Page 52 of The Brutal Arrangement

The irony.

Damon assumed right off the bat that I could be here to spy. And he’d been acting like that from day one—keeping me alone,locked up, and without anyone to talk to at all. Even that poor maid in the library was so skittish and nervous to be near me.

All I do is wait around and worry. What’s there to spy on?

I had no desire to spy. That mantra of keeping my head down and minding my own business was ingrained in my mind. Unlike at the Kozlov house, men didn’t party here or talk crap about things. Even if I had wanted to pay attention, there was nothing for me to pick up on.

Nothing for me to do at all…

I blew out a long breath as I wondered if a nap could kill some time of this loneliness.

Before I could relax close enough to dozing, though, the doorknob moved.

Someone was coming in.

20

DAMON

By the end of the third day away from Lucy, I was impatient to get back to her.

I hadn’t planned to leave her locked away this long. I’d seen what a toll that took on Maxim. He employed that tactic with Sloane after he’d kidnapped her. His reasoning was that the longer he left Sloane to stew and rest up, she’d be more likely to talk to him and quit the silent treatment she’d given him.

Lucy wasn’t overly chatty either, but it wasn’t like I’d had much time to speak with her.

She hadn’t come here as a kidnapped captive, either. She’d shown up under her own decision to marry me.

And I saw how miserable and tense Maxim was to deny himself from Sloane.

That wasn’t my intention. I’d planned on checking in with John and Hugo about Nik after I left her that morning. Then, I headed into the dungeon to supervise what was going on there. Business. That was what I’d counted on seeing to after I left Lucyin my room. She had no permission to leave, but I hadn’t told anyone to bar her in my room until I returned.

Unfortunately, it had taken me longer than I thought it would.

After seeing to business, Father had another stroke-like incident and I’d gone along with Maxim, Saul, and Anastasia to be with him in the more equipped room at the hospital. Once he was brought home the following night, I was led on a false tip about Nik. And then yesterday, I was caught up in a chase across town that ended with a terse stakeout for a Romano spy who’d tried to kill one of our bosses near Brooklyn.

That was the nature of my “job”. Being one of the Ivanov brothers meant no two days or nights were ever the same. In that regard, I couldn’t blame Maxim for not wanting to be the boss in Father’s place. He had Sloane to enjoy and marry soon. He had a baby on the way he wanted to prepare for.

Knowing Lucy was waiting for me kept me anxious, too, but it wasn’t like what my brother had with his fiancée. He knew her. He was familiar with her. I didn’t know Lucy, and I was secretly excited to learn about my wife. Now that I knew she wasn’t Katerina and someone who was familiar with my darkness, I couldn’t wait to exploit this newness between me and Lucy, especially since she was mine to do with as I pleased.

I returned to my room and tugged on the knot of my tie. Without a clue where she would be and what she was up to, I was pleasantly surprised to see her on my bed.

The moment she sat up and realized I’d entered the room, I felt my pulse kick up a few degrees. Having her gaze on me so directly like this was similar to gripping a live wire.

My exhaustion from the last three days vanished. I was awake now, too thrilled to be able to experience more with her. The one who was stuck with me.

Her plump lips parted as she looked at me, but she clamped her mouth shut, seeming to think twice about speaking. Curiosity might’ve won out another time. I did want to learn about her and question her. A conversation would be handy to achieve that.

But right now, as I stalked toward her on the bed, I wanted to feel her. I wanted to educate myself on just what it was that made her so aroused on our sham of a wedding night.

Lust broke through all the other emotions clouding my mind. I wanted her. Now. Right here. And I’d be damned if she tried to say otherwise and deny me.

“I—”

“Quiet,” I replied, tugging my tie off.

She furrowed her brow as she started to scoot back a little bit onto the bed. I would cage her in if she would try to stand and evade me, but it seemed that she was hoping to roll to the side and dodge away from me like that.

I was faster, looming over her and catching her with my fingers wrapped around her upper arm.

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