Page 95 of Bound Bride
I've saved no one.
"I… Konstantin… I'm so sorry."
Kon's rigid like a board and the force of the chopping knife doubles, but he doesn't speak.
He stares down as if he's focusing all his confusion and rage on the vegetables in an attempt to stay true to his word.
No reaction without explanation.
"Mathew… isn't my brother. He's my captor." The words hang heavily in the air as Kon's knife pauses briefly, then he resumes as if giving me space to speak.
Fuck.
What choice do I have?
"A little over a year ago, my father's gambling debts took everything from us. We lost our homes, our money… everything. And the people my father owed money to were the Vasiliev brothers. They took me and my sister and my mother and they… they tortured us in order to get my father to pay. Well… they tortured me because I was doing everything I could to protect my mother and my sister. They beat me, they raped me, they starved me… it was all a game to them. And in the end, my father couldn't pay. I don't know how much he tried, but he couldn't get money from anywhere, so they were going to sell us."
Calvin takes a half-step toward me, but I can't tell if it's because he wants to comfort me, or if he's anticipating needing to be between Kon and I.
"They were going to sell me until you, Konstantin. They heard about your search for a wife and it seemed alarmingly perfect that you were looking for a bride from a smaller family because that fit us perfectly. I never understood how he was able to set up a meeting between you and my f-father but if he was blackmailing that general, then I suppose that was how he did it."
Kon's chopping pauses once more, then resumes.
Now that I've started, the words don't stop. It's like the dam has burst and the words come faster and faster.
"You were a problem for them. They hated you because you were dominating the market and you have more power than they could ever dream of. They were desperate to take you down because they were sure it would catapult them to the top but theyknew they couldn't beat you with force. So they… used me. I was to be their plan."
Kon suddenly sets down the knife, lifts the chopping board and walks across the kitchen to the stove where he scoops the chopped vegetables up and places them into the pot.
His silence is terrifying and I curl my hands together, my nails digging into my knuckles.
"They wanted me to marry you and g-get pregnant. Then they would use that baby to control you and get what they wanted. I was to do that and in return, they wouldn't harm my family. In the e-end it was going to be a trade. A baby for m-my family."
Despite the stinging up my throat and the weight behind my eyes, I don't cry. Letting a tear escape feels impossible, and I want to see Kon coming when he surely lashes out.
"I w-wasn't meant to fall in love," I whisper. "I wasn't meant to do anything but get pregnant. B-But now Beatie is upstairs and I don't even know if she's alive, and I don't know where my mom or my dad is and everything is just…"
Calvin's grim face tightens as he looks toward Kon, who remains focused on the pot and the vegetables he's loading into it.
Silence remains.
He doesn't look at me. He doesn't speak. He doesn't even make a noise. He just works, and somehow that breaks my heart more than anger would.
"Kon?" I gasp out as every part of me begins to tremble. "Kon… say something. Please."
31
KONSTANTIN
This is a lot to take in.
More than I ever could have guessed on my own.
Rose stands there and spills the truth like an overfilled fountain and as she talks, things painfully start to make sense.
Things I didn't know were an issue until she paints them in the light of her truth, and suddenly, I question how I could be so fucking blind.
Mathew is not a Chaika. He is a Vasiliev with the goal of getting all of my secrets and taking me down, not because of a personal vendetta but because he wants to be on top and I am in his way.
