Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

Renata

" ?Dios mío! "

Ollie and I stare at each other. He looks as stunned as I am.

"What?" I manage to eke out. " Married ?"

"You act as if it isn't the next perfect step," Isabella says with a toss of her head. "You, my friend, need to be watched very closely. While there's no evidence of any lying yet , we all know our suspicion you and our enemies are playing a long game is valid. We can keep you under watch for a time, but do you really want the alternative—to be kept prisoner here in Colombia?"

I stare at her, disbelieving. My whole world has crashed down around me, and I hardly know who I am anymore. I shake my head.

"But I will be a prisoner. A prisoner with a ring and his last name."

"Yes," Isabella says, her voice like steel. "A prisoner to the Romanovs. But isn't that better than being prey to the circling wolves outside this room? And Ollie will keep a much closer eye on you if you're his wife, I'm sure," Isabella says with a smirk. "I ought to know."

Lev winks at her. I stare, still practically frozen in shock. I'm well aware I'm sitting on Ollie's lap. I'm further aware that he's hard as fuck, his dick pressing into my ass. I swallow hard.

" If you tell them anything about me at all, I will murder the man you love in front of you ."

Do I still love him?

I look back at Ollie. His bright-green eyes are fixed ahead of me. My heart breaks a little at how devastatingly handsome he is. I half expect the man's a psychopath based on what I've learned about him and seen with my own two eyes, but there's a rugged sexiness about his quiet aloofness that calls to me. He has a calm, commanding presence, fearlessness, and a predator-like grace that call to me.

I've always been attracted to the villains. There's something about knowing I could tame a beast like him... It's like my personal challenge, even as his piercing green eyes see right through me.

If I tell him about my brother , Ollie is dead .

I'm a puppet on a string, and my brother holds the string.

"You want me to marry her," Ollie says, shaking his head.

Lev sighs. "You know you have to be married soon anyway, brother." He does. He's the last single man in the Romanov family and has a sworn duty to marry within the year. At least, that's what I've heard.

"It's the perfect move to solidify the alliance between the Romanovs and the cartel," Isabella continues. "And if Renata is indeed working with Carlos, this will infuriate him beyond all reason and bring him out of hiding."

"It's hard to be in contact with a dead man," I mutter, but I don't know if anyone believes me. I don't even believe me.

A part of me's so relieved I can hardly breathe. There's a reason why Carlos believes I'm in love with Ollie.

But I have to protest. "I can't believe you are doing this to me, Bella. You're marry me off like I'm cattle. Are you serious?"

Isabella steps over to me. "Deadly serious. This isn't just about us anymore but the future of the Los Sangre Dorada and the Romanov family. A hundred years from now, we'll be nothing but rotting bones, but our legacy will live on. This marriage will strengthen our position and force Carlos's hand… if he's still here."

Ollie looks between us, scowling. My God, I half convinced myself I still loved him, but the look of utter disdain he gives me makes me think otherwise.

He will never love me.

I will never love him.

Our marriage will be what every other marriage in my family has ever been and ever will be—nothing more than a manipulation tactic.

"And what if Carlos doesn't take the bait?" Ollie asks, his gaze on Isabella.

"He will."

"I told you, he's dead," I snap. "Don't waste your time."

I might as well be invisible.

Ollie's lips thin, and he tightens his grip on me, a silent reminder that I belong to him now, whether I want to or not. Goddamn, that hurts. I hiss in a breath, and he loosens his hands as if he didn't really mean to do that, but he doesn't look at me.

"He will," Isabella says with certainty. "He won't be able to bear seeing Renata ruin his reputation with such flair. You'll see."

Oh, they'll see, alright. They'll watch as Carlos murders Ollie, then me, in succession. I shiver and turn away from all of them. This marriage is a death sentence.

My shoulders slump as I process the gravity of all of this. For the first time, Isabella softens. "Just do your part. We'll do the rest, Renata. If what you say is true, that you haven't betrayed us and you're not in league with our enemies… time will prove that to be true." She sighs and swallows hard. "I sincerely hope it is."

She places a reassuring hand on my shoulder, and I meet her steely gaze. "If this is what it takes to prove myself to you all, then I'll do it." I don't have a choice, of course, but at least it makes me feel a bit better.

Ollie shoves me off his lap. "Let's go." His voice is rough when he doesn't look in my eyes.

I was mistaken. If I ever thought I loved this man, I was a fool. How could someone like me ever love a man as cold and heartless as Ollie Romanov?

"Your ride awaits you," Isabella says. "Go. We'll meet when Lev and I return to The Cove for your wedding."

