Chapter 6 - Yefim

She's sitting on the sofa, her leg bouncing nervously, her hands in her lap, knotting and unknotting her fingers over and over again.

Her eyes are locked onto mine. I am not sure she heard what I just said—or perhaps she heard me, but she is unable to process it, because she seems to be ignoring the fact that I just told her we have to get married.

"Yefim—I—I—just let me go," she stammers in confusion.

Oh, this poor beautiful girl. She doesn't know me well enough.

Now that I have her, I will never let her go.

"You know I can't do that." I shake my head, pushing away from my desk, I stand up, then walk over to where she is sitting on the sofa in my office. I want to be close to her. I want to do things to her that are so inappropriate it would make a whore blush.

Standing over her, looking down on her, I do my best to keep my eyes from wandering over her body. I have a chance now to make her mine, and I am going to seize it with both hands.

I warned her. Over and over again I warned her not to work late without me. She didn't listen, and now, here we are.

It's like I've been given the best gift in the world, the gods smiling down on me, creating this perfect opportunity.

I nudge her knee with my leg, moving her legs apart ever so slightly.

She doesn't seem to notice.

She looks terrified and stunned to her core by what I've just said.

Beautiful, panicked and in shock. Her gorgeous wide eyes are staring at me in disbelief.

"We are getting married," I say again, pushing the shock deeper into her system. Making sure she understands.

This is the perfect opportunity.

I can see she is ready to bolt out of here and disappear forever. She wants nothing to do with me or the company. She's terrified, ready to run for her life.

If I let her go now, I will never see her again.

The disappointment in her eyes is obvious as she looks at me. I'm not the man she thought I was. She sees a criminal.

But all I see is an opportunity.

I can't lose her. I can't let her leave, that's for sure.

All I want to do is keep her here with me, and safe—I can protect her if she is near me. In all honestly, if I let her go and my brothers suspect she saw something, there is a risk they'd go after her. I know they didn't spot her, so technically, she could be fine. But why risk it? Why risk it when I can use this situation to my advantage?

"Tia, you've seen too much, and when people see too much, bad things tend to happen to them."

"But—they don't know that I saw them. And you—you know I won't say anything. Please Yefim, just let me go."

I know my brothers didn't see her. If they had, then right now I'd be dealing with an absolute breakdown of chaos. I'd have two very furious men in my office ready to tear walls down. But she doesn't need to know that.

"They saw you, Tia. And they are trusting me to deal with it. Now, I have options regarding how to resolve this. One is that you get dealt with the same way other spies get dealt with. The other is that you marry me."

My leg is still pressing against her knee. My eyes graze over her legs.

"Other spies?" she stammers in horror.

"Yes, Tia. Other spies who get caught gathering information."

"I'm not a spy," she says, angry and heated. "You know I'm not a spy."

"Do I? And even if I wanted to make that assumption, would my brothers be willing to believe you and take that risk?"

I stare down at her, wanting to kiss her again.

"Yefim, please don't do this." Tears stream over her soft, rosy cheeks. "How will marrying me solve anything? Please. Just let me go."

"If you marry me, I can convince my brothers that you knew about this all along. I can convince them that we have been dating, and that you've been working late to help me organize the shipment schedules for the underside of this company. They will accept you as one of us and no longer view you as a threat."

She just glares at me, not saying a word. She's obviously trying to process my logic.

"Do you want to live, Tia?" I ask darkly.

"Yefim, that's a stupid question," she snaps, full of fear and agitation. "I want to live, but what you're saying—it's so extreme. Surely, there must be something else, some other way—"

She's feisty when she's scared. I like it. It's turning me on.

I'm sure there are other ways to get her out of the trouble she's in, but I don't care to explore them. I want to marry her.

I want her to be mine.

And this—this is the chance I need to make it happen.

Right now, I'm desperate to make sure she thinks this is the only option.

I want her and I will have her.

