Page 14 of The Brutal Arrangement

A warning of harm near us.

A threat of danger approaching.

For the first time since I started my job here, I wondered if merely keeping my head down and minding my own business would be enough to spare me from more trouble. Trouble seemed imminent now. Whatever it was, it had Katerina so stressed and at times frantic to get out of the house like she just did now, in the middle of a rainstorm.

6

DAMON

All this talk about the marriage arrangement unsettled me. Settling down with a woman wasn’t on my radar, and now it was forced upon me.

Not yet.

I headed into the gym for a workout the following morning, hoping to vent my frustration with exercise. As I walked into the huge room where my brothers and I had means to use a variety of equipment, I tried to resist that my marriage would inevitably happen too soon.

My grandmother was stubborn and could be pushy, but she’d also helped raise us four brothers. Therefore, we were more stubborn and pushier. If she wanted to press the issue and nag me about this supposedly forgotten agreement between Father and Thomas Kozlov, she could.

It still didn’t mean that I had to give in. I’d resist on the principle of the timing being wrong.

To my surprise, the gym was empty save for one person. Sloane. I raised my brows at her on the treadmill. She walked at aleisurely pace, scrolling on her phone. Upon my arrival, though, she glanced up and smiled. “Morning, Damon.”

I nodded in acknowledgment and tried not to frown. “Morning,” I replied before going toward the weights I planned to start with.

Her presence was an obstacle to thinking about the predicament of this marriage arrangement. After that health scare, was she even supposed to be exercising so soon?

I ignored her as long as I could, but even though I didn’t speak to her, I glanced at her constantly, keeping an eye out for her. She was the first woman to enter our family, the first sister-in-law I’d get, so of course, I would treat her well and do whatever I could to make sure she was safe. That was expected for no other reason than my brother caring about her. If she mattered to him, then she’d matter to me, too.

Halfway into my workout, she stopped the treadmill and approached me. I tried not to give her too much attention. We were still getting to know each other, and I hadn’t taken many chances to spend time with her one-on-one like this.

“Do you not like me?” she asked, the question almost blurted out as she tightened her ponytail. Long, blonde waves swayed with the motion.

I set my dumbbells down and furrowed my brow. “What? No.” Once again, I faced the mirror in front of me instead of bothering her.

“You act like it.”

“I’m merely giving you distance and respect.”

She huffed, rolling her eyes. “No, dude. You’re avoiding me.”

I shook my head. “I don’t befriend women easily.”

“Why not?” She crossed her arms and leaned her hip against the rack where the weights sat.

I turned slightly to frown at her. “Because.”

She rolled her hand, prompting me to elaborate. “Come on. Throw me a bone here. Saul isn’t like this. Nik wasn’t?—”

“Isn’t,” I corrected sharply. There was no way anyone would refer to my twin in the past tense. Not yet. Not when we continued to get those proof-of-life messages sent from his phone to that computer program.

Too bad his phone isn’t trackable.He’d set it up so it couldn’t be followed, all to better his odds as a spy.

“Right. Nik isn’t aloof like you are. So I have to wonder if you’ve got an issue with me.”

“I don’t have an issue with you,” I replied, continuing to lift.

“Then why don’t you ever look at me for more than two seconds? Or talk to me for more than a hello?” She arched one thin blonde brow.

“Why are you even in the gym? Are you supposed to be exercising after yesterday?” I frowned at her.

---