Our wedding… which is tomorrow .

As we drive toward the airport, the silence in the car is suffocating. Finally, he turns to me. "Are you hungry?"

"No, those huge servings of humiliation and disbelief have me pretty well satisfied." I roll my eyes and look away.

He grips the steering wheel, his knuckles white. I fold my arms across my chest and wince, remembering my damn bruises. I turn away from him and look out the window, my heart beating faster.

When will Carlos realize I'm marrying Ollie?

What will he do?

I hate the position he's put me in, and I don't know any way out of it. How do I prove myself to Isabella and Ollie without sentencing Ollie to death? It's impossible.

Impossible.

A lump forms in my throat. I swipe at my eyes.

"Are you crying? Are you even serious right now?" He has the nerve to sound affronted.

" ?Cállate la puta boca! " I seethe through gritted teeth.

Ollie slaps his hand on my leg and squeezes. "You think I'll let you talk to me that way when you're my wife?"

Damn. I forgot he spoke Spanish, and I just told him to shut the fuck up.

"Oh, that's right, you Romanov men are all heads of the house and all that," I say with as much disdain as I can muster. If I didn't hate him right now, I'd have to say I kind of like it. They're so dedicated to their wives, so steadfast and loyal. I've seen the way Mikhail, his older brother, half worships the ground his wife Aria walks on — he's set the precedent for the rest of them.

"Whatever." Very mature, Ollie. Very mature.

"What's your problem, Ollie?" I snap, my frustration boiling over. He doesn't respond immediately, his muscles clenched. I'd guess his jaw is clenched, too, but he's decided to grow a beard again.

Whatever.

When I was back in The Cove, he was my caretaker. Mikhail assigned him to me… to keep watch over me and find out if I was trustworthy. I was the one who came from Colombia as an inside source to Isabella when she sought to overtake the throne from her brother. I was the one who put her life on the line for the Romanovs, who should be dead right now and would be if Carlos hadn't gotten so greedy and decided he wanted to use me more than he wanted to kill me.

And this is my reward?

When he finally speaks, his voice is low and dangerous. "You really want to know, do you? Fine. I'll tell you. I don't do vulnerable. I don't do love , Renata, especially with someone linked to my enemies. I've seen what happens to my brothers when they let their guards down. When they let themselves become weaker by falling in love, and I won't make that same mistake."

I snort. "You think loving someone makes you weak?"

"I don't think it," he snaps. "I know it. I've seen it happen over and over again."

"And weakness is the ultimate failure in your book?"

He gives me a sidelong glance. I can't help it, my heart does a somersault in my chest. I look away.

"Of course it is."

His words hit me in the solar plexus. Why do I feel that bite so deeply? I need food and a good shower and some sleep. I feel like I've been put through the wringer and hung out to dry in the midst of a thunderstorm.

"So what am I to you, then? Just a means to an end?"

"Yes," he says coldly, his eyes a good stare on the road ahead of him. "You're beautiful, I'll give you that. And cunning as fuck. But that doesn't change who you are to me or the purpose of our marriage."

With that, any candle I held for this asshole just went poof in the wind.

I won't roll over and take this though. "You're a fucking coward. Hiding behind your walls because you're scared to feel. I know how this works." I turn my head away. "I've done it myself."

"Oh, you have me all figured out, do you?"

Not all, Ollie. Not all.

I don't respond.

"Don't pretend you know me, Renata. All you know is the man who kept you prisoner. That was back when I thought there was a shred of goodness still left in you."

Now that stings.

"I see right through you," I say, talking through a haze of tears, but he doesn't see. "You're terrified of being hurt. Guess what? We're both damaged."

He scoffs. "I'm not afraid."

I stare at him in surprise because, for the first time since I met him, Ollie just lied through his teeth.

"You're lying," I say softly. I can't help myself. My voice trembles slightly. "There's more to this, isn't there?"

His eyes widen slightly before he catches himself. I caught him off guard. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I can sense it… when people lie to me," I insist, my heart pounding. It's more than sensing—it has to do with body language and the eyes, but it's the easiest, simplest explanation. "You don't want to admit it, but you do feel something for me." I pause and rest my hand on his leg. "Don't you?"

His face hardens as if his defenses all just snapped right back into place. That only confirms my suspicions. "You're delusional. Take your hand off of me." We pull to a stop near the runway. "This conversation is over, Renata."

"For now," I say in a singsong voice.

I struck a nerve. The truth is there, right there, hanging between us, and if there's anything I'm good at, it's uncovering the truth.