Chapter 7

Viktor

CHAPTER SEVEN

Aleks has the fucking audacity to smirk. “Of course you are. Not sure why I expected any less. I’ll relay your message to Mikhail, but you know how he is.” He turns to Lydia. “Trust him. This will be okay. We’ll get your sister or mother on the phone as soon as we can.”

Lydia stares at me as if trying to figure me out, her beautiful eyes swinging from me to Aleks, then back again.

“Go,” I tell Aleks. “I’ll come once she’s secured.”

He clicks his tongue and shakes his head, muttering under his breath before he finally takes off, leaving me and Lydia alone. There was a time when I would’ve given anything to be alone with her, but now that I am, I want so much more. I want her to trust me. I want her to believe me. I need her to know that I’m not going to hurt her.

“Secured?” Though the tone of her voice is hard, I note the way her breath quickens, and she clutches the blanket to her body.

“I’ll have to talk to Mikhail. He’s my oldest brother and the pakhan of our group. You know what that is, don’t you?”

Swallowing hard, she’s still scowling at me when she nods. “Of course.”

I stand, pacing around the small room. “Then you’d know I have no choice but to obey him.”

Her intelligent, beautiful eyes meet mine. “You always have a choice. Don’t lie to yourself.”

The starkness of her honesty surprises me, though it shouldn’t. One of the things I love best about her is her refusal to placate anyone or talk bullshit.

“Yeah,” I tell her while I check the locks on the doors and windows and make sure all surveillance equipment is on standby. “You’re right. Allow me to rephrase. If I don’t want him to murder me, I’ll do what Mikhail fucking tells me.”

With a frown, she gives a slight shrug as if to say yeah, that’s your choice, too.

“Before you go, can you tell me as much as you can?” she asks. “Even though I don’t like what you did to me, you seem kind of honest. Blunt. So before you meet with your brothers, what else can you tell me?”

I decide to go straight for the jugular. “Your mother’s granted permission to dissolve the potential union between you and Timur Yudin, effective immediately. When she relayed this message to him, she was treated with a litany of profanity and a threat to both her life and yours.”

She frowns. “You’re lying. He wouldn’t.”

“I have video evidence to prove it.”

A shadow crosses her face as if she doesn’t want to admit to the truth. She trusted the guy, and now her world has been ripped out from under her. I get it.

“Alright then. Let’s see it,” she says.

I can tell by the tone of her voice and the flash of her eyes that she’s trying to prove me wrong, that she wants to challenge me.

I nod and pull out my phone. We have a vault of videographic evidence we keep for my family, but I can access it to show her what I need to. I scroll through the files while she shifts uncomfortably in the bed.

I look up from my phone when I can't find it right away. God, she must be starving. What’s wrong with me?

“Hold on. Are you hungry?”

She nods, still holding my gaze quietly.

“Yeah.”

I’ve already gotten food ready for her but haven’t brought it out yet. I know exactly what she likes to eat, but it depends on which version of Lydia is here with me. Is it Lydia, the good girl, trying to please whoever it is she’s with? Or is it Lydia, the one who’s comfortable in her own skin and owns it?

Sometimes Lydia will eat an egg white omelet and vegetables, or eat a protein bar, or maybe skip breakfast altogether when she’s trying to diet her body into brutal submission. Comfortable Lydia, on the other hand, will eat buttered toast, some fruit, or maybe a grilled muffin with a bowl of fruit salad or chocolate-frosted donuts.

To be safe, then, I’ve had all of those options brought here. I don’t want to unnerve her by revealing how well I know her, though, so I’ve had an assortment of food prepared.

This room we’re in is small. Normally, we’d eat breakfast in the eat-in kitchen. I love my kitchen with its huge, plate glass windows that overlook the front walkway and garden. I love watching the change of seasons from the kitchen table, whether we’re heralding the coming winter with holly leaves and red berries, burnt orange leaves on my front yard maple in autumn, or early sunrise on a summer morning.

I’ve imagined what it would be like having her here with me at that table. I’d sit with her, just listening to her talk about whatever it was she wanted to. I carved the heavy kitchen table with my own two hands, and I have to admit I had her in mind when I designed it. I once heard her say she loved cherrywood and never got it out of my mind.

Right now, though, she needs to be kept in here. It’s only for a while.

“Let me get you something to eat first.” I stand and walk to the door, all the time thinking I need to watch her more closely. She has the run of the room, and Lydia is feisty as hell. If she could find a way out…

But I’ll only be a minute. I quickly grab an assortment. When I return, she’s sitting up in bed, the blanket clutched to her chest. .

“Here,” I tell her. “Take a look and tell me what you want.”

