Page 36 of Cruel Russian Pakhan
No.
I forced myself to turn away. I walked to the door, unlocked it, stepped out, and locked it behind me.
Then I made my way downstairs to the office. There was no way I'd get any sleep tonight. Not after discovering I’d married the wrong woman, and the one under my roof, the one that stirred something primal in me, had shattered right in front of me.
I needed to keep my mind busy tonight in my home office. Then tomorrow…I'd figure out what to do next.
Around seven the next morning, a knock echoed at the office door. I was still behind my desk, sleeves rolled up, same clothes from last night, paperwork scattered across my desk.
“Come in,” I said without looking up.
Two sets of footsteps entered, and I looked up then. Marten and Jaroslav dropped into the chairs across from me and I leaned back, setting the pen down.
“What’s the next move?” Marten asked, getting straight to the point.
“I haven’t decided yet,” I said.
Jaroslav’s brow lifted. “Where is she?”
“Locked in her room.”
He gave a short nod. “And your read on the situation?”
I leaned forward, elbows on the desk. “I think it was staged. Artyom found her, whoever she really is, and paid her and planted her as a Vera look-alike. He knew if I found out Vera was missing, I’d go after her. So he fed me a replacement, gaveme something to find. When I didn’t show up at the wedding, and I ‘broke’ the deal, he had his excuse to declare war.”
“We thought he was insane sending men after you while his sister was with you,” Marten stated. “But now it makes sense. It wasn’t about killing you, it was about watching you react. Seeing if you’d protect her. Maybe trauma-bond a little. Get her under your skin so she could manipulate you.” He paused. “But, if she did die, he wouldn't lose any sleep over it at night.”
Jaroslav’s expression darkened. “Did she say anything worth noting?”
“She claims she doesn’t know Artyom, that he didn’t pay her.”
Jaroslav studied me for a few seconds. “But you don’t believe her.”
“I don’t.”
“Did she have a phone or ID when you took her?”
“Checked her bag when she first got here, she didn't have a phone. Didn’t think to check her ID for obvious reasons.”
“Have you contacted Timur, yet?” Marten said. “If she has ID, he’ll trace her. If not, we find another way. DNA, contacts, voice records, whatever it takes.”
“That's if her ID isn't fake,” Jaroslav warned them.
“I’ve heard both of you.”
And I did. My brothers didn't give me judgmental stares or become angry about what I had done. I was their leader, my decisions reflected on my family name. Instead, they came in, heard me out and laid out a plan so we could uncover the truth. I pushed past my thoughts and focused on the two men in front of me.
“How are Ninel and Mariya?” I asked Marten.
He shrugged. “They’re worried about her.”
I wasn’t surprised. In the short space of time, I saw the connection between her and my sisters, especially Ninel.
Jaroslav leaned forward. “The sooner we find out who she really is, the sooner we’ll know what she wants, and how to deal with her. With Artyom calling us enemies, keeping a woman in your house we think he planted to deceive you? That’s a liability we can’t afford.”
He was right. The longer it took us to find out who she really was and what she wanted, the more this could blow back on us.
I rose from behind the desk. My brothers did the same.
