Every cell in my body seemed to vibrate, except my finger on the trigger. It was frozen, unable to move or be pulled.
“Mila,” Axel said from beside me, “don’t move.”
The sound of his voice filled me with so much relief. Out of my peripheral, he stepped forward, and then his hand moved over mine until it was holding the gun with me. I felt him put the safety on and gently take the gun out of my hands.
Sergei started laughing as he stepped back, assuming camaraderie with Axel. “Fucking women, hey? All of them are crazy.”
Axel moved with the speed of a viper. Using the gun, he struck so hard and fast across the side of Sergei’s head that the man simply dropped to the floor with a heavy thud.
I stood there in shock. The only sound in the room was my ragged panting.
Axel bent down and returned Sergei’s gun to his holster.
“Is he dead?”
“Just knocked out.”
“He came out of nowhere, and then his hand was on my mouth and I was struggling to breathe,” I gasped, trying to explain myself.
I felt mortified when my face crumpled and I started to cry. No matter how much I fought it, stupid sobs came out of me while I struggled to control my emotions. “Why won’t he leave me alone?”
He put his hand on my back. “Let’s go talk.”
He walked me down the hall. I wiped away tears that wouldn’t stop leaking down my cheeks.
He pulled me into a small sitting room and shut the door behind us. We moved to the small settee and sat down.
“I wasn’t completely honest with you. I talked to your uncle before dinner.”
Adrenaline still coursed through my body, and my voice trembled. “About what?”
“He told me that if you don’t want to marry me, he’ll make you marry Sergei instead.”
Shock rippled through me. “Are you lying?”
“No.”
My heart pounded so hard I could feel the blood beating in my throat. I processed his news out loud. “Meaning, if you walk, he’ll make me marry Sergei?”
“He needs to get someone into Canada soon. He doesn’t care if it’s me or Sergei.”
I frowned. “If he talked to you before dinner, then why did he still publicly suggest you propose?”
“Because I didn’t back out.”
His confusing words hung in the air between us. “Why didn’t you back out? Do you want to get married?”
“Not particularly.”
His answer made no sense. Men didn’t do things like this without wanting something in return.
My thoughts were a tornado in my head. Would my uncle really force me to marry Sergei? And, if Axel didn’t want to move to Vancouver, why was he doing this?
It was amazing how calm I was on the outside when inside, all my alarm bells were going off. A few hours before, I had been acting like he was destroying my life with his attention. Now, I realized he might be the only thing standing between me and a man who promised a future filled with pain and violence.
“But like Sergei, you want to go to Vancouver.” It was a statement, not a question.
“Yes.”