Eying me warily, she looks at the food on the tray. Mistrusting.

“You should untie me so I can feed myself.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t do that.” There’s no telling what she’ll do when I do that. “I will once you’ve shown you’re trustworthy.”

She gawks at me, her jaw unhinged. “You think I’m untrustworthy? Are you out of your mind? You’re the one who kidnapped me.”

I grit my teeth and slide the food onto the bedside table.

“What would you like to eat?”

“Untie me, Viktor. I promise I won’t do anything stupid. You’re twice my size. There’s no way I could if I wanted to. I just want to feed myself and get my clothes back on.” Her voice lowers. “Please.”

Goddamn, I have no power to resist her.

I reach for her wrists. “Alright, but if you try to hurt yourself or me…”

“I won’t.”

I untie her.

She sits back on the bed and chooses the plate with the omelet, hash browns, and bacon. She eats with gusto, obviously starving after being drugged. I’ve heard it can have that effect on people.

We sit in silence while she eats until she nods her head to the tray. “Are you going to join me or what?”

“I’m good. I ate earlier.”

With a frown, she continues to chew before she swallows and nods. “So you're just going to stand there and watch me eat?”

I’d stand here just to watch her breathe, but I don’t want to freak her out. I reach for one of the croissants and bite into it, crumbs scattering everywhere.

“Yikes. My mama would kill me.” She looks down at the floor.

“Don’t worry, I have house cleaners. They’ll come by in a few hours.”

“Ah.” She presses her lips together and nods before she picks up her fork and takes another bite of egg. “Thank you for this. It’s delicious. Now, please. Now that you’ve got me fed, can you tell me what’s going on?”

I sit on the edge of the bed, eating a croissant as she continues to eat her breakfast. I pull out my phone.

“A recording of your mother’s conversation with Timur. Fortunately for us, she had video surveillance set up where she was, so she had this evidence.”

I tap my phone, and the screen pops up. Her mother, Zofia, sits primly in a chair in her living room. Her home is about thirty minutes from here.

The footage is grainy but clear. Timur shifts uncomfortably in his seat, his folded arms on his chest.

“Why did you call me?”

Something flickers in Lydia’s eyes. I can surmise what it is—the friendly demeanor is a bit off putting, incongruent with the rough tone of his voice. He’s laid it on thick for her, so it likely takes her by surprise.

“As you know,” Zofia begins, “we’ve had a change in our family since Vera married into the Romanovs’.”

She watches as Yudin stares implacably at her mother, his gaze stone cold, and she shifts uncomfortably.

“I’m not sure I understand. What does that have to do with me?” he finally asks, scowling.

Zofia clears her throat. “I have reservations about my daughter’s marriage to you that my husband did not have. Leadership and I have decided it best that Lydia marry into the Romanov family. Please accept my apologies?—”

“No.” I wish I could reach through the screen and ring Yudin’s arrogant neck.

“This marriage is in progress. I’ve already spent significant money on Lydia’s dress.” He scoffs. “It needed to be altered to accommodate her and was no small fee thanks to her size.”

I forgot about that part. The fucker. Lydia’s cheeks turn bright pink.

“Mr. Yudin,” she says kindly. “I wish I could give my daughter to you with confidence, but recent developments make the situation unwise.”

He stands. “I’ll have Lydia, Zofia. You will not take her away from me.”

Zofia gets on her feet as he turns to leave. “Please understand. This is a strategic decision that we must make—” He takes a step toward her, but two guards snap into position between them. He makes a fist.

“Watch your fucking back and stay out of my way,” he snarls before he leaves, slamming the door behind him so hard the windows rattle. Fucking spoiled prick.

“Shut it off,” Lydia snaps, looking away. “My mother shouldn’t have intervened. My father was the one who arranged for our marriage.”

Her father who’s dead now.

I wonder if she really believes that, or is she only saying that as an excuse for Yudin’s behavior?

She doesn’t have to believe me. I know why I took her, and I know why she’s marrying me.

When my phone rings, I glance down to see Mikhail’s calling and stifle a groan. I turn away from her and take the call.

“Yeah?”

“Aleksandr tells me you’re not attending our meeting. Our meeting I called specifically to make a plan with you, Viktor.” The inherent disapproval in his voice sets my teeth on edge. I love my brothers, all of them, but I don’t know if they have the first clue about what matters most to me.

“I know,” I tell him. “She’s scared. I don’t want to leave her alone.”

“She’ll be fine. I expect you to join us. Immediately.”

He ends the call. I shove my phone in my pocket when Lydia speaks up.

“I don’t know what you think I’m going to do here,” she says as she nibbles a ripe berry. “I have nowhere to go.”

