My brain felt like it was short-circuiting.
If Vas had been hunting me on the Island, I wouldn’t have thought twice, but things were different now. I wasn’t single anymore.
I didn’t want Ilya to lose his island, but he and Bron would help me figure things out without having to resort to this.
“I…don’t think that’s a good idea.” How could a woman politely reject the sexual advances of her tyrannical father-in-law without pissing him off?
“I think you should remember who has all the power in this room. Besides, I doubt a woman like you came to your marriage a virgin. What difference does it make if a man plows a field that has already been plowed?”
He got up so suddenly I jumped to my feet. As he strode to me, I backed away, and was about to turn when he crashed into me. With a cruel grip on my hair, he yanked my head back and he shoved his tongue into my mouth, half choking me with it.
“Stop! Let go of me!” I beat at his chest, but I doubted anyone could hear us, considering how soundproofed this whole house seemed to be. I tried to fight him off, but his hands were everywhere, groping, pinching. He let go of my hair long enough to grab the neckline of my dress and tear it open. I slapped him hard across the face.
“No!”
Trying to shove him off me wasn’t working. I hoped someone would burst in and save me, but Bron had gone out on business—I doubted Vas sending him away was a coincidence. Ilya wouldn’t come looking for me yet, even if he’d already come out of the bathroom.
I screamed and kicked as he groped my breasts and then tore off my panties. When I tried to slap him again, he caught my wrist and twisted my arm behind my back, using the leverage and the pain he caused to hold me still while he ran his free hand over my near nakedness.
“I’ll have to thank Ilya for marrying a woman with a bit of spirit. I don’t think any of the others ever fought me this hard.” He chuckled and pushed a finger into my pussy. “See? You’re making such a fuss, but your body wants me. A woman’s body always wants the strongest man in the room—it’s nature’s way of ensuring the species stays strong.”
What he was interpreting as my interest was only what two of his sons had left behind the night before. His breath smelled like alcohol. Despite how much he drank, he’d unfortunately kept himself in good shape.
“Maybe you’ll be lucky, and I’ll breed you.”
“I’m your son’s wife! Why would you do this?”
“Because I can. Because it’s my job to ensure the family line is strong. My weak sons shouldn’t be the ones impregnating their pretty wives.”
He tried to kiss me again, but I snapped my teeth, narrowly missing his nose.
“Oh, Delilah. Breeding this body is going to be so sweet for me. You might not like it much, but I’ll like that even better.” He chuckled. “Don’t worry, my sons know some of the children they are raise are mine. It’s not betraying your husband. He knows why you’re in here. He knows the price of having my support.”
Betrayal flared in my chest.
But no, the adrenaline was confusing me, making me believe his lies.
“There’s no way Ilya would allow this.” I tried to force his finger out of me, but instead he added another one. It only felt rough and invasive, and I tried not to let myself get upset about it. This was just any guy. Men had pawed at me uninvited often enough, even before I went to the Island. Hopefully, no matter what happened in here I could shake it off.
He pulled his fingers out of me and fumbled with his belt. It stuck on something, and his focus shifted to the task. I was half leaned back against his arm where he still had mine wrenched behind my back. He had trapped my legs between his so I couldn’t kick him. I let myself go lax, as though I’d given up on fighting him, still wondering if I should let him do it—wondering if I would fuck up Ilya’s future if I didn’t.
His buckle popped open, and everything in me rebelled.
Hell no.
I twisted my hip and jerked my leg up, kneeing him squarely in the balls. It hit home hard.
He opened his mouth in a silent scream and went down, letting go of my arm. I unlocked the door and bolted from the room, not caring that the shreds of my dress were flapping behind me, still trapped to my shoulders. I turned the wrong way a few times, expecting to hear him coming for me.
What was I going to do? I’d kneed a very dangerous man in the balls.
Somewhere along the way, I’d lost a shoe. I kicked the other one off so I could run faster. My bad ankle was making me limp by the time I got to our suite and burst in. Maybe I should have run down the drive and away from the house—maybe gone to the police station or gone into hiding?
As soon as Vas recovered, he would kill me and make Bron dispose of my body.
I closed the door behind me and realized the sound in my ears was my own shriek of rage. The bathroom door ripped open and bounced off the tile. Ilya came charging out, his gaze horrified when it landed on me. He was naked and his hair was wet.
“What happened? Who did this to you?”
“Did you send me to your father’s office knowing he would try to rape me?”
His face flooded with rage.
“My father did this to you?” His voice was so quiet I barely heard him.
“Yes. I hurt him and got away. I shouldn’t have come back to our suite. I need to hide”
His gaze went cold. “He won’t hurt you again.”
“He said he’ll cut off your income. All the daughters-in-law have to do it. I’m sorry. I couldn’t let him. He’s going to get even with me—with us. I need to go.”
He wrapped his hand around the back of my neck and pulled me close. The kiss he gave me was careful, as though he thought he might break me.
“I’ll deal with him.” He went back to the bathroom and grabbed his jeans, pulling them up and buckling his belt. Without bothering to put on anything else, he went to our luggage and unzipped the large back pocket of his suitcase.
“What are you doing? Those are empty.”
“Mine is not.” He reached in and pulled out a wooden handle which made no sense until the axe’s head came out.
“You brought an axe to Moscow? What did you think you were going to be doing here?”
He propped the tool-turned-weapon by the door. “A man never knows when he might need his axe.”
Grimly, he retrieved a throw from the back of the couch and wrapped it tight around me, then sat me down and handed me the TV remote. “Find something loud to watch. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“Ilya, you can’t threaten him. He’s a dangerous man. You have to get me out of here—I have to hide.”
He grabbed my chin and kissed me. “Stay here, woman.” The command was still ringing in the air as he took up his axe and went out the door. He shut it behind him.
I sat motionless on the couch until he opened the door again, startling me. “Lock the door, wife.”
As soon as he closed the door again, I crossed the room and locked it. I heard him tap on it from the other side, showing me he hadn’t left until he was sure I’d obeyed him.
My teeth were chattering. It was ridiculous. I’d been assaulted so many times in my life, so why on earth was this freaking me out? Whatever Ilya thought he was doing wasn’t going to work—Vas was a hardened criminal.
Was he seriously going to threaten his mob boss father with an axe? The man probably had a dozen guns in his desk, loaded and ready.
God, what if he kills Ilya.