is the only way to survive in this world, ptichka. It’s the only way I can keep my people safe.”
His people.
I should be even more terrified of him, but instead I’m wondering if I’m one of the people he cares about. If he’d fight and kill to save me if I was ever in trouble. But I know the answer to that well enough. My death would make his life a lot easier.
Somehow, that fact slithers through my chest like a butcher’s knife. I’d be nothing more than collateral damage to Leonid.
Why do I want to be something more?
I clear my throat. I can’t become an emotional mess, not now. “There’s something I need to discuss with you.”
He gestures to one of the chairs across from him. “Shoot.”
“Um.” I pause, clamp my eyelids shut, and breathe for a second. When my eyes flutter open again, Leonid’s watching me intently. “So, I was thinking…I don’t want to be a housewife now that we’re married.”
His brows lift, but he doesn’t interrupt.
“If you’d allow it, I’d love to return to my job as a charter manager.” My heart pounds too fast, but I don’t let that stop me. “I had a life before all of this. I want to know I still have control over my life. That I’m not a bird in a pretty golden cage.”
I expect him to slam his fist on the desk and rain down hell on me for daring to make such a request. Instead, all I see behind the desk is a flicker of softness in his eyes…and something that looks like understanding.
“Do whatever you want, ptichka.”
I blink twice, certain I misheard him. “What?”
“You can return to your job, as long as you don’t try anything funny,” he says. “I took you against your will and forced you to become my wife. It’s a fair bargain.”
I scrutinize his face for a sign he’s joking, but he looks goddamn serious. How could he give in so easily?
“Do you mean that?”
He heaves a sigh and rises to his feet. Next thing I know, he’s walking toward me, stopping only an inch away. “As my wife, the first thing you need to learn is that I don’t say things I don’t mean.”
“I just didn’t expect you to agree so easily.” I raise my head to look at him. “Aren’t you worried I’ll run from you?”
His gaze locks onto mine. “I’ll always find you, ptichka. Even if you run to the end of the world.”
***
A week later, the familiar scent of saltwater hits me the moment I step into the marina.
The docks creak beneath my shoes. Seagulls wheel overhead, and engines rumble farther down the harbor.
I let the morning breeze hit my face and rustle my hair as I draw in a deep, long breath, reveling in the feeling of normalcy—or at least something close to it.
