Page 45 of Bought to Bear Bratva Heir

"Why don’t I get you a glass of milk as Papa tucks you back in," I quipped. He liked warm milk at bedtime, but I also wanted to wash my face, even quickly. The blood had dried.

"You were shouting."

Both Ilya and I froze.

Slowly, Ilya straightened, throwing me a look like this was all my fault. I glared right back at him and carried on splashing cold water on my face and then rubbing it with the cloth he had given me.

Sure, I’d been shouting too, but this was his fault, so he could sort it out.

"I know," Ilya said evenly. "And I’m sorry if that frightened you. I promise we won’t be shouting anymore. Isn’t that right?"

It took me a second to realize he was talking to me. "Sure is." I forced my lips up into a smile.

Alec continued to stare at us. His wise-beyond-his-years eyes narrowed as they flicked between us. "Okay." He yawned, not even bothering to hide it with his hand. "I’m tired."

Ilya chuckled. "No doubt, it’s the middle of the night. Let’s get you—"

He had taken a step forward to scoop him up when Alec shook his head. "Daisy. I want Daisy to take me."

It happened in a second. Ilya's face crumpled, but the look of pain and shock only lasted a second before he schooled it away. Pressing a kiss to his son's forehead, he nodded. "Good night, Alec."

"Night night, don’t let the—" his young face lifted expectantly. Ilya just looked at him blankly.

Sighing, I crossed the space between us and lifted him into my arms. "Don’t let the bed bugs bite," I finished as I carried him to his room without looking back.

Coming out of the bathroom half an hour later, gently rubbing my hair with a towel, I was still trying to make sense of everything that had happened, only to come face to face with the man who was the cause of all my problems.

Ilya was sitting on the edge of my bed. Eyes glued to the bathroom door like he was waiting for me.

"What—" I squeaked, and then gathering my wits about me, I glared at him. "What are you doing in here, Ilya?" Suddenly I was hyper-aware that I was wearing nothing but a towel. And he was aware of it as well, because his eyes kept darting down from my face to the swell of my breasts. Every time he did, he got angrier and angrier.

"Get out, Ilya." Moving towards the vanity, I tried to ignore him. Not that it was possible. Ilya didn’t move a muscle.

"No," he said finally. His eyes traveled to meet mine in the mirror.

"This is my room, and I don’t want you in here." Now I’d come to the vanity, I didn’t know what to do. Sure, I could pick up a comb and begin brushing out my hair, but that would lift my arms, and I didn’t want to risk the towel falling down. Instead, I just stood there. Arms locked at my sides. "I want to go to bed and—"

"Are you really trying to kick me out, Daisy?" He stood up slowly, stretching up to his full height. In the mirror, I watched him turn towards me, and my heart slammed into my chest at the look in his eyes. "Of my own home."

I crossed my arms. "Not out of your home. Out of my room."

"I own this room." Crossing the rug, he came to a stop right behind me. Towering over me with a murderous look on his face. "We need to discuss what happened earlier."

I whirled around. Which was a bad idea, because he was so close that my nose almost skimmed his chest.

"No, we don’t." I took a hasty step backwards, my ass bumping against the vanity and sending bottles flying. He caught me around the upper arms, steadying me, but not really. Nothing Ilya ever did was from kindness, and his hands were cruel around my arms. "We don’t need to talk about anything but the fact that you are an animal."

"An animal?" He mouthed the words, his eyebrows arching upward.

"Yes. You might own this place, Ilya. You might even think you own the city." My eyes narrowed as I tilted my chin up. "But you don’t own me. We have a contract," I pointed out, although I wasn’t sure if it would hold up in court. "You are not allowed to come in here; you are not allowed to meddle." I frowned. Something was happening in his eyes that I just couldn’t understand. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to. "You are not allowed to attack the people I—"

He flicked his fingers up, and the towel around my body loosened. But instead of letting it fall, he grabbed each end and yanked me towards him.

"We have never been good at following the contract, Daisy." His eyes darted downward to feast on my naked body. "I don’t see why we have to change now."

"Ilya," I whispered.

"No, Daisy. You’re mine, and I don’t need a contract to tell me that."