Page 22 of Forced Innocent Bride By the Bratva

The entire time, Scarlett had been on my mind, occupying my thoughts and leaving traces of faint grins on my lips. I was distracted almost throughout the entire meeting. Why? Because I was thinking about my wife—the woman I had taken from the altar nearly two weeks ago.

Her name finally stuck in my head after this much time had passed.

Scarlett.

My lips twitched at the corners, and a sense of gladness crept into my heart. I wasn’t sure why I felt like that, why the sound of her name even in my own head prompted a smile on my lips. Scarlett was all that I could think of these days, and I would always find myself anticipating returning home to her.

At first, I thought it was the usual feeling that came with tormenting and watching her suffer. But as time went on, something else started to stir up within me, something that I had yet to name. The feeling was a sense of calm—peace, maybe.

Recently, I’d been a little less mean to her, and I’d watched her, with each passing day, slide out of her shell. She didn’t let down her guard, no, but she wore softer expressions these days, and I’d caught her smiling with the maids on several occasions. The fire in her still burned bright, and I knew hadn’t stopped searching for a means to escape the mansion—to escape me.

A part of me felt pleased that she no longer trembled at my presence, and she didn’t flinch whenever I drew close. Scarlett might just be getting accustomed to her new reality, but I wouldn’t bet on it. She was up to something. The first trick she’d played on me was the art of deception, so whatever this shift in character and attitude was, it was meant to deceive me.

Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice…I thought, steering the vehicle through the giant gates of my estate.

Scarlett was a schemer—a brilliant one, at that—and that was the most beautiful part about the game. She was following my lead, adopting my tactics, and using them against me. This change in her behavior began when she realized that I’d hit the pause button on making her life a living hell. The woman, being as smart as she was, thought that this was some sort of new approach that I’d adopted. She believed that she would have to think like me in order to beat me at the game.

Scarlett had been watching my every move, studying me like a book—discreetly, of course; she didn’t want me to know. But I did because I was a couple of steps ahead of her. When I looked in her eyes, I no longer saw that pure, undiluted rage. I no longer saw that intense glare dancing in their depths. Scarlett had successfully masked her hatred for me, but I could see right through her as if she were made of glass.

I pulled up by the fountain and killed the engine, my back reclining in my seat. My fingers rubbed my tired eyes, but despite my exhaustion, I still had the strength to toil with Scarlett a little. It had been a while anyway. A faint grin played on the corner of my lips as I cooked up the best way to test her newly developed attitude.

The car opened, and I stepped outside, shutting it behind me. My shoes, polished to a shine, clicked against the pavement as I headed toward the mansion’s entrance.

Once in the living room, my eyes caught her at the staircase, ascending the steps, her back against the entrance. She was heading to the master bedroom, and I wasted no time going after her, my footsteps soundless against the floor.

I followed her down the hallway, my movements smooth and stealthy, unnoticed, undetected. She rolled her neck in a massaging motion, her mind clearly absent. I drew so close to her, just inches behind her, yet she couldn’t sense my presence; she was lost in her own thoughts. The fact that she was oblivious, unaware that she wasn’t alone, made this even better for me.

With a gentle touch, I grabbed her hand from behind, and before she could react, I pushed her to the wall, her back against it. I had my palm over her mouth, muffling her scream, her cry for help. My lips curled into a self-satisfied grin as I watched her green eyes widen in fear just for a fleeting moment. Scarlett’s expression immediately darkened the moment she realized her attacker was me.

Watching as her soul almost left her body gave me a sense of satisfaction that I couldn’t describe, and I couldn’t hide the smirk on my lips.

Scarlett forced my palm off her mouth. “You jerk!” She slammed her hand on my chest, her weak fist bouncing off my muscles. “Why did you do that?” Her eyes blazed with mock fury.

“Why were you so afraid?” I asked, my voice low and even. “You’re in my mansion, where you’re safe from any harm.”

Her brows arched in disbelief, her eyes boring into mine. “How reassuring,” she sneered, her tone laced with sarcasm.

Scarlett tried to step away from me, but my hand on her neck forced her back against the wall, a faint, almost imperceptible moan escaping her lips. She held my gaze as I lingered, my grip on her neck delicate. Her chest heaved slowly, her breath fanning against my skin, and her eyes watched me lean closer.

My gaze dropped to her bosom, where the left strap of her nightgown had slid off her shoulder, revealing a tantalizing glimpse of her voluptuous curves.

Returning my eyes to her face, I asked, “Do you doubt my ability to keep you safe?”

She swallowed hard, her heart pounding like a drum in her chest. “From what exactly?” she replied, her tone dropping to a low whisper. “Last time I checked, you’re the only problem I have…the only threat to my safety.”

I tightened my grip around her neck just a little, enough to make her head slowly jerk upward. My second hand rested on the wall beside her, my eyes looking right into her soul. “It’s a shame your knight in shining armor can’t come to your rescue now,” I whispered in her face. “Do you still dream about him?” My lips twisted into a mischievous smirk.

“You’re a monster,” she said, her jaw tightening, a glint of rage flickering in her eyes.

“Am I?” I chuckled, loosening my grip around her neck. “Then why do I catch you staring at me when you think no one’s watching?” I asked, tilting her chin upward with my fingers.

Her breath lodged in her throat, and her eyes widened slightly like she was embarrassed. Scarlett looked away, breaking eye contact as her body trembled at the feeling of my fingers up in her hair.

I’d successfully won this round, and a sense of satisfaction hummed in my chest. Scarlett was fighting something, a dark emotion that she clearly didn’t want to admit. In her eyes, I saw fear, anger, hatred, and something else—something that looked a lot like…desire.

My smirk deepened, and I withdrew from her, my gaze sweeping across her sexy body.

Scarlett had looked away because she didn’t want me to find out what she was hiding, what she was fighting against. If desire was indeed what I saw in the depth of her eyes, then soon, she wouldn’t be able to keep fighting.

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