Page 61 of The Bratva's Auctioned Bride
Zakhar grabs my arm and pulls me from the seat, exciting everyone else. “I’m going to cut his balls off and shove them down his throat,” he says, pulling me, shoving me toward the door.
“Stop this right now,” Angelika screams, stepping in front of him.
“Don’t you dare touch him,” she snaps, her voice fierce, her eyes like daggers. She turns from Zakhar to Jaroslav.
Chapter 18 - Angelika
My heart is racing, my throat is dry and tight, and my hands are clammy with sweat as I try for the fifth time to intercept this madness.
My brothers are hell bent on ignoring me and being savages, but I refuse to let them hurt Diomid.
“You’ve got it all wrong!” I shout, demanding their attention, forcing them to look at me.
Jaroslav shakes his head and tries to turn away from me again. “Take him to the…”
“No,” I scream, slamming my fists into his chest.
“Angel, calm the hell down. He took advantage of you, and he has to pay for that,” Jaroslav growls, grabbing my wrist.
“But he didn’t,” I shout. “It was mutual.”
Jaroslav’s eyes flare, angry and dark. I watch the muscles ripple over his jaw, and he takes in a sharp breath.
“What?” Zakhar snaps in disbelief. “Mutual?” he repeats, narrowing his eyes, his fist still locked around Diomid’s bicep. Diomid hasn’t even tried to fight back. I’ve seen what he’s capable of. In all honesty, I think he could have put three of my brothers on the floor before they even scratched him—if he wanted to. But he’s staying calm, letting them push him around.
This is all my fault.
“Get your hands off him, stop acting like a bunch of animals, and talk!” I say fiercely, my eyes boring into Jaroslav. He’s the oldest. He’s the one I need to convince. If I can calm him down, I can calm them all down.
I can feel everyone’s eyes on me. The Abashins. My family. My heart sinks to the pit of my stomach. Embarrassment flares over my cheeks. Of all the ways for our intimacy to be exposed, this is possibly the worst.
My eyes squeeze shut, I swallow away my fear, and take a deep breath.
“I mean it, Jaroslav. It was mutual. You can’t blame him for this. If you’re going to torture him, you have to torture me too, otherwise you’re no better than the mindless assholes who auction people.” My comment takes Jaroslav by surprise. He presses his lips together. Pausing. Thinking.
“Let him go, Zakhar.”
“Jaro…” Zak mutters, looking for confirmation.
“Let him go. And everyone needs to leave now. The alliance between the Shevchenko and Abashin families ends today.”
“What? No!” I shout in disbelief.
A murmur of shock waves through the room. My eyes dart to Diomid, and he smiles at me. It’s like he’s trying to tell me it’s ok, that it was all worth it. But it’s not worth it. I won’t be the reason he gets blamed and the alliance ends.
I have no choice. This is all my fault, and it’s time I stepped up and took responsibility for it.
“Get out,” Jaroslav shouts, spinning around the room to glare at everyone.
My heart sinks, my stomach knots, my body lurches with anxiety.
“I snuck out the night I was kidnapped.”
I can barely believe the words managed to come out clearly. Biting my lip, I wait for everyone to turn their attention back onto me. Diomid looks pained, worried, his jaw tense.
Zakhar releases him from his grip and turns to face me. “What did you say?” he asks, glancing between Jaroslav and me.
“I said, I snuck out. I was reckless. Impulsive. Going a little crazy. And I did something stupid and… I snuck out and went clubbing.”
