Page 27 of Cruel Russian King
By the time I got back to the estate and to the back where Ruslan had been tied he was unconscious.
Ninel had admitted to giving him muscle relaxers. However, that didn't spare me from whipping Ruslan in her presence, once he was awake.
I saw the tears in her eyes, and it felt as though I had been stabbed in the heart. But, I needed her to understand that sneaking off wasn't accepted.
While Ruslan remained inside with Ninel, I also stationed a guard outside by every damn exit point, just for her.
And if I thought Ninel was pissed before? Now she was a fucking storm. Demanding to know if I thought she was an animal to be kept in a damn cage!
I just didn't want her roaming around for word to get back just yet to Lev and the others. I wanted them to sweat some more, have sleepless nights, fuck up multimillion dollar deals because they're worried about her!
After everything they fucking did they needed to suffer.
Now, it didn't matter what I did or said to her, she became rebellious and opposed it all.
I had no idea what she was so pissed about in the first place. It had to be more than me whipping Ruslan and ramping up the guards.
Should I have left her in the damn gallery for them to take her away from me forever? Should I have spared Ruslan whenshe damn well knew how that would make me look in front of my men?
Whenever I entered the same room as she didn’t leave, she did something worse. She fucking ignored me. If I asked her a question she refused to answer until I stepped into her space and demanded one. Then we'd argue and she’d stalk away.
I was at my wits end. Ninel wasn't just any woman, she was my fucking wife. She grew up in our world, she understood what her obedience meant to her husband. But here she was, acting like a damn spoiled child.
And yet, even through the irritation, I couldn’t help but enjoy her fire. She wasn’t meek, she wasn’t soft, she wasn’t the little doll I’d first assumed she’d be. No, she fought me tooth and nail, matching me bite for bite, and damn if it didn’t keep me on my toes. What she didn’t realize was that every sharp word, every flash of defiance, only made me more obsessed with seeing her in that element.
No one had ever dared to oppose me like she had, not even my siblings. And as much as I enjoyed seeing her riled up I needed to nip her defiance in the bud. If I let this shit slide now, no telling what else she'd expected me to let slide in the future.
So, today? I wasn’t having her bullshit. I told the cook to lock the kitchen and when I returned from work only then would dinner be served. If she wanted to eat she’d do it with me. I wasn’t taking away her right to food, I was simply dictating how she’d have access to it.
She'd bend to my control one way or the other.
I pulled into the estate around seven and parked in the garage. As I stepped out of the car, the door leading from the house banged open and Ninel stalked over to me.
I closed the car door, leaned against it and waited.
“So, your plan is to starve me now?” she asked, glaring at me standing a few feet away.
“We both know it’s against the treaty.”
“But I can’t get into the kitchen!”
“I wanted to eat dinner with my wife. So I just ensured that we’d both be available at the same time.”
She scoffed. “And what if I don’t want to eat dinner with you?”
“Then you won’t eat dinner at all.” I shrugged, pushing off the car and making my way into the house.
“And how isn’t that breaching the treaty?” she asked, trailing behind me.
“You’ll have food. It’ll just be on my terms and with me.”
I stopped and Ninel stepped in front of me. She opened her mouth to speak but I lifted a finger to silence her.
She folded her arms and her eyes looked like fucking molten silver. And fuck…if it wasn't speeding up my goddamn heart rate.
I pulled out my phone and called the chef, instructing him to set the dining table for my wife and I, then pocketed the phone.
“So you’re trying to control when I eat?” she snapped.
