20. DANYA

Oh. Fuck. This boy would be the death of me.

I figured he would've made his escape. I hoped this would've been his big escape, but it turns out, he was right where he was always supposed to be. I stared at his weak body propped against the stone wall.

"The deal is done," I told Mikhail. "I told you. If I marry your sister, the debt is gone, and without the debt, you have no reason to bring Sutton in here. And—" I glanced to the other guy beside him. He was sobbing. "I don't know who that one is."

"We picked them up together," one of the Russian bodyguards Mikhail had following him around said. "He had this on him." With his black leather gloved hand, he pulled out the thumb drive Sutton had been working on unlocking.

I snatched the drive from him. "I'll take it. Now, let them go. You have no reason to keep either of them here."

For a moment, it was a staring competition between me and Mikhail. He broke and let out a chuckle. "Ah, ok, you're right," he said, holding out his hand for me to shake. "A deal was a deal. You marry my sister, and your boy toy goes free."

"He's not my boy toy," I said, sneering at Mikhail.

Sutton stared at me, his eyes still going around and around in the back of his head. "I'm not his boy toy."

"Ahhhh," Mikhail whipped his fur around once more, a flair for his own theatrics. "If you say so. I heard from your sister that the two of you were engaged."

"Engaged," Sutton's friend spat. "What?"

"No, I'm—" Sutton's wide eyes glared at me, blinking wildly at me. "I'm single. I was helping Danya try to find the money. I didn't take it. Someone else took it. But we were searching together."

"Fret no more," Mikhail laughed, stomping his feet. The splash of his feet against the small puddle on the stone. "The debt it gone."

It was beginning to feel and look strange that Mikhail continued to mention how the debt was gone. How easy it was for him to dismiss that someone had stolen millions of dollars. My suspicions were there, but I wasn't about to accuse him of doing that.

"So," I said, clearing my throat. "Take off those zip ties from their hands. Let them go. They won't say anything to anyone."

Sutton stared, almost like he wasn't completely convinced by what I was saying. "I won't," he said, unconvincingly. "In fact, I'll leave the state. You won't ever have to see me ever again."

"And your friend?" Mikhail asked. He dipped to a squat in front of Sutton. "What about him? He doesn't look like he's ever been pushed around before. But you—" Mikhail sucked on his teeth. "You look like someone who could take a little push and shove." He glanced to me. "From what I can see, Danya is definitely the push and shove type."

I didn't know what he was trying to illicit from me. There was a lot going on. I was trying to figure out how best to get out of this wedding while also trying to save Sutton, and now, potentially getting a glimpse into who was behind all of this.

Fingers pointed at it happening from inside the family, well, Mikhail had admitted to killing his own father. There was nothing to stop him from coming down on mine and cannibalizing us for his own gain too. What better way of him infiltrating us than through forcing our hand like this?

I didn't know if I could tell anyone what I was thinking. I couldn't tell anyone in the family. They were all snakes. And snakes ate their young, at least I assumed they did with the way this family had already started to eat each other or throwing us to the wolves of the Sokolov family.

"I'm not letting them go yet," Mikhail said. "They'll need to wait around until the ceremony is done, and then they can leave, and not a moment sooner. I don't want to—how you say—have egg on my face." He snorted back.

"Then at least let them come and be witnesses to the marriage," I said, doing everything I could to get Sutton out of this death pit. It was true what was said about it. If there was ever a time that you were brought into this place, then you were surely bound to find death here. It was rare for people to make it here, and then come out of this place as quick.

Mikhail looked like he was contemplating it. "Potentially, but I don't want you to become a runaway bride," he snickered. "I don't think it's a good idea to have your boy toy as a witness to your future commitment to my sister and his wife."

It was only earlier that we were mentioning being engaged, even if it was a fake engagement, I didn't like that it was push and pulling Sutton against my intentions. Although my intentions with him weren't so much a commitment like that, and more of enjoying the carnal pleasures of each other's bodies. There was no way I'd be able to fill that future carnality with his sister.

"So no," Mikhail said. "Until you're married off, these will stay here, and I will have my guards on duty."

"Can I—can I say one thing?" Sutton let out.

"Sure."

I approached Sutton. He chewed on his bottom lip. "19 98 29 05." he whispered.

