Page 58 of Sold to My Ex's Brother
“No, you are the highest bidder,” I remind him, and I rise to my feet. “And right now, you’re acting like it.”
His eyes flash with something I can’t quite find the words for, and my heartbeat flutters in my chest. Fuck, did I go too far, say too much? Even in my heart of hearts, I don’t believe that he is the same as his brother, but I need my freedom, crave it like the most natural thing in the world. I can’t be held here.
“Maya—”
“I just want to go to my apartment,” I tell him, voice cracking slightly as I stand there in the doorway. His eyes are dark and unreadable, and I can tell that what I have said to him sits heavy on his chest. I don’t know if I’m being unfair, but I sure as hell am not just going to roll over and let this man decide how the rest of my life is going to go.
My father, Artem, the men who bid on me—I have let that happen for too long, and if I allow it to go unchecked now, I will be bringing my child into that same situation.
Showing them that this isn’t normal, that this isn’t the kind of thing they should just bend to, it’s the most important thing in the world to me right now, and I’d do anything to make sure it happens.
And, with that, I turn to leave, heading back down to my room, brushing past the guards who stand on the door, hoping that the lump in my throat will begin to ease when I’m alone. Because I hate the thought of hurting Anton, but I hate the thought of coming to resent him because I’m so trapped under his thumb even more.
And I have to pray that, one way or another, he comes to see things from my perspective. Because the other option...
It’s more than I could live with.
28
ANTON
A knock soundsat my office door, and I look up. Maya?
It’s been a day since we last spoke to each other, when she demanded to speak to me and came to my office to tell me that she would not be able to live with the restraints I have placed on her. Didn’t seem to matter how much I tried to convince her that I was only doing it for her own good, she has gotten it into her head that she wants out of here.
And I don’t know where the fuck that leaves me.
“Come in,” I call, and the door opens to reveal Ilya on the other side alongside a woman it takes me a moment to place.
“You have a visitor,” he tells me, and I eye the woman for a moment. And then, it clicks—she was one of the girls Artem was holding along with Maya, one of the girls I set free.
She looks a little different now, dressed in normal clothes, washed and groomed and clearly far more comfortable in herself than she was the first time I had met her. I wasn’t sure exactly what she was doing here, or how she had managed to track me down, but I rise to my feet and nod at her to come in.
“Thank you, Ilya,” I reply, raising a hand to dismiss him, and I find him looking at me curiously for a moment—no doubt wondering why I’m so willing to entertain an interruption like this. But, if she has come to speak with me, there must be good reason, and besides, the more I know about everything my brother was up to, the better.
She glances behind her to make sure he is gone, and I can see now some of the strain still written on her face; her cheeks are hollow, her arms tight as she holds them rigidly at her side. It must have taken her a whole hell of a lot of bravery to turn up here, and I can’t help but feel a little impressed at her nerve.
“Thank you for meeting with me,” the woman announces, clearly having practiced what she is going to say to me just as soon as she gets me alone. “I understand that you must be very busy, but I wouldn’t have felt right not thanking you for what you did for us the other day.”
“It’s not something you have to thank me for,” I reply, and I gesture for her to take a seat. “Please, sit down...?”
“Luna,” she replies, as she drops herself into the chair opposite mine. I take my seat once more, locking my fingers on the table before me, studying her for a moment as I try to work out what she is doing here.
“How did you find me?” I ask her, and she shrugs.
“I asked around. Didn’t take me long to figure out where you were. Some of the other women you released, they talked about you, and I put the pieces together.”
I cock an eyebrow. “Not even the cops have been able to do that,” I remark, and she smirks slightly.
“I’m not the cops.”
I chuckle, and rise to my feet, making my way to the drinks cabinet that sits opposite my desk. “Would you care for a drink?”
She nods, and I pour us both a vodka, pushing one over the table towards her. She takes a long sip and I do the same. I know it should throw me off, that she has been able to track me down, but I suppose I have not exactly been keeping my head down.
And besides, she hardly seems like the type to use it for anything other than what she needs. No doubt she is involved in shit that she wouldn’t want the cops discovering herself, no matter that she is free from Artem’s grasp right now.
“So, what are you doing now?” I ask her, with some interest. My mind flits, briefly, back to what Maya said to me the day before; that I’m not so different from my brother, wanting to keep her under lock and key. It’s been playing on my mind ever since, and I know that I cannot deny it entirely, even if I have a damn good reason for making sure she does not slip through my fingers.
