The thought terrified him more than any enemy he’d ever faced, but as he watched Anka disappear around a corner, still carrying herself with that newfound confidence and grace, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something fundamental had shifted between them.
Chapter 7 - Anka
The thrill was gone.
She stood in the middle of Tiffany & Co., holding a diamond bracelet that cost more than most people’s cars, and felt absolutely nothing. No rush of adrenaline, no satisfaction at getting away with something forbidden. Just empty, hollow boredom that made her chest ache with disappointment.
Viktor’s black card could buy anything in that store; hell, it could probably buy the entire fucking store, and that was exactly the problem. Where was the challenge in spending someone’s money when they didn’t seem to care? Where was the rebellion when your target just shrugged and let you do whatever the hell you wanted?
For the past week, she had been testing the boundaries of Viktor’s patience, waiting for him to snap, to confront her, to give her the fight she was spoiling for. Instead, he’d gone completely passive, letting her come and go as she pleased, not even questioning the astronomical charges appearing on his credit card statements.
It was infuriating.
“Are you interested in the bracelet, miss?” The sales associate hovered nearby, probably calculating her commission on a sale this size.
“No,” she said, setting it back in the velvet case with more force than necessary. “It’s not what I’m looking for.”
Nothing was what she was looking for anymore. Not when Viktor had apparently decided to ignore her existence entirely.
She’d expected rage when he discovered his missing card. She’d prepared for another confrontation, another screaming match where they could both say the cruel things that had been eating at them for days. Instead, he’d simply had his assistant increase the credit limit and gone about his business like she was some minor expense he couldn’t be bothered to track.
The indifference hurt more than his anger ever had.
She left Tiffany’s empty-handed and walked out into the late afternoon chaos of Fifth Avenue. The December air was sharp and cold, carrying the promise of snow, and she pulled her coat tighter around herself as she headed toward the subway station.
Maybe it was time to admit defeat. Maybe Viktor had won this round by refusing to play the game at all. Maybe she should just go home to his fortress and resign herself to being the ignored, irrelevant wife he apparently wanted her to be.
The thought made her sick.
She was so lost in her own bitter thoughts that she almost didn’t notice the men following her until it was too late.
There were three of them, moving with the kind of casual coordination that set off every alarm bell she’d been trained to recognize. They stayed just far enough back to seem coincidental, just close enough to close the distance quickly if needed.
A slow smile spread across her face. Finally. Viktor had sent his men after her again, probably planning some elaborate scare tactic to remind her who was in charge. Well, this time she was ready for them.
She led them down a side street, away from the main crowds, then turned around to face them with her hands on her hips.
“Seriously?” she called out, loud enough for any surveillance Viktor might have set up to pick up clearly. “This is the best you can do? Send your little errand boys to corner me in an alley like some two-bit gangster movie?”
The three men exchanged glances, and something about their expressions made her confidence waver slightly. They looked... confused. Not like men following orders, but like men who weren’t sure what she was talking about.
“Tell Viktor if he wants to intimidate me, he should have the balls to do it himself,” she continued, fighting off the growing unease in her gut. “I’m not scared of his hired muscle.”
That’s when the first man smiled, and her blood turned to ice. It wasn’t the professional, slightly apologetic smile she’d gotten used to from Viktor’s security team. This was something else entirely. Something hungry and predatory that made every instinct she had scream danger.
“Viktor?” The man laughed, and the sound made her skin crawl. “Lady, we don’t know any Viktor. But we know you’re worth a lot of money to some very interested parties.”
Oh, shit.
These weren’t Viktor’s men. This was a real kidnapping attempt, and she’d just led them away from any potential witnesses or help.
“I think you have me confused with someone else,” she said, taking a step backward. “I’m nobody special.”
“Anka Volkov?” The second man pulled out a photograph, and her stomach dropped when she recognized her own facestaring back at her. “Recently married to Viktor Nikolai? Yeah, sweetheart, you’re exactly who we’re looking for.”
She turned and ran.
Her heels weren’t made for sprinting, but she managed to make it halfway down the block before strong hands grabbed her from behind. She screamed and fought, driving her elbow backward into someone’s ribs, but there were too many of them, and they were too strong.
