Page 31 of Bought to Bear Bratva Heir

"My wife will be… perfect," he continued, and every word he said was like a knife twisting in my stomach. He knew he was hurting me, though. "Maybe I’ll make you carry our future children. I wouldn’t want my wife’s body to be ruined like yours has been."

One last twist of the knife and he gutted me. I knew I wasn’t the tiny, unmarked girl he had met. But I had carried his child, and I liked my body.

"Fuck you, Ilya Popovitch," I hissed between my gritted teeth.

His eyes sparkled with mirth, but deep down I was sure I saw a flicker of unease as he realized what he had said. It was there and gone so quickly I was sure I imagined it, though. "Does the truth hurt, Daisy?"

Cocking his head to the side, he studied me, and my lips thinned. "What, no retort? I thought you would have told me to go to hell by now?"

Slowly, I lifted my eyes to his pretty blue eyes. Devoid of all warmth or softness. God, how he had changed in six years. Back when we had shared a life and dreamt of a future, I had thought his eyes were the most beautiful thing about him, and they were still pretty. But lifeless.

"Hell's too good for you, Ilya," I said, and I meant it with my whole heart. "Now, will you get the fuck off me."

He didn’t move. "Is that how you speak to your employer?" he chuckled.

"When my employer is a creep who has me pinned to a wall and is sporting a boner, yeah, it is." Pointedly, I stared down at his body.

Ilya jumped away like I’d electrocuted him. "Fuck."

Chuckling to myself, I wandered away. "If I am staying here, I want a contract, Ilya. I want rights. I won’t be victim to your manipulation again."

I didn’t turn around, but I knew he was following after me. More fool me for thinking I could get the last word in an argument.

"Manipulation?" he breathed down my neck, causing goosebumps to erupt all over my body. "The only person who was manipulated back then was me. You fucking left me, Daisy. You made me—" I heard his throat loudly move as he swallowed.

"I made you what, Ilya?" I asked with my back to him.

"Doesn’t matter. Clean up." The air moved as he took a step away from me. "I’ll have the contract prepared and—"

"I will need access to my phone and laptop."

A grumble met my request. "Absolutely not."

"That’s not negotiable, Ilya. I have a life in Oxford. I have to call some people and arrange for time off."

He didn’t answer me. But I caught the sound of muttering under his breath. Half-turning towards him, I watched as he dragged a hand through his hair.

"What?" Honestly, I couldn’t read the look on his face at all.

"You have a job?"

Okay, now I was really confused. "Yes. Of course I have a job. I also have an apartment and friends. The money you gave me to be your," I lifted my hands and, crooking my fingers, made quotation marks in the air, "broodmare, I haven’t touched. Well,I think maybe a thousand pounds. To secure accommodation, but the rest is in there. You are welcome to have it back."

"I don't—" Ilya's lips twisted. "Friends? You have friends, or is this some kind of code for men you take to your bed?"

"Seriously, Ilya, that is not your business."

"It is if a lover or a husband—" His eyes darted down to my hand and then back up. "—turns up here and I have to cover up a murder."

"This conversation is over, Ilya. I am going to shower and change. Could you have my clothes put in my room? Or let me go and get my case."

He didn’t answer me. Really, I wasn’t expecting him to. Ilya didn’t like being ordered around. He never had. He always liked being the one to give the orders, and six years ago I had been fine with that because he had been the center of my entire universe, and I wanted to do anything to make him happy.

Now I was a whole different person. Stronger and more resilient. The only person I gave a shit about was my son, and he was the reason I was here.

I didn’t want him to grow up thinking I had abandoned him or whatever lies Ilya had filled his head with. No, Alec would know the truth.

Still, it was weird to me that Ilya held so much hostility towards me when he had been the one to send me away, and there had been genuine shock when I had mentioned where I had lived and the money in my account. It was like this was the first time he had heard of either.