Page 55 of Caught By the Bratva Boss

“Fuck,” Greg cried out.

Daniil scooped Timothy up, his eyes darting back and forth over his son’s face as he checked for injuries. “Go and stand with Anya outside. I will be out in a second.”

Timothy looked at me. Daniil did not. Scampering, he ran out to his aunt, leaving me with a man who seemed to be vibrating with anger.

“Daniil.” I reached for his arm, and he tossed my hand off angrily.

“Don’t,” he snapped. “Don’t you dare fucking talk to me.”

I swallowed hard, my hand dropping to hang loosely at my side.

“Did you plan this?” he asked. But before I could speak, he grabbed me. His hand curled around the back of my neck and roughly tugged me into him, not in the sexy, animalistic way he usually did. This was pure rage.

Customers around us turned in shock. Their mumbles and grumbles were loud at seeing a man manhandle a woman in public.

Daniil ignored them all. “This was your plan all along, wasn’t it? Gain my trust so you could hand over my only son to a monster who sold your body. I should have followed my gut when it came to you,” he spat in a low, menacing voice. “I knew you were too good to be true.” The hand curved around the back of my neck, flexed, and I cried out.

It felt like he was going to crush my spine. Staring into his dark, bottomless eyes, I felt a rush of fear. This was the real Daniil, a monster with soulless eyes.

Gone was the sweet family man. Gone was the passionate lover of this morning. I didn’t know this Daniil, but it looked like he was ready to snap my neck at any second. I opened my mouth to tell him he was wrong and that it was nothing like he was thinking at all, but he pushed me away from him with so much force that I almost fell down.

“Get out of my sight.”

Tears sprang up in my eyes. “Daniil, it wasn’t like that. It’s not. Please just listen to me.”

He glowered at me. “You’re a whore.” A flicker of unease swept across his face, almost like he didn’t mean those words, but he didn’t apologize. “Nothing but a whore.” He doubled down.

Tears sprang into my eyes.

“I no longer have need of your services,” he continued, and gasps went around.

My cheeks flamed. Humiliation tightened my chest.

“Leave.”

I took a step towards him, my hand outstretched.

“Get out of my sight.”

The growl in his voice made me freeze on the spot. He was being so cruel.

“Our arrangement is at an end. I do not want to see you at my property or around the people I love ever again.” Dark, brooding eyes met mine, and I reeled back at the hate I saw reflected there.

Only a few hours ago, it had been adoration. Now it was pure hatred. I swallowed hard. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Greg stumble from the store and rush down the street, and I was sure that I saw a grin on his face before he disappeared from view.

Had he planned this?

I shook the thought away. He couldn’t have. Could he? He had no way of knowing where I was unless he was tracking my phone. That was really easy to do. Greg was a genius. He could have done it in his sleep, and it made a lot of sense.

I opened my mouth to try to explain to Daniil, but he spoke first.

“Get out.” He didn’t shout it. His voice was icy cold. And deadly. I swallowed hard.

“Now,” he hissed, his very tone promising violence. “Before I forget that I cared for you once. I never want to see you again.”

And there it was. Daniil was done with me just like I knew he would be. I just hadn’t expected it to be so soon or over something that wasn’t my fault. Wrapping my arms around myself, I hunched my shoulders and nodded. “Ok,” I whispered.

I walked away, shuffling out into the frigid cold of the street, and I didn’t feel any of it. The coldness in me had nothing to do with the weather and everything to do with him. I moved around Anya and Timothy without saying a word. Even when they both called out after me, I didn’t turn around.