But there’s a look in her eyes I’ve seen before… the look she gets right before she does something rash and dangerous. “Lydia,” I say warningly.

“It bothers me how familiar you are with my name despite the fact that we hardly know each other.” She tosses her head. “I want to talk to Vera. Go, have your meeting, and tell them I want to talk to Vera.”

Turning away from me, she lies on the bed and gives me her back.

She’s playing something, but I don’t know what. My phone buzzes with a text, though.

Mikhail: where the fuck are you

Jesus, Mikhail.

I shove my phone in my pocket.

I grab my jacket and head down to the office where my brothers are waiting. I’m halfway down the hall when the overhead lights flicker. I scowl, looking upward.

Strange.

Unlike my brothers’ homes, mine is smaller but closer to my mother’s. I like knowing I’m within walking distance of my sister and mother’s house if they need me. So I settled for a home that was smaller than I wanted and instead made some modifications so it would be comfortable for a guy like me. Home gym. Gated yard for Nikita. Large doorways and sturdy furniture.

I also don’t like staff milling about the place, so I hired a housekeeper but no one else. I vetted the fuck out of her background.

I stalk toward my office, every step igniting my temper. I’ll kick Lev's ass for drugging her. I'm fucking pissed at Aleksandr for getting involved. I hate that Mikhail has made me leave when my place is with her. And if anybody else?—

I shove the door open, and it slams into the wall behind it. Six pairs of eyes are riveted on me. Mikhail, Aleksandr, Lev. My brothers Nikko, Ollie, and Kolya.

Nikko gets on his feet, the largest one in the group after me and the one who's most likely to actually stand a chance against me. He heads toward me. I hold up a palm, trying to stop him before I kill him.

“Stand the fuck down, Nikko.”

Kolya tries next, Mikhail and Aleksandr behind him. I shake them all off. Lev stands. I swing and punch his jaw. In one swift motion, I grab him by the front of the shirt and throw Lev across the room and onto the couch, where I know he'll land without breaking bones, but it won’t feel good.

I shrug off Mikhail, kick Aleksandr back, and swing at Nikko. I'm breathing heavily. They’re staring at me.

“Viktor,” Kolya snaps.

I blink. I start to come to my senses. Shit. If I had raised a fist to Mikhail…

“Do we have to fucking restrain you?” Mikhail spits out, his eyes storm clouds as he glares at me. Lev massages his jaw but doesn't say anything, probably knowing he got off easy. Kolya is fuming, his nostrils flared, but he gets to his feet and brushes his clothes off as if he's dusting himself.

“Sit down, Viktor,” he snaps.

I stand my ground. “None of you know what it was like. None of you know what he was planning to do to her. She did not need to be drugged, and now I have to take a reluctant wife who doesn't trust me because my fucking family drugged her like she was an animal. I told you that I had it under control. I told you that I could handle her!”

My voice rises to a roar, and they are on their feet again.

“No one doubted that you could handle her, Viktor. But we needed to subdue her and get her back here safely,” Aleksandr says. Mikhail is in my face, and so help me God, I'm going to knock his fucking teeth out, and then they'll all have the right to kill me.

No.

I step away from him only to land right next to Aleksandr. I shove him against the wall. His shoulder hits a framed print of the Louvre, and it crashes to the floor, glass shattering everywhere. Aleks rights himself and reaches for me, but I shove him back.

“When is the wedding?” I look at Ollie, the one in charge of international relations who knows exactly why we have to marry right now.

“Saturday.”

I grit my teeth. She won't trust me by then. I have a vision of me dragging her by the hair to the altar. I will if I fucking have to, to save her. To save all of us.

“I need more time. Buy more fucking time.”

Ollie and Nikko share a look. “I can make that happen.”

The lights in the room flicker before they go off. An alarm wails, and that's when I become aware of the smell of acrid smoke.

“I fucking told you I had to stay with her.”

Shit. I turn on my heel and run into the hallway. Smoke billows out from under the door, and all the lights are out. I run to the room and try the door, but it's locked, of course. She's jammed something up against it. What the fuck is she doing?

“Help me!” I scream to my brothers. “I can't open the fucking door.”

“I'll get in through the window,” Lev says. I snatch a fire extinguisher from the hallway and throw it to Ollie. I don’t have that option, but he’s small enough. “Go with him. When you get in there, you do not touch her.”

I run around to the exit, into the garden, and around the house to where the window is. The window to my bedroom is wide open, smoke billowing into the sky, sirens loud in the distance. Lev and Ollie come up beside me, all of us scanning the grounds. How the fuck did she get out?

