Page 24 of Sold to My Ex's Brother
And I know that my brother was behind it, no doubt in my mind. I had heard him yelling for her, for Maya, and the fact that he was willing to lay waste to my home like that for the sake ofgetting her back told me there was more going on here than he’d have cared to admit.
Though whether it actually has to do with her or not remains to be seen. Because, as much as I don’t want to admit it, Artem has long been jealous of me, long tried to deny the fact that he feels so strongly about me and everything that I have that he doesn’t.
He can try to convince people that he doesn’t care, that he is satisfied with his lot in life, but I can tell from the way he looks at me that there is a shimmering loathing there just out of sight.
Doesn’t matter that I’m not the reason behind it, doesn’t matter that the nature of my father’s affair with his mother meant he was never going to be able to access the power and fortune that he so clearly believes is his. I’m the only one still standing, and now, I stepped in to purchase a woman he obviously thinks he has some claim to.
But still, I’ve never known him to go this far.
Is it because he realizes I now know about the bullshit he has been pulling with the trafficking victims and auctions? He must be aware of my stance on that, it was our father’s, too, and I can only imagine that he has been utterly ashamed, trying to keep it under wraps, knowing that it would change everything between us and unwilling to let it slip out.
I hear a creak from inside the bedroom, and lift my chin, shifting in the stool that sits on the far side of the breakfast bar. I thought of offering to stay with her last night, but God knows things are already complicated enough as they are, given that we hooked up when we arrived here.
I could put it down to the adrenaline, the shock of it, the need to assure myself that she was still okay, but I knew it was moreabout the stark, unbridled desire that rose whenever she looked at me with those big hazel eyes.
Finally, the door opens before me, and she stands there, running a hand through her hair, peering around with narrowed eyes as though trying to recall just what it is she’s doing here.
“What time is it?” she mumbles, as she glances to the coffee in my hands. “Can I have one of those? I feel like I haven’t slept in days.”
“Come sit here,” I tell her, keeping my voice pointedly clear of emotion. I will freak her out if I come on too strong, and I’m careful with my body language as she approaches me. I can only imagine the mess that is going on inside her head, all the questions and doubts that are running through her mind after everything that has happened, and I don’t want to spook her before I have found out the truth.
She hesitates for a moment, but then thinks better of denying me, making her way over to my side and taking her seat next to me. She clamps her hands together in her lap, trying to distract herself, no doubt, from the way I’m looking at her right now.
“What is it?” she asks, forcing a small laugh with her words, as though that will go some way to softening them.
“You knew Artem, didn’t you? Before this happened?”
She nods. “I... The two of us were... We...”
She trails off, searching for the language to put it into words. I don’t take my eyes off of her, reading every stumble, every pause, scanning it for the truth that she seems so intent on keeping under wraps.
She runs a hand through her hair, and finally comes clean.
“My father, he was a big gambler,” she explains. “And Artem was one of the men he came to for money. He built up this big debt with him, and when he passed, I was the only one to inherit it. I started working for Artem at the bar, but then he...”
Her eyes glaze, her lip curling slightly, as though she is so disgusted she can’t go on.
“He told me that there were other ways that I could pay my debt,” she admits quietly. “And I didn’t see what choice I had, so I went through with them.”
I tense.Fucking hell.
As if it wasn’t bad enough that he had been auctioning off women behind my back, he was exploiting this woman’s father to force her into bed, too.
I know there are plenty of men in my line of work who did the same thing, making sure that they can get their hands on any woman they take a fancy to with blackmail. But it’s never made sense to me. When I’m with someone, I want them to be there with me, not forced into it by outside circumstances.
“I broke it off with him a few weeks before I met you,” she confesses. “The guy he sent after me, he’s the same one who kidnapped me and took me to the auction. I had no idea that he was involved in anything like that, though, you have to believe me—I would never have had anything to do with him if I thought he was capable of something like that...”
She trails off as I sit there in silence, once again nibbling on her bottom lip as she waits for me to say something.
I narrow my eyes, staring down into my coffee as I process what she has just told me. So, Artem thinks he has some kind of rightto her. Doesn’t matter that he forced her hand and left her with no choice but to do exactly what he demanded, he has clearly taken a liking to her, and he is not going to let anyone, let alone his own brother, take her away from him.
“I didn’t know he was your brother,” she continues. “And if I had... I would never have...”
She shakes her head, putting her face into her hands.
“I’m sorry, it’s all just such a mess,” she mumbles.
I think of reaching out to comfort her, but I get the feeling that she would not appreciate my touch right now, too close to the memory of everything Artem demanded from her.
