Page 76 of Under Control

“Marriage is for people who love each other!” she cried, shrinking back from him as she adjusted the frames on her nose.

“Marriage is not about love,” he snapped, his vicious gaze falling back on her. “Marriage is a legal contract—and we are going to have exactly that. And these will be the first to go,” Andriy lunged forward and snatched her glasses off her face. He snarled as he looked at them in his hand just before crushing the frame and whipping them out of the window. A vain man, she knew he hated the way she looked in them.

As Danica heard the glasses Carrick loved smashing onto the pavement, the SUV turned into the parking structure of a downtown office building, not far from where they’d kidnapped her. Gutted, she shrank back, more helpless than ever.

Once the SUV found a parking spot, she knew her fate was sealed. There was no getting away now. His pistol still drawn, Andriy pushed her out into the concrete structure, moving her through the lot and into a dark elevator. The driver stayed behind in the SUV, probably waiting for his next orders.

Danica darted her gaze back and forth as she tried to imagine how to get away and save herself. There was no way Carrick would ever find her.

“Have you been following me?” She stumbled as Andriy pushed her out of the elevator when they hit the fourth floor.

“We didn’t need to,” Andriy snorted. “We just had some friends trace your credit card.”

“How?” Danica asked, searching for ways they could have found out her false identity.

“Varya’s wedding… I should have thanked you for letting us look through your clutch.” Andriy snickered off her question as he ushered her to the modern building where he was the CEO. “I would have never guessed your fake name.”

An incoherent cry left her lips as he pushed her on, still obeying his every demand. The more she walked along, the more she hated herself for it. He led her through the wide, vacant hallway toward a corner office where her uncle was probably waiting. Petrov shakily stood up from behind the desk, an oxygen tube under his nose, and grabbed his walking cane as he motioned for her to sit.

I need to run.

Danica unwillingly entered the room, pushed forward by Andriy, as she watched the sick old man who had once scared her more than anything.

“Are you ready?” He coughed then steadied himself.

“Yes.” Andriy stepped forward, pushing her toward the desk. “Where do I sign?”

Andriy slammed her down in the chair before the desk then leaned forward to sign a marriage certificate. As the two men exchanged words in Russian, Danica’s mind spiraled.

“You can’t do this,” she cried out again, tears streaming down her face. “You can’t make me do this.”

Andriy turned his face to her, looking her up and down slowly, a slippery, lecherous look crossing his mouth. “I am so looking forward to fucking you. Be nice, and maybe I will be.”

Petrov waved his hand dismissively. “Get the paperwork done and you can do whatever you want with her. You’ll own her then.”

“The paperwork?” she pressed, lunging forward in her seat as she tried to look at what was on the desk.

“You don’t think I’d marry you unless I had a good enough reason?” Andriy asked lazily, turning his nose up at her.

“You are my heir, Dansa,” Petrov said, gripping his cane as he struggled to breathe. “I’m dying. I don’t have much time left. My company and all my assets have to pass on to you, my only American blood relative.”

Petrov bent over to sign a document, barely able to hold himself up.

“As Andriy’s wife, you’ll make him American. Then Andriy will arrange to have it all transferred to him. This is your duty to your family.”

Danica’s mind raced, a familiar stabbing pain of hurt in her chest. Petrov and Andriy leaned over the desk, flipping through the different pages where signatures were needed, mumbling in Russian to each other. Neither of them cared what Danica wanted, of course. She didn’t matter to them. She never had.

I can’t run anymore.

The tears on her flushed cheeks turned sticky, and anger rose in Danica’s chest. It was that same anger she’d seen in Carrick. A hunger. A passion.

“My parents wouldn’t let me throw my life away,” Danica lashed out, leaning forward in the chair. “My parents wouldn’t let me marry a man I didn’t love in lieu of the man I am in love with.”

Andriy and Petrov stopped, frozen, and turned to face her, realizing her admission. Danica felt her hatred. It was the angriest and fiercest she’d ever been, thinking about what Petrov had done to her parents and was now trying to do to her. Upon seeing her expression, the old man started coughing uncontrollably.

“Youwillsign this. This is the only way.” Andriy seemed to realize that she was pushing back, that she wasn’t going to obey him as easily as he’d once expected. He continued, pulling his pistol back out of his jacket. “Even if you need to be persuaded.”

As he moved forward, pressing the cold steel of the pistol against her head, Danica twisted in revulsion. She was disgusted by what Petrov had done to the memory of her parents, by his abusive, controlling behavior and at herself for never fighting back. Violence flashed across her eyes as she came to a sudden realization.

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