“How old are you?”
“I’m twenty-two.”
He starts the car and sighs. “I’m afraid I can’t just drop you off, Nina. I told you that you might not like what I’d have to do to get you out of there.”
Chapter 4
Vasily
While Nina’s face turns so pale I fear she might actually pass out, I grab my phone and call Andrei. “We’ve got a problem,” I tell him in Russian.
“Did you find him? Was he at Ruby’s?”
“I didn’t even get a chance to look.” I take a quick glance at Nina as we speed out of downtown and head toward my territory. “I found a young woman who was being held against her will. She could barely walk, and her lip was all busted up like some asshole had just hit her.”
Andrei sighs. “What did you do, Vasya?”
“I got her the fuck out of there the only way I could.”
“Jesus Christ,” he groans. “Please tell me you didn’t do what I think you did.”
“It was the only way,” I tell him. “We’ll be there in about twenty minutes. Start making some phone calls and get an officiant at the house and a couple of rings. I don’t care what it takes.”
I hang up and try not to think about the mess I’ve just gotten my ass into. What the fuck had I been thinking? There was something about her that made it impossible for me to just walk away and ignore what I’d seen. She’d been so damn fragile and obviously in a great deal of pain, and then when she’d clung to me and whispered a plea for help, it had been a done deal. I would’ve killed anyone who tried to stop me from taking her out of that place, and if I have to marry her, then so be it. If she wants, she can divorce my ass later after all this dies down.
She doesn’t speak on the drive, but I hear her quietly sniffling and know she’s crying. Her eyes widen when we pass through the gate and she sees my armed men, but she doesn’t say anything. I pull up to the house and look over at her. Her hands are clutched tightly together and she’s shaking so badly I can hear her teeth clicking.
“Nina, look at me.”
She slowly turns her face to mine and once again I’m stunned by her beauty. Even with a split lip, she’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. Her eyes are big and so dark they look as black as her hair. A tear slides down her cheek, and I have to fight the urge to brush it away.
“I’m not going to hurt you, but we have to get married. It’s the only way to keep you safe.”
“Why are you doing this?” Her voice is soft and shaky, and she brings out protective instincts that I didn’t even know I fucking had.
“I couldn’t leave you in there,” I admit.
“Why were you in there?” she asks, and I know she’s wondering if I’m a customer of Ruby’s.
“I was looking for someone who stole something from me. Someone informed me that they’d seen him go in there earlier. It’s the first time I’ve ever been in there, and I have no desire to ever go back,” I tell her, making it clear that I want nothing to do with that place.
“When are we getting married?”
“Tonight, in just a few minutes, actually.”
She clenches her fists around the black dress she’s wearing. “Can I please shower? I need to shower.”
She starts crying again, so I nod my head and help her out of the car, grabbing her bags before leading her inside. Katya and Svetlana are already in their apartment above the garage and Andrei is busy doing what I told him to do, so Ilya is the only one inside. Nina freezes when she sees his large frame leaning against the counter.
“It’s okay. This is Ilya. He’s one of my men,” I tell her, motioning for her to follow me through the kitchen and up the staircase. Ilya smiles at her but doesn’t say anything. He does shoot me a look that lets me know he has a million questions for me.
“I’ll be down in a sec,” I tell him in Russian and then switch to English. “Here, this is my room. You can use the shower.” I set her bags down and scrub a hand over my face because this is just awkward as fuck. “Do you need anything?”
“No, I’m okay.” She starts to step toward the bathroom and then stops and looks up at me. “Thank you, Vasily. That seems like such a small thing to say after what you’ve done, but thank you.”
I’m not sure what to say, so I just nod and give her a small smile. “Come downstairs when you’re done.”
I watch her walk to the bathroom, noticing that she’s still limping a bit, and a fierce red anger rushes through me when I think about all the things that have probably been done to her. When I hear the shower start, I leave the room and go back downstairs. Ilya lets Ruslan back in, and he comes barreling over to me, eagerly sniffing Nina’s scent on my hands.
