“Because you seem like the lesser evil. And I really don’t want to marry a rapist.”
“I may not be a rapist, Natalya, but that doesn’t make me not evil. I’m not a good man. But I will protect you because I want you to be mine. That I can promise you.”
“Why do you want me so much? You barely know me.”
“You’re beautiful. When I watched you dance, I couldn’t take my eyes away. And your innocent. I want to touch something as innocent as you. I want to consume it. I want to corrupt it.”
I shiver. He’s right. He’s not a good man. A good man wouldn’t say any of the things he just said.
And yet, I’m not as afraid as I should be.
“I’m meeting with Antoni tonight.”
Mikhail’s smile is pure danger. “Then I’ll make sure to kill him before then.” He nods towards the door. “Your driver will be waiting for you. We don’t want to make Denis suspicious.”
I force my legs to move when all I want is to be in Mikhail’s presence a bit longer. I guess I’ll have plenty of time when I’m his wife.
Though, the closer I get to the car and the farther I get from him, I can’t help but wonder if I just sold my soul to the devil.
Mikhail
It’s not hard to find Antoni. The fucker is at his usual place he frequents: a whorehouse. It’s not even an upscale place. It’s a shitty, rundown one that I’m sure is swimming with diseases.
I make it my job to know where other men of the Bratva spend their time. Since Antoni never makes it a secret, it only took one of my guys less than an hour to locate him.
I stroll into the whorehouse, which is really just a normal house that’s in desperate need of repairs. I tell one of the women I’m looking for Antoni and she points me in the right direction. Antoni is in one of the backrooms, cock deep inside a woman.
Neither one notices me as I lean against the doorframe.
“Nice hairy ass you have there.”
The woman screams while Antoni gasps. He pushes the woman away as he scrambles to his feet. “Who?” He pauses when he sees it’s me. “Mikhail?”
“Antoni.” I nod at the woman. “I hope you were using a condom because I know he has crabs.”
The woman scrunches up her face and holds the blanket around her body. “He hasn’t paid me yet.”
“Pay the woman and let’s get out of here.”
“I don’t have crabs,” he mutters, tossing some money at the woman before getting dressed and following me out of the room.Once we reach the hallway, Antoni takes off running but I’m faster. I grab him by the back of his shirt.
“Slow down. I need you for something.” I march him out of the whorehouse and into my car. My driver takes off, moving slowly. I want to savor this moment.
Antoni is beginning to look afraid. “Where are you taking me? What is this? What do you need me for?”
“I just have to ask. Are you willing to go against Denis Petrov?”
He scoffs. “No. We’re friends. I’ll never betray him and you can’t expect me to. You can ask me to do anything, Mikhail, but I won’t do it. I won’t ruin decades of friendship with him.”
“Thought so. Just wanted to be sure. Because of that, I’m going to have to kill you.”
His eyes go wide and his cheeks turn pale. “What? Why?”
“Because I can’t have you marrying Natalya. She’s mine. Denis doesn’t get to use her how he sees fit. And you’re not getting your filthy hands on her.”
“Fine. I won’t marry her. You don’t have to kill me. I’m not interested anyway. She’s too young.”
“Bullshit. I’ve heard you rape girls under the age of eighteen before.”
