Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 94640 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94640 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Up close, he’s overwhelming, every inch of him exuding raw alpha male and unfettered masculinity. The faint shadow of stubble along his jaw only sharpens the angles of his face. I can see that though his eyes are distant, there’s a smoldering fire in their depths behind his fortress of control.
In seconds, I take it all in—the black fabric of his shirt clinging to the broad expanse of his chest, his strong arms and torso, the way heat and power radiate off him like a predator ready to strike.
I open my mouth to tell him off again when he taps my lips with his free hand. “I said it’s my turn, little Anya. You’ll be quiet and listen to me now and not speak again unless I give you permission. If you do, I’ll gag you and give my men a show. Understood?”
My mouth drops open in outrage, but he continues. “You came in here uninvited. Disrespected me in front of my men. You think you know all about my world and who I am, do you?”
Leaning in so close. I stare at his perfect white teeth that he bares at me like a wolf with barely restrained energy. My eyes dip down. His hands are clenched.
He's holding himself back. My heart thumps.
“Let me tell you something, Anya,” he says, low and calm. “First, behavior like this will never go unpunished. You crossed a line, and there will be consequences.”
Fear claws at my chest when the grip on my wrists tightens to painful. I can see the scar that runs across his hand from the night his parents were killed, and he tried to save them.
“And second. You really don’t understand anything about my world. But you’re about to learn.”
I shake my head as if I can deny it and somehow make him hear reason and fall to his knees, repentant.
What did I actually expect from him? I didn’t think that far ahead.
“Call Rafail,” he snaps at someone to his left, who leaps to his feet, his phone already at his ear. “I want him to know what I’m doing next.”
Oh god. Rafail is the family pakhan, his oldest brother, the beast that rules his family and Moscow with an iron fist.
“There’s only one way to ensure your family’s safety and settle this debt, Anya.”
I stare at him. So he’ll consider it, then? I may have lost my temper and come barging in here, but maybe he’s actually listened to me? Maybe he has a shred of humanity in him after all?
“You mean there’s a chance?” I ask, unable to keep the hope out of my voice.
“A chance to keep what’s left of your family intact?” His words are sharp, laced with condescension that cuts deep. I hear the insult loud and clear but force myself to ignore it. I have to. I won’t get a second chance.
He nods, his gaze unreadable. “Yes. But a chance your outburst and disrespect will go unpunished? No.”
Fear skates down my spine. I hold his gaze, but his expression remains stonelike, a mask of calm authority that makes my stomach twist.
His voice drops, each word deliberate and heavy. “You’ll marry me.”
For a moment, my world tilts. I blink once, twice, my mind scrambling to catch up. Surely I misheard him.
I’m… stunned. Marry my mortal enemy?
“Marry you?” The words tumble from my lips. It doesn’t make sense. It can’t. Why? Why would he say this? Why would he even want this?
He doesn’t answer right away, and the silence stretches. The weight of his gaze and his words keep me rooted in place.
Leave my baby brother to the mercies of my alcoholic father and whoever decides to take advantage of him?
“I…” My voice falters, and I make myself swallow the lump rising in my throat. “You can’t be serious.”
But deep down, I already know the truth. Semyon Kopolov never says anything he doesn’t mean.
“Marry you? Give myself to the man who single-handedly destroyed my family? You can’t force me into this. And I can’t imagine you’d actually want to be wed to someone who hates you.” I shake my head. It isn’t computing.
He lazily drags his gaze down the length of my body, lingering on my neck, lower to where my mother’s jacket has slipped down, revealing the threadbare top that barely covers my shoulders. Without a word, he bends as if he’s going to kiss me. My heart races, and I’m so confused by my intuitive reaction that I freeze. But he doesn’t kiss me. Instead, he closes his eyes and inhales as if he’s in the presence of the world’s most precious flower. I stare in disbelief.
He opens his eyes. “Are you able to pay the debt or not?” he asks, the cruelty in his voice telling me he already knows I can’t.
“Of course I can’t.” Even if I gave him every penny of the bakery’s earnings for years, I could never repay him.