Chapter 12

CHAPTER TWELVE

Mikhail

I knewVolkov would try to sabotage my wedding.

Of course he would. He was, of course, unsuccessful. So when I get my bride in the back of our limo, driven by one of my men, I open the small bottle of champagne left on ice.

My bride.

We did it. We circumvented Volkov’s attempt to destroy my family.

His first, anyway.

"Champagne? It’s traditional in Russian weddings to celebrate with champagne.”

"I would’ve thought vodka," she says lightly, belying the fear in her eyes. Good. If she fears me, she’ll obey.

“You want vodka?”

Shaking her head, she looks away. “Where are we going? Where are we?"

I hand her the half-filled flute. “Do you know anything about The Cove?”

She shakes her head. "Not much. I know that there’s a beach, and…well, your family.” She takes a sip and sighs appreciatively. Kolya knows how to buy the good stuff.

"Yes. We’re in The Cove, where I run our operations. My father died just over a month ago, so I’ve taken over. As we’re driving, we have begun a controlled leak of our wedding photos. A strategy to allow information to leak to the right channels, so that everyone knows we married. We won’t reveal where, or who you are.”

"So you have an informant." She misses nothing, her mind as sharp as a steel trap.

"We have many."

“Media coverage?”

I shake my head.

"Do you have counterintelligence in place?"

“Of course. Right now, secrecy and security are paramount. We need word to spread to our rivals and enemies. They knew it was happening, which is why they tried to attack. So the leak will spread that word.”

"I see."

She doesn’t.

"We have our traditions," I say, intentionally leaving her hanging. I don’t want her to forget that our marriage is also punishment. She’s surrendered all control to me. "You’ll see when we get back to my house, Mrs. Romanov.”

Light filters in from the window and highlights her widened eyes. I stare at my bride. She’s so beautiful. My heart thumps with the knowledge that I own her. That she’s mine, irrevocably.

I’ll enjoy every goddamn minute of despoiling her.

I crook a finger at her.

"Come here."

Aria gives me a wary look but only hesitates a few seconds. She’s learning. When she nears me, I bring her onto my lap and lean her against my chest, my mouth to her ear.

“Do you know what it means now that we’re married?”

I imagine her tied to my bed, taking my cock, over and over and over again. I imagine her on her knees, subservient to me. I can already hear her screams of pleasure and pain. She’ll learn to love them both.

“I’d guess…sex, but I don’t want to assume,” she says in a whisper before she swallows. The blush on her cheeks tells me she’s curious.

I tuck her closer to me on my lap, not an easy feat with miles of fabric. “You and I will get along very well, little hacker, if you can remember a few things.”

"What’s that?" she asks, in a throaty whisper. I rest my hands on her flat belly, my thumb pressed against the other side of her breast.

"As my wife I’ll expect complete obedience. Everyone in this family obeys, especially you.”

She nods. “I figured as much.”

But she didn’t say she would…

“We have old-fashioned principles. You will have an allowance, and limited freedom. You’ll have to earn my trust. You came here asking for protection, and I granted you that, but everything comes at a price.”

She nods. “I know.”

“No one will hurt you. No one will threaten you.” I put my fingers on her chin and push her gaze to mine. "Except for me."

Aria holds my gaze unblinking. Brave, foolish little hacker.

I glide her dress up the length of her legs and slide my hand beneath it. I palm her pussy, the silk fabric of her panties already damp against my palm. Christ.

"Remember what I told you in the shower,” I whisper into her ear. I slide my fingers past the silk panties and push the strip of fabric to the side, stroking her pussy as we pull to a stop. I withdraw my fingers and lick them while holding her gaze.

“Jesus, I can’t wait to taste you tonight. When we are with family, you will be respectful and obedient. Anything less than that, and there’ll be punishment. And don’t forget that when I have you naked in my bed tonight, it will begin with you over my lap. Am I clear?"

She swallows. “Crystal."

Of course she won’t obey me. That would be so boring and damn near vanilla.

I realize at the same time as my phone buzzes with a text that we aren’t where we’re supposed to be.

We had been ten minutes from my home where my staff waits for us. I should see the Manhattan skyline or the depths of the Atlantic Ocean outside these windows. I see nothing but high-rises.

Aria sits up straighter, her eyes taking in every detail. I tap my phone.

Lev: Your driver was found dead. It’s been hijacked. Get out of the car. We’re trying to locate you.

Fuck.

I take my phone and open a blank message. I type and hold it up to show her because anything we say can be overheard.

We were hijacked.

Aria’s eyes widen and her nostrils flare. She thinks for a minute and doesn’t lose her shit. Wordlessly, she takes the phone from me and taps back, her hand trembling.

I can help. But you have to distract the driver. Can you trust me?

Can I trust her? Of course I can’t trust her. But we need more than brute strength, which I’m happy to supply.

She types again.

