I looked around frantically, my vision blurring from exhaustion and panic. One by one, the men guarding me fell, their bodies hitting the ground with sickening thuds.
Someone suddenly wrapped a coat around me, shielding my body from view. My breath hitched as I felt the ropes around my wrists and ankles loosen. Then, without warning, I was lifted into strong arms. The scent of musk and cigarettes flooded my senses, familiar and unwelcome.
My head was too foggy to process anything, too drained to fight. My rescuer carried me swiftly away from the carnage, placing me in the backseat of a car. As the door shut, he shrugged off his coat and draped it over me. That’s when I finally saw his face.
My stomach twisted as I recognized him. My fists clenched, but my body was too weak to lash out. “You.” The word was thick with loathing.
His jaw tightened. “I’m so sorry, Anna.”
“Sorry?” A bitter laugh tore from my throat. “Where the hell were you? I called you. I begged.”
He said nothing. Just slid into the driver’s seat and took off.
But he didn’t drive toward the estate. Instead, we headed somewhere else, another house. One I’d never seen before.
The silence in the car was unbearable, but I refused to break it
As soon as we arrived, he made an attempt to carry me but I Jerked when he reached for me. “Don’t touch me.”
“Anna, you’re freezing.”
“I don’t care.” My voice trembled. “Just leave me alone.”
His jaw tightened. “At least let me help you clean up.”
He carried me inside, straight to the bathroom.
Staring at my reflection in the bathroom mirror, hair tangled, body smeared with dried blood. I looked… ruined.
He set me gently in the bathtub. I sat there like a lifeless doll, unresponsive, my mind replaying everything, how those men had torn my clothes, how they had seen me. It gnawed at my soul, a sickness spreading through my chest.
I barely registered Gleb as he turned on the water, bathing me with quiet care. His hands were gentle, his touch surprisingly delicate. But I felt nothing. Just cold, hollow nothing.
He dried me off, dressed me in a fresh pair of underwear, and carried me to the bed. He draped his coat over me, but my skin still crawled. I felt raw. Dirty.
I curled my knees to my chest, hugging myself, but nothing could make me feel whole again.
He sat beside me, watching me carefully. “Anna.”
I ignored him.
His expression darkened. “Grandma drugged me at dinner. She knew I’d stop her if I was awake.”
I snorted, the sound bitter. “How convenient.”
He exhaled sharply. “You know I would never let anyone hurt you, not even my own family.”
I let out a laugh, brittle and empty. “How am I supposed to know that?”
“Haven’t I proven it?”
“Nonsense.” I lifted my gaze to him, eyes burning. “I’m leaving in three days, and you’re talking about protection.”
His voice darkened. “You’re not going anywhere.”
I snapped my head toward him. “I was stripped naked by those men.” My voice cracked, but I forced myself to keep my stare level.
His jaw tightened. “They’re dead.”
“That doesn’t heal me.” My breath was shaky. “No man has ever touched me like that.”
His expression twisted with pain. “Anna…”
“I’m going back to Italy.”
“No.”
I let out a humorless laugh. “What will you do? Chain me here? You don’t love me, Gleb. You’re just obsessed with me. Your family hates me. Why should I stay where my life is constantly in danger?”
His hands curled into fists. “No one will ever touch you again.”
I scoffed. “Really? You said that after your uncle pushed me down the stairs. After he assaulted me in your house.” I let the words sink in. “You had security everywhere, yet you let it happen.”
He swallowed hard. “I didn’t know he’d come that day. But after what happened, I killed the head of security and fired the rest.”
“Killing people doesn’t heal me, Gleb. Don’t you get that?” My voice rose, thick with anger and hurt. “You chose not to protect me. Maybe you’re capable, but you just didn’t care enough.”
He flinched. “That’s not true.”
“Our marriage is just an arrangement. So let me go.”
He exhaled, his voice softer this time. “I know revenge doesn’t fix this. But I swear to you, I’ve taken steps to make sure it never happens again.”
I turned away. “Your family wants me dead. Will you wipe them all out for a stranger?”
His lips parted, but no words came.
I clenched the sheets. “At least under my father, I was safe. Not happy, not free, but no one ever laid a hand on me.”
Gleb reached for my hand, but I pulled away.
“Please, let me go.”
“Is that what you really want?” His voice was quiet, raw.
I swallowed. “Yes.”
Gleb exhaled sharply, raking a hand through his hair. “You… you can’t just leave.”
“Why not?”
He didn’t answer. His fingers flexed at his sides, like he was fighting something inside himself.
“Can you at least let my siblings go? Matteo and Salvatore?” I asked, voice barely steady.
“I can’t just walk in there and pull them out, Anna.”
I glared at him. “You’re the leader of the Bratva. You order executions without blinking. But you can’t free my brothers?”
His jaw clenched. “Not without risking a war with my own family.
A pause stretched between us. Finally, he nodded. “I will see what I can do.”
I pulled off the ring and held it out to him. “Have it. Give it to your new wife.”
He didn’t take it. Didn’t even look at it. Instead, he grabbed my wrist, forcing my fingers closed around the ring.
Gleb: “Keep it.” His voice was low, dangerous. Final.
As he walked toward the door, I forced myself to speak. “You say no one will hurt me again.”
He paused. “I mean it.”
I swallowed. “And what about you?”
He turned, his expression unreadable. “What about me?”
“Will you?”
For a moment, he said nothing. Then, in a voice barely above a whisper. “I have done enough damage.”
