Page 20 of Debt to the Mafia King
“Victor,” she said my name like a plea because she didn’t know that begging me didn’t make any difference. “I am not property. I am a person. With my own—”
I lashed out, catching her face between my fingers and squeezing. “I don’t care, Leah. Look into my eyes and realize I don’t care about your feelings or your heart. Or any of that romantic crap that is no doubt filling your head. Your one job here is to look good on my arm and keep my balls empty. Is that understood?”
She understood, but she still opened her mouth to argue with me. It was getting exhausting.
“Your old life is over, Leah. You now belong to me, in fact.” Opening my door, I grabbed her bag and tossed it onto the sidewalk. The zip broke, and the strap of a pale pink bra flopped out.
“You won’t need any of this.” Slamming the door, I floored the accelerator and we burst down the street. “I’ll tell you what you need and when. Because, Leah, I own you now.”
Chapter Seven
Leah
His words echoed in my head as he pulled away from the curb and along the street. Twisting in my seat, I watched as my small apartment grew smaller and smaller, and right there on the pavement was the bag he had packed and a flash of a pink strap. My good bra.
“My bag.”
He didn’t even flick his eyes in my direction. A deep line appeared between his eyebrows. He was concentrating on the road so much. Or maybe he was concentrating on something else. His face was unreadable.
“Viktor,” I tried again. “My bag—”
A lump formed in my throat as the bag grew smaller and smaller, and I didn’t know why. Maybe because I had worked so hard for everything I had ever had, and he had just tossed it aside without even a second thought.
“You won’t need it,” he said out of the corner of his mouth. “Didn’t I just fucking tell you that you don’t need it. You are mine, Leah. I’ll buy you everything you need.”
Frowning, I stared at him. He was angry, but I didn’t understandwhy. Surely he didn’t believe all the nonsense he had just said. I was a person. I couldn’t belong to someone.
“I don’t need you to buy me—” I trailed off as his eyes darted to me. His lips thinned.
“There is nothing in your old life that you need, Printsessa.” He said through gritted teeth. “I will supply everything you need as my wife.”
Clasping my hands in my lap, I bit my lip. “Maybe there’s nothing I need, but maybe there are things I want,” I said quietly. I didn’t want to make him angry, although it seemed to be his default setting.
I didn’t know Viktor well or at all, but unless he was deep inside my body, there didn’t seem to be a gentle, happy bone in my body, and even then, gentle wasn’t the word I would use.
“You dragged me out of there before I could even grab anything of value,” I muttered.
Viktor chuckled. “Of value?” He laughed mockingly. “There was nothing in that dump that had any value.”
My clasped hands tightened. “Emotional value.” Asshole I added silently. “You just dragged me out of my life. You didn’t even think about actually asking me whether this was what I wanted. I haven’t actually agreed to marry you, Viktor,” I pointed out.
“You are being seriously ungrateful, Leah, like a fucking child. I am well aware that you haven’t agreed, but are you aware that I don’t actually care? But carry on acting like a child and throwing these tantrums, and I will take you over my knee and punish you.”
Leah. He had called me Leah and not Printsessa. I didn’t know why it bothered me so much, but it felt like a bad sign.
Both of us lapsed into silence, but only for a few minutes, before I opened my mouth and spoke again.
“I need to call into work. They will be expecting me.”
Viktor’s lips thinned, but this time he didn’t look at me. “I will take care of it.”
“Viktor,” I groaned, exasperated. “You can’t just steamroll my life like this. You said I had a few days to decide, and I would like those days.” His profile was rigid. “Please,” I added for good measure.
He seemed the sort of guy who would enjoy my begging.
“No.” He didn’t even glance in my direction. “Now be quiet, you are starting to give me a headache.”
Biting my lip, I turned to look out the window. He was such an asshole. Completely overbearing.