I stand still. Listen. She's got nothing with her. If she got out of that room, there's only one way out. She's either running or… hiding.

I scan. I haven't been gone long enough for her to get far. Even if she left the second she triggered the alarm, she hardly had any time.

“Get Aleks on surveillance immediately,” I bark out to Lev. I walk with heavy footsteps around the perimeter of the house.

She's hiding. She hasn't had time to escape.

“I know you're here,” I say, keeping my voice quiet. “You know I'm going to find you. There's no point in hiding, Lydia.” I speak in a low voice, the timbre of it carrying through the garden. “There's no use hiding from me. You can try, but you're still going to end up right where you started—here, with me. And I promise it's not going to be as bad as you think it will be.”

I smile to myself. It’s a game. It’s all a game. “Come out, come out, wherever you are.” I stalk around the periphery of my garden, to my left, an area of thick rhododendrons. She's there. She's hiding behind the bush. Likely thought she had a hell of a lot more time than she did. Probably didn't suspect that the alarm would go off so quickly. Didn't know that there's no way she could get off my property without my knowledge.

She also doesn't know I have a tracker on her.

“If you come out now, it will go a lot easier for you, Lydia.”

She doesn't move or respond in any way, likely terrified, unsure of what's going to happen with me, scared to be with a man she doesn't know.

I walk quietly toward where she is, aware of the fact that my shadow casts over every inch of this place. Sometimes I wish I could make myself smaller, less menacing. Sometimes I wish I could magnify it.

“Lydia, you need to trust me. I am not your enemy.”

Something rustles in the bushes.

“Come out, Lydia. I know where you are, and I could reach out and take you. Or you can come to me of your own accord.”

It feels somehow symbolic, offering her this small chance to surrender on her own. She can't escape; she knows that now. Even if she fled the premises, I'd locate her. “You can't get away, Lydia. You know that. Even if I walked away now and you sprinted for the exit, I would track you down. I would bring you back here, and you would still be mine. If you run, I will always chase you. And I will always find you. You have to trust me.”

Someday… someday she will trust me. Someday, she will know that she's safest here, with me, but until then, I need to keep her with me in a secure way so that she doesn't hurt herself.

“Trust you?” Lydia stands, coming out of hiding, holding herself apart from me. “After you kidnapped me? Bound me? You're insane if you think I'll trust you.”

She turns her head away from me as fire engines approach my house.

Everyone exits as uniformed firefighters swiftly enter the building. One hooks up to the fire hydrant, and they efficiently get everything under control.

It's only a house. The house will be fine. What's important is that she's here with me.

I walk over to her, keeping my hands at my sides so I don't scare her. When I reach her, I stop short of touching her. “I know you're angry, but everything I've done is to protect you. You are in more danger than you realize.” I crook a finger at her. “Come here.”

She shakes her head and stands her ground. I take a step toward her, and when she looks as if she's about to run, I reach for her. Snatch her. Drag her to my chest and hold her to me.

I hold her shoulders and give her a little shake. “Listen to me, woman. For fuck's sake, Lydia, listen to reason.”

I take a deep breath and stop myself. I brush my thumb along her shoulders. “Yudin was going to murder you. You're safest with me and with our family. Now that our families are going to align, we're going to bring peace to the situation. None of this went down the way I would've wanted.”

“Do you have her?” Mikhail yells from a few feet away.

I nod and respond, “I do.”

“Bring her the fuck over here.”

I turn and stay and glare at my brother. He's all business, cold and authoritative, and I know why, but it doesn't make it any easier.

“I'm trying to talk with her. I won't have her treated like a prisoner. She deserves to know the truth.”

It's a gamble. If I give her some freedom, if I let her know that she can walk away if she wants to, she might choose to stay.

Lydia looks from me to Mikhail, her fury giving way to confusion and fear.

Her large eyes go wide. “If what you say is true, then why not let me decide what I want to do? Why control me?”

I don't want to tell her the truth. I want time to get to know her. I can't tell her that I can't imagine losing her like I lost my sister.

Mikhail seems to understand we need to be alone now. He turns to leave, and over his shoulder, he speaks to me. “Make her understand, Viktor. We don't have much time.”

I slowly release her and look into her eyes. She remains silent, a whirlwind of confusion and conflicting emotions in her beautiful gaze.

Nikko comes out next as the flames are put out and smoke rises into the air. As he approaches, Lydia takes a step closer to me.

“Lydia,” he says, his deep voice resonating in the darkness. “My name is Nikko. I'm your brother-in-law.” He looks next to me. “You’ve got her?”

I grit my teeth. “I’ve got her. She’s not getting away, brother.”

“Good. I’ve got Vera on the phone.”