If you can distract the driver, cars like this have an ECM I can access remotely.

The electronic control module supplies fuel. If she can disable the engine…Jesus.

I confirm with another text.

So what you’re saying is, I distract the driver while you disable the engine. But if you do that, we could crash.

She nods.

I’m aware. Seat belts? We’ll be attacked when we do, you have weapons?

Oh I fucking have weapons. I nod.

I’ll need your phone to do this.

I have to trust her. We’ll have to work as a team.

Okay.

“This dress — ugh, I need to be able to move,” she whispers.

She points to a few loops at the bottom and shows me how the train part is detachable.

Slowly, carefully, she detaches the train and shoves it under the seat. “Glad I said no to the heels,” she whispers. “You ready? He’s getting suspicious. We should look normal.”

I lean in and bend her back, holding her to me while I kiss her. At first, she struggles, surprised, but soon melts against me. “How’s that?” I whisper in her ear.

“Very good. You win an Emmy. You ready?”

“So fucking ready.”

We share a look. I nod, slide her my cell and we both buckle up. Her eyes light up as her fingers dance across the screen. I watch as she sends our location signal. My brothers will get that. Next, she skillfully taps into a screen I’ve never seen before, her tongue sticking out of her mouth as she concentrates.

“I’m in,” she whispers with a gleeful smile. She’s in her element. It’s so fucking hot. “Let’s go.”

The car’s speed drops dramatically at the same time the privacy screen lowers. The driver grasps at the wheel, but Aria’s effectively overridden the engine and brakes.

“What the fuck,” the driver mutters in a panic.

“Brace yourself,” she whispers with a grimace as she taps a button and we come to a screeching halt. We spin out like we’re hydroplaning. The driver’s thrown against the steering wheel, but we were prepared. Aria bangs her head but quickly sits upright, ignoring the flash of red on her temple.

“Go!”

I unbuckle my seat belt and lunge forward. I seize control of the wheel and slam us into a roadside barrier. Glass from the windshield rains down on us. There’s a pop as tires explode and sparks fly as we come to a sudden, violent halt.

“You alright?” I ask her, as I wrap my hands around the neck of the fucking driver. I hold him in place and look to her.

“Fine. Wish I had a weapon.”

I grit my teeth. “You don’t need a weapon.” I hold the driver in a choke hold. I’ve got three to four seconds, max, before he’s out. I’ll beat the shit out of this son of a bitch, but not until we have answers.

“Get on the floor,” I order Aria as I exit the vehicle and quickly scan our surroundings. Another car’s only a few car lengths behind us. They accelerate and I don’t hesitate. I pull the trigger and shoot their tires. They spin out.

Liquid fire courses through my veins. I grit my teeth and pull the trigger again. I hit the other driver in the shoulder and his accomplice in the neck. One will survive, and that’s all I’ll need. He fumbles with the car door to try to run when he sees me advancing on him, but he’s too late.

I yank that driver out of the car and slam his head into the concrete. “You fuck with me on my wedding day?” I kick him, ribs cracking, and he screams.

“I didn’t know you were married already! Volkov said to stop the wedding!”

“Volkov’s a fool and you’re a bigger fool for following his orders.” I put my gun to his head. Aria screams when I pull the trigger once, twice, three times. He slumps to the ground, in a pool of his own blood and battered flesh.

When I turn to Aria, she’s staring at me wide-eyed and pale.

I put the gun away and take a step toward her. To her credit, she doesn’t flinch when I reach my hand to her cheek and cup her face. “You alright?”

She nods, but she doesn’t speak.

I’m so proud of her. I grip the back of her neck and give my wife a kiss while we stand over the bodies of our enemies. In my mind, it’s the most romantic fucking thing I could’ve imagined. I release her too soon, eager to get her alone.

I whisper in her ear. “Take a picture of us with my phone and make sure the bodies are in the background.”

With trembling hands, she obeys, a pained expression on her face, but her eyes are bright.

I take the phone from her and send the picture to Volkov.

We’re already married, you fucking douchebag. You know what this means. They attacked after our wedding. We’ll get retribution.

Headlights blind me.

“Don’t shoot, it’s your brothers,” Aria warns me.

I don’t even ask her how she knows. She seems like she’s one step ahead of me.

Lev pulls up and stares at the two of us. I know what he sees. Her torn wedding dress and bloodied forehead. My tux is wrecked. Two dead bodies and one unconscious.

“Get in, lovebirds.”

Aria stares, wide-eyed. When she turns to the car, her dress hangs off her shoulder.

“One look at her and I’ll beat the fucking shit out of you,” I warn Lev. He yanks his eyes away from the sight of her bare skin. I shrug the torn tux coat off and place it over her shoulders.

“Be nice, Mikhail,” Aria whispers. “He came to save us.”

No one ever tells me to be nice. I grunt in reply and turn to Lev.

“Take us home.”