Page 59 of The Watcher's Bride

His words give me a shiver of excitement knowing he’s deadly serious, and I wonder exactly how he would retaliate. It shouldn’t turn me on. this aggressive possessiveness. and yet I find myself aroused by it. I saw the lengths Leo would go to protect me when he beat up Mike, but somehow there’s a danger to him that was mostly concealed as Max.

As we’re nearing the table, I can see my father and Dimitri next to him. My father is sitting with his wife-to-be held close to him and Dimitri has his arm around a woman I can’t see as she’s blocked by a bouncer standing in front of them.

My father looks up and sees us approaching, a small triumphant smile dances across his face, and I know he has some sort of torture in mind for me. We walk over and the bouncer moves out of the way. When I see the woman Dimitri has his arm around, my blood runs cold.

Chapter 37

Leo

“Ah, Leonid, there you are. Sit. Join us,” Dimitri says, gesturing to the empty chairs and taking a deep puff on his cigar. “And my dear Norelle, marriage becomes you. I believe you know my new plaything, Nadya,” he states, gesturing to the woman sitting beside him, and squeezing her breast in his meaty paw.

Nadya blinks slightly, the only sign of discomfort, but she makes no move to resist. Nora looks at me beseechingly. I can feel her tense at my side, looking at Nadya in disbelief before turning her furious attention to her father.

“You promised,” she seethes. “You promised that if I went through with the wedding without complaint, you’d leave Nadya alone!” She goes to pull Nadya from my uncle’s grasp, but I hold her back. I’m not sure what’s going on here, but it’s clear that Nora knows this woman.

“I made no such promise. I said she would remain unharmed, which, as you can see for yourself, she is,” her father states, his voice tinged with amusement at his loophole.

“I would hardly call kidnapping and sexual assault unharmed,” Nora snarls. “Nadya, I’m so sorry I dragged you into this. I’ll fix it, I promise,” she says pleadingly.

Dimitri doesn’t stop fondling the woman, looking right at Nora as he does so, his eyes lighting up with pleasure at the pain it causes her, and at how submissive Nadya is being.

Whatever’s going on is clearly causing Nora distress. “What is the meaning of this, Pakhan?” I ask my uncle.

“Allow me to explain,” Quinn replies. “Norelle here is under the belief that this whore is her friend.”

“Fuck you,” Nora snaps, which only makes her father chuckle.

Quinn tuts lightly. “It seems your husband needs to teach you how a lady should properly behave around her betters. As I was saying,” he continues, “Norelle is under the mistaken belief that this pitiful creature is her friend. She doesn’t know that Nadya is my property, that she’s worked for me this whole time, reporting back on Norelle’s movements, making sure she remained pure for you. You should thank Nadya, Leo, she did a remarkable job of fucking any man who looked at your wife so she would remain unsullied.”

It takes a moment for my brain to catch up with what he’s saying before the penny drops.

Nora realizes at the same time. “You sent Nadya to pretend to be my friend? She was just pretending the whole time?” she asks, her voice breaking and her eyes welling with tears as I look at her.

“No, Nora, I—” Nadya’s protest is cut off by the sharp sound of Dimitri slapping her across the face.

“What did I say about keeping that pretty mouth of yours shut unless there’s a cock in it?” Dimitri snarls.

“That’s correct, Norelle. As Nadya’s services are no longer required in New York, I thought I would offer her as a gift to our new friend. Since you weren’t to his liking, I figured hewould need a plaything to keep him amused. Now, I believe your Pakhan told you both to sit,” he says commandingly.

“I’m sorry, Nora. Honestly, I had no idea,” I whisper in her ear, as I guide her to sit down beside me. Outwardly, I’m trying to keep my cool, but inwardly, I want to tear Quinn limb from limb. I turn to my uncle and ask, “Is this really necessary, Uncle?”

Dimitri shrugs. “I thought you would appreciate your new bride knowing that she has nothing and no one to run to. Or have you fooled yourself into believing she loves you? As I suspected, you seem quite taken with your new wife. This is not a bad thing, but you must remember who you are and what her role is. Women are manipulative creatures, you’d be smart not to forget that. She needs to know who is in charge. Perhaps if you have a little fun with our Nadya here or dear Tatiana, it will remind her,” he suggests.

“No, thank you,” I respond tightly.

The tension is thick, and I worry that the situation is escalating. I can feel Nora trembling beside me, still trying to come to terms with the betrayal. At that moment, Nikolai and Tatiana appear.

“Pakhan, Mr. Quinn,” Nikolai says with a deferential bow of his head. “Forgive us for the intrusion, we were rather hoping we could steal the newlyweds away. They have promised us a dance and there are many people eager to meet the newest member of our family.”

I shoot Nikolai a relieved glance.

“Be my guest, Nikolai, I’ve learned all I need to from this enlightening conversation. Be warned, though, Leo seems rather tetchy about sharing his new toy. Rather unfair, I’d say, considering he had your dear wife before you,” he adds, looking at Nora to gauge her reaction.

Nora is silent, her face impassive.

“Thank you, Pakhan, we appreciate you throwing this little soirée. We were so disappointed we were unable to attend the wedding,” Tatiana says.

“My dear Tatiana, you look more beautiful than ever, the one that got away. Had I known what an exquisite rose you would become, I would have claimed you as my own bride,” Dimitri says, his eyes roaming her body.

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