I let out a shaky breath.
I should have felt relieved. I was finally alone. Finally safe.
But the silence of the house felt suffocating. I gripped the sheets, my chest tightening. Would I ever truly be safe?
As if sensing my unease, Gleb turned back and said, “I’ve replaced the security. They answer to me alone, but we both know loyalty can be bought. If my grandmother tries, I’ll know.”
His voice was calm, but there was no mistaking the deadly finality in his words. “But they are loyal to you, Anna.”
“If they’re really loyal to me, I could walk out that door right now.”
“They’re loyal to you but they still answer to me.”
“Then they aren’t mine, are they?”
“I’ll let you rest.” The door clicked shut behind him.
I tried to sleep, but the images wouldn’t stop. Hands restraining me. Clothes tearing. Hot, whiskey-stained breath on my skin. I squeezed my eyes shut and forced myself to focus on my breathing, but it did nothing to quiet the storm in my mind.
I gasped awake, my breath shuddering. My chest felt tight, my skin crawling with an invisible touch I couldn’t shake.
I needed air. I needed…
I pulled the duvet up to my chin, forcing myself to stay still. Move too much, and I might fall apart completely.
But stillness brought no comfort. When I couldn’t bear it any longer, I rose from the bed, limbs heavy, each step dragging me into the darkened hallway
The house was eerily silent. Something about the emptiness unsettled me.
I checked the living room, empty.
Finally, I made my way to a room I assumed was his study. I hesitated at the door. I could hear muffled voices. A conference call.
I turned quietly to leave, but his voice stopped me.
“Anna.”
I stepped in. He was seated behind his massive desk, the glow from the laptop screen casting sharp shadows on his face.
“Are you fully awake?”
“Yeah.”
He gestured for me to come to him, but I ignored the invitation and sat in the chair across from him instead. If I went to him, he’d probably pull me onto his lap, and I wasn’t in the mood for that.
“I think you’re busy.”
“I’m never too busy for you.” His gaze was steady. “Do you need something?”
I hesitated before admitting, “I couldn’t sleep. I looked for you.”
His eyes softened for a fraction of a second. “I had business to handle.”
Of course. He was the head of the most feared cartel in Moscow. There would always be things to handle.
He let out a slow breath, his fingers lacing together on the desk. “There’s something I need to tell you.”
“What is it?”
He leaned forward. “My grandmother is furious.”
“Okay…” My heart kicked up, but I forced my face to stay neutral.
“I’m angry too. For what she did to you. But I can’t touch her.” His voice was measured, but there was something dark underneath it.
“She controls the old money, the connections, and the alliances that keep our cartel on top. Without them, I’d be leading a kingdom with no army. If I move against her before securing those assets, she’ll destroy everything before I can take it.”
“She’s waiting for me to slip up, Anna.” His voice was grim, edged with something I hadn’t seen before… fear.
“If she finds a weakness, she’ll use it. And you… you are my greatest weakness.”
I sighed. “I’m not asking you to hurt her. I just want to be protected from her.”
His jaw tightened. “She wants something in return.”
I stilled. “What?”
He exhaled sharply, as if the words themselves tasted bitter. “She wants me to divorce you, send you back to Italy, and marry your sister.”
The words hit me like a slap.
“Your sister is already here in Moscow.”
Maria. Here. In Moscow.
I gripped the edge of the desk, my stomach twisting. The last time I saw her, she was running away, leaving me to take her place. And now, she was coming here? Why? To finish what she started? To reclaim the life that was meant to be hers?
“I won’t let her come between us.”
I forced a sharp laugh. “There is no ‘us.’”
“Your life belongs to me now, Anna. Mine to protect. Mine to break. Mine.”
“I tell myself it’s duty. That I need to protect what belongs to me. But it’s more than that, isn’t it?” He dragged a hand down his face, frustrated.
“I don’t even know what to do with you, Anna.”
“It’s simple. Divorce me. Let me go, as your family wants.”
His voice dropped into something sharp. “Go back to bed.”
“Why? You’re kicking me out of your office now?”
“I was in the middle of a meeting.”
“Right.” I stood, but instead of leaving, I walked over to the bar in the corner of the study and poured myself a drink. The burn of the alcohol was instant, numbing. I needed that.
Gleb’s voice was low with warning. “What are you doing?”
I tipped my glass toward him. “Drinking, obviously.”
His lips pressed together. “Don’t overdo it. And don’t make noise. I have to rejoin my meeting.”
I didn’t answer. I just poured another glass.
After a few minutes, when I was sure he was lost in his meeting again, I walked over to him and slid onto his lap, looping my arms around his neck, ignoring the way his muscles tensed beneath my touch.I wasn’t sure why I did it.
Maybe it was the alcohol, burning hot in my veins. Maybe it was the need to prove to myself, to him, that I still had control over something. Over him. Over myself.
A dozen suited men stared at me from the conference call screen. Some looked surprised, others mildly amused.
I smiled. “Hey.”
A man on the screen raised an eyebrow. “And who is this?”
Gleb barely blinked. “My wife.” His voice was neutral, but the muscle in his jaw ticked. “She can be… troublesome, when she wants to be.” his fingers dug into my hip like he was barely holding himself back.
He paused the call and turned to me, his arms bracketing my waist. His voice was a low growl. “I told you not to disturb me.”
I smirked, brushing my lips close to his ear. “I’m bored.”