But also, I can see her closing off to me. She's looking at me as though she actually hates me, as though she's seen something in me that she can't stand. This isn't how she's been looking at me over the past few weeks, since that first night I caught her working late.

I want her to look at me like that again. In awe. With curiosity. Her eyes tainted with lust.

But that look is gone from her eyes and has been replaced by distrust.

My reasoning isn't getting through to her, and I'm losing her in some way.

I have to make my offer better, more appealing to her. Tailor-made based on everything I know about her.

What's important to her?

What are her goals in life?

What does she want more than anything?

And this is why I find it so valuable to have my investigators look into people of interest to me. Because now I am able to negotiate with a stronger pull.

This is too easy, really.

I could go right in with the offer to pay her debts off for her, to take them over perhaps, so she's still tied to me. But I know she won't go for that. She's too independent. And right now she doesn't trust me. She would see it as simply moving her debts from one criminal to the next. No, that won't work.

But I can give her the opportunity to pay her own debts off, keeping her independence, which I know she values. And being in a position where someone doesn't own her by owning her debts.

Of course, I will own her as soon as she marries me, but we'll leave that out of the conversation for now.

I shake my head, standing over her, hoping to create a sense of fear in her. An urgency she can't ignore.

"Tia, beautiful innocent girl, you don't know my world. You don't understand the risk of seeing what you saw tonight. Trust me when I say this is the only way out. But…"

Because I want this so badly, I will sweeten the deal. Appeal to your needs and wants.

I grin at her, Knowing she won't be able to turn my offer down.

"But how about we do this. You marry me. Being my wife will afford you certain benefits. I can ensure you maintain a perfect GPA, and along with your excellent GPA, as soon as you graduate, I can give you a high-ranking position in this company. You will earn a lot more. Money you have probably only ever dreamed of. You will be able to pay your debts and clear your name. You will be able to quit your other jobs and focus on your career."

"How do you know about my debts?" she mumbles, looking horrified.

"I know everything about you. Do you think I'd let someone get closer to me without looking into them? You're an orphan. Alone in this world. You hardly see your friends because you work yourself to the bone to clear your mother's gambling debts, which you were burdened with when she died. Your dad is still alive—but you don't know him at all. Would anyone even miss you if you disappeared?"

"That's enough," she snaps angrily.

She stands up, her shoulders back, her mouth pulled tight as she knits her brows at me. Her tiny fists are clenched tightly, threatening me, but I only find it amusing. She doesn't stand a chance against me. She doesn't know who she's dealing with.

I always get what I want, little girl. And right now, I want you.

"What do you get out of this, Yefim? You aren't just doing this to help me."

"For me, having a wife with an education, a beautiful woman, giving the impression that I am a family man—it is valuable . It sends the right message. It also adds to my cover." I shrug, making shit up. None of that is technically true. People don't care if I'm married or not, or who I date. They couldn't care less, in fact. But I need her to think I'm gaining something out of this—something other than her.

"Sends the right message to who?"

"My allies, my family, my enemies. The law. It just sends the right message. I don't expect you to understand my world. But I do expect you to understand that you don't actually have a choice in this matter. If you want to live, you have to marry me. I've added the other incentives to help you make the right choice, but the bottom line is, I am the only thing standing between you and death."

I'm done discussing this. She will agree.

She shifts nervously, my words finally sinking in.

She believes me now.

She's scared.

Her innocence is shining brighter than it ever has before as she tries to understand what is going on. Her entire world is changing in the blink of an eye.

The half-smirk that touches my lips is not one of malice, it's one of triumph. I have her exactly where I want her, and I'm going to be able to call her my wife much sooner than I ever could have imagined.

She looks up at me, and I can see the resolve in her eyes—still tainted with disappointment and fear, but an acceptance has come over her.

She nods and bites her lower lip. I love it when she does that.

My body is becoming tenser with anticipation.

I'm eager to hear her say the words.

"Tia, you don't have a choice," I remind her again. "Marry me or die," I add with a dark undertone.

The flash of panic that floods her eyes is satisfying to see.