Page 51 of Claim Me
“You bastard.” She tried to slap me, but I grabbed her hand, now forced to press my full body weight against her to try to have her calm the fuck down.
I shifted my hand from her throat to her chin, keeping my grip firm. “Don’t. You will listen to me. Let me try and put this bluntly, which I was hoping not to do. Your father owed money to a very bad man.”
“You already said that. Was that you?”
“No. His name is Vladimir Popov. He’s the Pakhan of the Russian Bratva in Seattle. They have control of the port, more than a handful of law enforcement officers and if I had to guess, judges, attorneys, and politicians.”
“Like you?”
She had been checking into my background.
“You didn’t think I read all about your organization? You’re Bratva too. Direct from Moscow.”
This was going nowhere. She was searching for a target to place her hate. I got that too. “Yes, but our organization is different.”
“Oh, you’ve gone legitimate. Right?”
“Yes. We have. Because of the decisions made over a decade before, we are thriving and if you read about our company, we are considered extremely wealthy.”
She huffed. “Why not have more money?”
My God. She was frustrating, but thoughts of driving my cock deep inside kept rampaging through my brain. That needed to stop. “That’s not what happened.”
“Let me ask you this.” She shoved me hard, but I refused to break the connection. She was shaking all over from the fury burning deep inside. “Did you fuck me to try and subdue me? Maybe you lied about killing someone just so I’d feel safe with you.”
Fuck. This was getting out of hand. I threw my head back, groaning loudly.
“You did. You fucking bastard.” Maybe I was shocked or maybe trying to curtail my anger and surprise, but she managed to free her hand, getting off a hard smack that jarred me more than a fist punch did.
I took a step away, instantly rubbing my jaw. “Marissa. What we shared was…”
Fuck. What was I supposed to say?
“Why my brother? Why? You’ve lied to me. All the placating you did was just to keep me in the dark. What were you going to do in the end, sell me off to the highest bidder? Maybe to this Russian freak of nature?”
“I didn’t lie to you about anything.” I simply hadn’t told her the truth. “I was trying to protect you. Yes, there are some things you both need and deserve to know, but not until I understand the implications of what I’ve discovered.”
“Right. If you think I’m going to buy your bullshit, you’re out of your mind.” She managed to sidestep me, storming out of the room.
Groaning for a second time, I raked my hand through my hair and followed her.
Standing by the front door, she threw it open and Simon, who’d replaced Ryker, was shocked. He had his hand on his weapon, ready to attack.
“He’s going to shoot me if I toss you out? Go for it, buddy,” she exclaimed, throwing out her arms as if offering herself.
His eyes opened wide and I shook my head. He took a step away and she snapped her head in my direction while pointing toward the door.
“Get the fuck out of my house. Now!”
“Marissa.” I dropped my tone, the word commanding.
She was having none of it. The shock had completely worn off, tainted and turned to hatred based on the conversation with the attorney.
The night before had been a huge mistake.
I took several deep breaths and walked closer. As soon as I was within a few inches, she stormed toward the chair where my jacket remained, grabbing and tossing it at me. “Take your shit and your fucking goons and get out of my life! I will fight you in court. You can trust me on that.”
After swallowing, I closed and locked the door, pitching my jacket onto the stairs. “Popov had your parents murdered. He was also responsible for your brother’s murder.”
