I lick my lips. “What if I…refuse?”
“You have a choice,” he explains. “My wife. Or my whore.”
It’s almost instructional, like he’s sliding through a PowerPoint presentation. This can’t be my life.
I frown while recalling how Viktoria pinched me. When my fingers find the sore spot, I wince.Nope, still awake. Dammit.
“As my wife,” Pavel explains, “you’ll be treated with dignity and placed under my full protection. It’s in your best interest to accept the arrangement.”
My brows knit together. Forced marriage—didn’t this get outlawed at some point?
Sure, I realize I’m dealing with the Mafia, but there has to besomethingI can do to avoid this. I’m not ready for marriage. I have plans. I have a med school application that’s being processed right now!
I can’t just disappear.
I meet his gaze reluctantly. Buthecan make me disappear. Without a doubt.
“And the other?” I struggle to say the words. “Being…the…”
He smiles, all malice and no mercy. “You’ll be used by me and my brigadiers—my men.” His approach causes me to stumble back. “At our leisure.” I flail to grab something to catch me before I trip and hit the carpet. “And you’ll be treated like a good little whore, so long as you earn your worth on your knees and back.”
My lower back collides with the dresser. The mirror rattles against the wall, startling me. He’s pressed so hard against me that I can feel how much the idea appeals to him.
Better not.I gulp.He likes that too much. I can’t let it happen.
“There’s one more thing,devushka.” His nose skitters over my cheek—little zaps sparking my skin with confused desire—until his breath hangs hot over my ear as he whispers, “I’ll kill your brother if you defy me. So, I’ll ask you again: which will you pick? Wife or whore.”
I’m trembling so hard that I don’t hear myself blurt, “Wife.”
But it’s too late. My allegiance to my brother wins.
As it always does.
He steps back and cups my cheek with the fondness of a man observing his brand-new toy. It’s hard not to withdraw from him like he’s made of fire and brimstone, but I know I shouldn’t.
I wouldn’t dare.
If you play your part right…
I hold his gaze for a moment, hoping I can survive by sheer will alone. If that’s what it takes, I’ll do it.
When he leaves, I collapse to the ground, dry heaving over the most gorgeous carpet I’ve ever seen in my life. Not a damn speck of mold here. No, sir. I’m a far cry away from where I came from.
And only because my brother sold me out.
Viktoria bustles into the room and hauls me from the ground. “Bed. You need rest.”
“Viktoria, I can’t do this.”
“The best thing you can do is submit and give him a healthy child.”
Tears prick my eyes. “I don’t want to give birth.”
“We all do things we don’t want to survive. Understand?”
I shake my head defiantly. I can’t say no to Pavel, but I can say no to her. She can’t take this power away from me.
Right?