Page 28 of Cruel Russian King
“No, printsessa. You control when you eat,” I smirked. “You see…you’ve taken my leniency for weakness. And one thing I am not, my dear wife, is weak. So…you’ll eat breakfast with me every morning and dinner at night. The kitchen will be open between the hours of noon and one in the afternoon. You will only be allowed to eat in the kitchen, no exceptions. Once you’veunderstood your role and you submit to your husband's wishes, the kitchen will stay open. Until then…this will be our new arrangement.”
I walked toward the dining room and she followed.
She scoffed, “And you think doing this is going to make me submit to you?”
“The theory is a work in progress.”
“Screw you, Artyom! I’ll eat between the hours of noon and one. Like the prisoner that I am. I hate you!”
Ninel stormed off and I entered the dining room where the chef was setting the table.
“Good evening, Mr. Rykov.”
I sat at the head of the table. When the chef was finished, he left, leaving me alone in the room. I sat there for three hours knowing damn well Ninel was too stubborn to eat with me, yet a part of me hoped she'd want to.
Without touching dinner, I stood to head for the office when Yegor called…we’d been hit again.
Fuck.
I bolted out of the house, tires screeching as I tore out of the garage. I didn’t return until two the next afternoon, and by the time I parked, I was fuming. Not one, but two of our restaurants had been fucking bombed.
We caught the men who planted the explosives. They were low-level street rats. Paid through a faceless email, supplied and paid at a dead drop. I ordered Yegor and the others to start with their fingers and toes and carve them into pieces. Then send out word for our informants. They'd get one hundred grand if they gave us information that led to the peoplewho called the damn hit. Using technology wasn't working, we needed to deal with this fucking ole school.
As I stepped inside the house, my phone buzzed. I had ordered Kolya to add more cameras as well as motion sensors within the trees.
I looked at my phone, jaw locked as I spotted Ninel. She was scaling trees, darting from branch to branch, hiding within the leaves as the guards walked by. Even with more men, rotating posts, and flogging Ruslan for his incompetence, she still outmaneuvered them.
Every. Fucking. One.
Shoving the phone into my pocket, I cut to the back door of the house. Once outside, I ran to the back wall and caught her just as she was about to jump over the damn wall. I yanked her down, and she screamed, as we crashed to the ground, my body taking the brunt of the fall, knocking the wind out of us.
Ninel gasped for air as the guards rushed over.
“Back the fuck off!” I snapped. “If you were watching her she wouldn't have gotten this far!”
They scattered instantly.
Ninel scrambled off me, and I rose to my feet, bracing myself for the fire I expected in her eyes, the fury I knew was coming. Instead, I caught the glint of unshed tears. My stomach dropped.
Shit. Had she been hurt when we fell? My eyes frantically searched her body for blood and bruises.
“Ninel, are you hurt?” I stepped toward her, but she tried to move past me. I blocked her path.
“Ninel…” My voice dropped demanding her attention, but she refused to look at me.
I took a step forward. She took one back.
“Are you hurt? Why are you crying?” Frustration laced in my words.
Her head snapped up then, eyes blazing through the tears.
“Why the hell would you care anyway?!” Her voice cracked as she yelled. “You’re only worried about if I follow your dumb rules! You made it seem as though it was okay to explore your territory but every time I leave you keep coming to get me to drag me back like I'm a prisoner of Azkaban!”
“You could just ask, Ninel!” I shot back. “You've been avoiding me! Not the other way around! I wanted to have dinner with you last night but what did you do?! You walked away!”
“And why wouldn't I? You locked the kitchen, Artyom! The kitchen! I'm not a damn puppet! I have feelings. You can't treat me like I mean something to you one minute then the next treat me like I don't! And demand that I spend time with you!”
My brows knotted. Was she really fucking talking about that day in the closet? That’s why she was pissed? Bullshit. None of it made sense when she was the one freezing me out like I was nothing.
