Page 16 of The Russian's Stalked Bride
“You shouldn’t,” I return, testing her with my gaze. “Not so easily, anyway. That’s a better instinct than blindly getting into a stranger’s car without a second thought.”
Her expression darkens then, not at all humored by the callback. Still, it makes me grin to myself.
Really, I should keep my guard up, too. Everything about this is reckless and already too personal, yet I’ve never been more certain about a single decision in my life.
Mila is staying with me, and anyone who tries to get in the way of that will bleed, and I’ll enjoy every second of it.
Chapter 6 - Mila
Even if I should be grateful for the chance to catch my breath, nothing in me has settled yet.
All of my emotions keep slamming into each other, folding from one to the next. Anger shifts to fear, fear into grief, then grief snaps right back to fury again.
I trusted Ivan, even if I should’ve been more vigilant.
It wasn’t that I assumed I could mindlessly put my faith in someone I didn’t know, but the way he jumped in to help me without prompting suggested there was something decent in him. He saw me running, and he stepped in when he didn’t have any obligation to.
But now I know that’s not the case. He has every opportunity to let me go, and yet, he’s adamant about keeping me here.
Now, I’m somehow useful. Leverage, I guess.
That thought is enough to make my stomach turn, but I don’t let him see it.
I ran from my brothers because they didn’t see me as anything more than a viable option. Something to get them out of whatever problem they have with Ivan’s family. In exchange, they wanted gratitude from me.
In that moment, fear felt less suffocating than that prospect. Now, I’m stuck here with him, caught between different walls with the same lack of control.
Pulling in a breath, I straighten my spine and muster as much courage as I can. “Ivan, I want to leave. Now.”
He looks down at me almost blankly. “No.”
The finality of that single word almost pulls the wind from my sails, but my anger doesn’t let it slide. “You don’t get to control me.”
“If you’ve been listening, then you’d know this isn’t about control,” Ivan returns, head tilting just enough to seem condescending. “I said you were safe, and I meant it. I never said I’d let you walk into danger just because you refuse to take a break.”
“That’s still not your call,” I snap back, feeling more and more restless as this continues. “I never agreed to be here.”
“Technically, yes, you did, but I don’t know why we need to split hairs here,” he says, more pointedly than before. “You know that your brothers want to use you and don’t give a damn about you, yet you’d rather risk going out there and being found than staying where I can keep you safe?”
My voice rises despite not meaning to as the frustration starts spilling over. “I didn’t run from my brothers just to be trapped by someone else. That’s the point.”
Ivan’s gaze sharpens, and something darker moves through his eyes. “Lower your voice.”
“No,” I return, voice so close to trembling. “I’m sick of being pushed around and managed. I’m not a deal waiting to happen. I’m not a prize, I’m not…”
As the words leave me, the weight of reality only grows heavier, and each second I bear it only makes my heart clench further. My pulse falters as a result, and another wave of panic washes over me.
I’ve never wanted this. So far, I’ve stomached everything in my life while asking very few questions. I’ve accepted far toomuch that was never normal to begin with, and I can’t keep doing it to myself.
I can’t.
Before I can back out, I turn and bolt.
I push away from the floor hard and go straight for the door while everything in me tightens up.
If I can slip away and leave the building, maybe then I’ll get a solid chance at this. Maybe then I’ll be able to live my life as I want, without leaving every decision up to the people around me. Maybe then, I’ll know what it means to choose.
But I barely make it across the room before his hand latches around my wrist, tugging me back just enough to stop my momentum.