"Huh?" I got closer.

"Say it back. 19 98 29 05."

"19 98 29 05," I repeated.

He glanced at the USB in my hand. "The code," he said. "Use it."

Repeating back the eight digits to myself, I didn't know what was on the drive, but whatever it was, it was enough for him to tell me. For all we knew, it was the code to the banking information. It could save me from marriage, at the least.

As much as I didn't want to leave Sutton alone here with the two knuckle heads, I knew I couldn't keep pushing on this. There was no saying what button I was about to push that could get a result from Mikhail.

"Let's go," he said. "All the way back to the house. The priest should be arriving soon. And your mother is making a Russian salad. It better be delicious."

"Great. Anyone else arriving?" I asked.

"All my family is here," Mikhail said, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. "And it's about to grow a little bit bigger today. I hope you're ready to be treated like family."

My jaw clenched. I knew how he treated family, and I didn't like it. "Perfect," I said, still making eye contact with Sutton. "I look forward to it."

I was forced out of the room, and into the house. I continued to repeat the sequence of numbers over and over in my head. Mikhail was ranting on, jabbering on in my ear about all the shit he'd do with my family's business.

Anastasia was on the ground floor of the house with my sister putting on the finishing touches to her wedding gown. I didn't want to get married, ever. Not to a man, not to a woman, not to anybody. But if I was getting married, I at least wanted something out of it. And this was kinda like me getting something. I was pivotal now in bridging the gap between the families.

"Is everything ok?" Mikhail asked, finally pausing from talking about how he would grow the business fifteen-fold with all his schemes. "I don't want my sister walking down the aisle to that sour face."

"There is no aisle," I said. And that was true. There wasn't an aisle as such. But what had been made was a makeshift walkway through the longest hallway upstairs, leading into a bedroom that was being removed of everything and dressed for all things ceremonial.

"Sort your face out," he snipped. "I was being serious about what I said. My sister deserves the best. And if you do not give it to her today, you'll be another roadblock in the way."

I was beginning to wonder if he wanted me to fuck her. I'd already told him that would be impossible. My cock didn't get hard at the drop of a hat anymore. I needed some true stimulation to get going.

"Don't worry," he continued. "I'm not asking you to lay with her or anything. But you will need to kiss her. It's important that you seal the celebration of sorts with a single kiss, nothing crazy. If I wanted crazy, I'd have forced her onto your brother."

"That's still an option," I reminded him.

"No, no, you're the American-born one. It's on you. I'm sorry to tell you that, but it is the truth of the matter."

I chewed on my lips. I knew it was true. I knew the only reason I was being put up for this was because I had citizenship. But there were so many American men who would've happily married his sister if asked. That's why the idea of this being an inside job was on the edge of my mind.

We entered the house from the rear entrance. There wasn't anything I wanted to talk to him about. I needed to get to a computer quick before these eight numbers left my brain and I didn't know how to get into the USB.

"I'll see you there in ten," I said.

"No, no, we need vodka," he said, wrapping an arm around my shoulder.

"I need to finish getting ready," I said. "Take the stink of the pit off me."

He laughed. "Yes. You smell. Go spray yourself."

At least that worked.

I went in the opposite direction to him.

There was a computer in my father's office. And from the hostage situation he was still in upstairs alongside my brother and brother-in-law. Under armed guard, the same type of situation that was happening to Sutton and his friend in the pit.

At the computer, I had to be quick. It was already logged in.

With an eye on the door, I plugged the USB in. A pop-up appeared at the bottom of the screen. It prompted me to input the eight-digit code.

I put the numbers into easier collections of two. "Nineteen. Ninety-eight," I said. "Twenty-nine. Oh-five."

A folder appeared once the passcode was entered.

It wasn't what I'd expected at all.

The folder was full of photographs.

Skimming through them. It was an album full of baby pictures. The more I clicked through the pictures, the angrier I got. Each time, it stressed me out a little more. Had Sutton done this to me? Did he know what was on here? Surely, if there had been money on this, he would've taken it and run.

"Fuck." I huffed, going through the images right until the end. Not a single clue.

The power cut.

A thwip as everything in the house shutdown.

"Shit." I stood, ready to investigate. "Sutton."