Page 48 of Torn Souls

“Your men?”

The smile on her face is full and it’s luminous. “Apparently,” she sasses.

With a wink, I release her hip and open the door to Kirill’s office with a flourish. Chambers turns with a thunderous look on his face at the interruption. When he sees his daughter, I can see the threat in his gaze.

Oaklynn doesn’t pay him any attention. Her eyes flick over to Maxim and Huck before she focuses on Kirill who is sitting behind his desk like the king of the castle that he is. The only way I’m able to hide the smirk of satisfaction on my face is by running a hand over my mouth.

I almost lose it and let out a laugh when I look over at Maxim and catch him pouting. He can be such a child sometimes.

But he’d slit my throat if I were to ever call him on it.

“Come,” Kirill’s voice is a command as he holds his hand out for Oaklynn.

To her credit, she doesn’t hesitate. She glides across the office and slides her hand into his. When he pulls her down onto his lap, she does so with grace.

Watching her father’s reaction and seeing his face go red is comical.

“Do you really think she should be here for this?”

Now it’s time for the real show. Poor Richard. He has no idea what is coming.

CHAPTER 16

MAXIM

I try to keep the smug as fuck look off my face as I lean back in my seat, but I’m sure I’m failing. The thing is that I don’t even give a fuck. It’s already taking all my focus and restraint to stop myself from pulling out my gun and shooting Chambers.

The biggest problem would be that it would far too quick of a death for the man.

He put his hands on our woman. He’s hurt our woman for years. He thinks he has the right to sell our woman.

A growl comes from my chest that has Chambers glancing my way, but I’m not looking at him. My eyes are fixed on Oaklynn who is cradled in Kirill’s arms and looking down at her lap. I hate that she’s looking down and I can’t see the fire in her eyes.

I hate that she needs to hide who she truly is. While I understand it, that doesn’t mean I have to like it.

Chambers dying would be a blessing at this point, but it would only push Mikhail and his plans deeper into the dark.

“Of course, my future wife needs to be here,” Kirill’s voice is steady, “considering we are talking about her.”

“I don’t see why,” Chambers scoffs. “This is more of a conversation we should be having between men.”

Kirill makes a humming sound but doesn’t argue further. He doesn’t need to.

From where I’m sitting, I can see the vein on his temple throbbing and the longer the silence stretches in the room, the angrier he becomes. It’s glorious.

An angry man makes mistakes. He doesn’t think before he speaks or acts. His emotions rule him.

“Clearly you’ve agreed with the arrangement,” Chambers seethes.

Kirill tilts his head to the side, “Have I?”

“She’s sitting on your lap,” he points out and waves his hand toward his daughter.

Oaklynn looks up from underneath her lashes slightly and meets my gaze. I can see her hatred for her father shining back at me even though she’s fighting to keep it under wraps.

“She is,” Kirill offers, but leaves it at that.

Chambers can’t seem to take it anymore. He leaps up and out of his chair, while yelling, “If you’re going to marry my daughter, it’s going to cost you.”

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