“You’re joking, right?” she huffed.
Keeping up my Beast persona, I snarled, “You dare to question your master?”
She quickly ducked her head. “I’m sorry, sir.”
With one of my hands, I grabbed the sides of her face and jerked her gaze to mine. “Despite your insolence, you have pleased me this weekend, so I’ll send someone to take my place.”
Her full lips turned down in a pout. “But they won’t be you.”
A dark chuckle rumbled through my chest. “Of course they won’t. But at least I won’t leave you unsatisfied.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Get on your knees to wait.”
“Yes, sir.”
After she sank obediently onto the ground, I whirled around and started stalking through the tree line. Once I had put enough distance between the two of us, I dialed Dima back. As I shoved my mask off my face, anxiety prickled up my spine.
Without a hello, Dima demanded, “Why the fuck aren’t you answering your phone?”
“I’m sorry.”
“You’resorry? I sent five SOS calls, which you ignored, and all you can say is you’re fucking sorry?!”
From Dima’s freakout, I knew something truly horrible had happened. Immediately, my tongue grew heavier as I fought to speak clearly. “Who is it?”
A pause came on the line before Dima’s anguished sigh. “You know the Irishmudakthat Papa just promised Annika to?”
“The new one or t-the old one?”
In the last week, my sister’s marital future would’ve given anyone in or out of Bratva whiplash. Her initial contract had been brokered with Darragh Kavanaugh–from the powerful Irish Kavanaughs in Boston. But with an engagement party and official announcement looming, a sudden radio silence came between my father and Dare.
Any other man would’ve just sent an emissary to see Dare himself. But not Danill Korolov. In true bastard form, Father sent Mila in to seduce one of the younger Kavanaugh brothers, Kellan. After leading Kellan on, she drugged him and placed hacking devices on the computers in the club owned by the Kavanaughs.
Although we’d garnered plenty of information, Dare broke the marriage contract. To anyone but our father, he had a perfectly good reason—the woman he’d loved four years ago had come back into his life. Not only that, he’d discovered that he had a three-year-old daughter with her.
But Father was enraged at being treated with such disrespect, and he intended to make Kavanaughs suffer. So, he brokered a second marriage deal with their wealthy and powerful cousin in Dublin, Brian Byrne.
“The new one.”
“Fuck, already?”
“Da.”
“What happened?”
“He found out her secret.”
“Fuck.”
Although she concealed that side of herself in Bratva circles due to Russians' attitudes towards gay people, Annika didn’t exactly hide being a lesbian in her social circles. Although Dare had known, it hadn’t bothered him since he didn’t plan on being faithful, and Annika assured him she would produce heirs with him.
“D-Did he hurt her?”
“No.”
“T-Thank, fuck.” At Dima’s quick intake of breath, my chest clenched in panic. “W-What?”
