Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 106159 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 531(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106159 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 531(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
The carpet piles scrunch under my heels when I pace out my frustration. “And do you know what is even more shocking than learning your mother gifted you to someone older than your father? The fact I had never met him. He was a stranger to me. A dirty, vile stranger who thought I could be bought.”
Matvei’s face exposes he recognizes how close he came to never having me, but I don’t give him the chance to acknowledge it with words. “And when he learned that wasn’t the case, that I can’t be purchased with all the money in the world, he forced himself onto me.” I angrily scrub at the tear falling from my eye. “So I did what every woman in that situation should do. I fought back, and I won. He might have feared the direction of his gun more than he feared me, but that doesn’t alter the facts.”
As the horrific memory of what I thought would be a witness statement for an attempted rape charge filters through my head, I plonk my backside onto my bed, then cradle my throbbing head in my hands. “When I left him by using his gun as my key to escape, he was alive.” As I stray my eyes to my bedroom door, a big exhale rustles through my lips. “This week, I fired the only person who believed me.”
I pray for my anger to dry my tears as I swing my wet eyes to Matvei. “So there’s my story, Matvei. Every filthy, dirty detail. Does that answer your question? Does it give you the closure you need?”
“Yes.” His head bob is as weary as my body. Who knew telling the truth could be so draining? “There’s just one final question I have.”
I furrow my brows but remain quiet, leaving him to fill in the gaps.
“If it was never about the money, why didn’t you sign the annulment papers?”
A cold chill darts down my spine as I reply, “I did.” When Matvei shakes his head, I shout, “I did! I was accused of killing him on our wedding night. It was a given that our marriage would be annulled.” I air quote the title I never agreed to. “I signed them the same night I gave my statement.” A sigh sinks my shoulders. “An hour after my arrest.”
I stiffen when Matvei discredits a truth I thought was legitimate. He places a bank statement onto my shaky thigh. It is in my married name and has more funds in it than I’ve ever seen. “That could be fraudulent.”
“It isn’t.”
“How do you know? This stuff is forged all the time.”
He glares, and that is when I see it. The shame my father’s face wore when he sat across from me in the gallows of an old hotel, and the pity in Saka’s eyes when he realized he was the only one left on my team.
“I didn’t kill him.”
I scoff when Matvei replies, “I know.”
“Then why are you looking at me as if I am guilty?” Not needing his response to fold in two, I say, “You should go.”
“No.”
“Leave!” I thrust my hand at the door.
Matvei’s second denial is as stern as his first. “No.”
With the memories of my past strangling the hold Matvei has over me, I throw my fists into his chest. I whack him without consequence until the exhaustion pulling me under becomes too overwhelming to ignore. I more balance my weight on Matvei’s chest instead of beating into it.
I don’t know how long we stay huddled together in the middle of my room, but the silence does wonders for the pain clawing at my chest. It is only a blip on the radar when Matvei places his hand under my chin to lift my head.
With the gleam in his eyes more nurturing than angst-filled, he swipes at my cheeks while promising, “I will fix this. I will make it right.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
His reply shreds me to pieces. “It does to me, Natalya. It matters to me. You matter to me.”
I could fight, I could tell him my problems aren’t his to fix, but it feels so nice having such a strong, dominant man on my side. I kiss him instead.
Matvei’s fingers that are weaved through my hair tug a little harder when I balance on my tippy-toes to grind against his crotch. He’s only semi hard, aroused from our kiss, but quickly thickens to his full girth and length when my playful grind up has me breathing heavily into his mouth.
“I’ll give you that one for free.” He bites at my lips before inching back. “But you’ll have to pay for the rest.”
Primal need sparks in his hooded eyes when I reply, “I’m okay with that.”
A smirk tugs his lips high on one side. “Then show me what I’m working with.”