Page 82 of The Pakhan's Arranged Bride
“Obey you? Is that a joke?” she says in disbelief, anger flaring in his eyes.
“Yes, Ulyana, how do you expect me to stay in control of everything going on if you don’t do as I say,” I snap again, with more command in my voice as I stare down at her.
She shakes her head, furious at me, but she gives up fighting me on the matter and turns to storm away, throwing her house keys at the wall.
I sigh in frustration. She doesn’t get it. I’m only trying to keep her safe, but she won’t let me.
I’m so worried about her. I’m convinced she wants to take him down independently. I’m convinced there is no hair appointment in town and she actually has something else up her sleeve. Something that involves Miron. It terrifies me to think of her putting herself in that position.
She’s been chasing him alone for such a long time now—‚why would she be willing to work with me and trust me to help her?
Her obsession wouldn’t just disappear.
I wish I could trust her to listen to me. But I can’t. People do stupid things when they want revenge. And she lied to me for such a long time about this. Who’s to say she isn’t carrying on with the lies and manipulating me into believing she’s willing to let me handle the bulk of it?
Ulyana storms up to our room, slamming the door, blocking me out. It’s fine. At least I know where she is.
I’m down in the kitchen, taking my aggression out on a slice of toast as I butter it to hard and turn it into a broken pile of crumbs, when Jadon walks in.
He looks at what’s left of the crushed toast.
I shake my head and thrown my hands in the air in exasperation.
“Fuck man, I can’t even make the toast right,” I snap.
He leans over the counter and pulls two slices of bread from the bakery bag and slides them into the toaster, ignoring my outburst. He pushes the toaster down and sits at the kitchen counter.
“You ready to run over the mornings reports?” he asks.
“Sure.” I huff, leaning against the counter to wait for the fresh toast.
“I’ll start with the Miron news,” he says, looking down at his phone.
I go tense at the mention of his name. But it’s the news I most want to hear.
Jadon reads through some reports on his phone and taps his finger against the kitchen counter.
“He was spotted outside a casino this morning, our guys traced him, but lost him.”
“Fuck’s sake,” I grumble. The toast pops up and I jump. My nerves are frayed. My entire goal is to keep Ulyana safe and she’s making it so freaking difficult by not working with me—by probably trying to sneak out on her own.
It’s frustrating as hell.
“I know, not the best news, but we’re working on it.” Jadon shrugs. “Then for the shipment this afternoon, I have paperwork for you to sign.”
He goes over everything on his list. I do my best to listen, but I can’t stop thinking about Ulyana and how she lied in the past and put herself in danger—and that she’ll do it again.
“Jadon, do me a favor, it’s not urgent, but can you please confirm if my wife really did have a hair dresser appointment today?”
“Sir?” he asks, tilting his head to the side. “You think she lied to you?” Even he seems surprised by this idea.
“I just want to be sure. It will ease my mind. It’s not like she didn’t already lie in the past.”
I feel sick talking to him about this. I never want to say anything bad about her to anyone. I want to think the best of her, but I can’t shake this fear that she’s hiding more from me.
“Will do,” Jadon says, standing up. He gestures to the toast. “It’s cold now.”
I shrug. “I’m not even hungry anymore.”
