Page 63 of Bought to Bear Bratva Heir

"I will deal with Daisy in my own way." Half-turning towards me, he scowled. "Go to your room, Daisy. I will deal with you in the morning."

Everyone fell silent. It was like they were all waiting for him to explode, but I had never seen him look so calm.

"I will deal with you first. Who was the man—"

She rushed into his arms again. "There was no other man. There never has been. You have to believe me."

For a second, Ilya looked confused. His eyebrows knitted, and his eyes narrowed into slits.

"Daisy, who did you—"

She cut him off with a screech. "You believe her over me? She’s jealous, Ilya. You can’t believe anything that money-hungry whore says."

"I wasn’t the only one who saw you," I said evenly, my eyes clashing with hers.

He turned his pale eyes on the child sobbing by the wall. In all the commotion, I had almost forgotten he was still here in this room.

"Did you see something, Alec?" Ilya asked softly.

The little boy did nothing but sob into his hands. All the shouting and screaming was too much.

"Like he’s going to tell the truth. The boy hates me. He’s a brat who will side with the slag that gave birth to him."

I didn’t mind being called names. But the venom in her voice when she spoke about my child was too much. How could you hold so much hate in your heart for a child?

"Send her away, Ilya." Marguerite realized that what she had said had gone too far and instantly changed tactics. Sliding her hand up his chest, she pressed herself into his side. "Send her away so we can be a family. If you don’t—"

Ilya's eyes flashed. "Do not give me an ultimatum," he growled out. "I will deal with this mess in the morning. Right now, this party is over." His head snapped to the crowd that had gathered. "Go home." No one moved.

"Leave."

I stared at him, at the cold anger in him, and the realization hit me like a sledgehammer to the gut. He wasn’t going to deal with this in the morning. He wasn’t going to deal with this at all.

It didn’t matter what I said, or did. He was going to choose to marry Marguerite anyway.

"I’ll leave," I whispered.

Ilya's head snapped around to me. "I said go to your room, Daisy." His voice shook with anger.

"No." Taking a deep breath, I set my shoulders and stared right back at him. I knew he hated it when people spoke back to him, but I wasn’t going to back down. Not this time.

Ilya was letting revenge get the better of his judgment, and it was going to destroy him. All I could do was make sure it didn’t destroy me and Alec as well.

"No, I am not going to stay here and watch this shit show." Desperately I looked for Alec, finding him clinging to his father's legs.

Crouching down, I met my son's eyes. "I will make this better, okay? I will—"

Ilya stepped in front of him, blocking my view. "If you leave now, then you will never see him again. I’ll make sure of it, Daisy. Now go to your goddamn room."

"No." It was the only word that would ever shock him. And all that shock was written all over his face. He hadn’t expected me to stand my ground.

"No, I won’t, Ilya. I’m leaving, and you can’t threaten me with my child again. Not this time." I had half turned on my heel when I heard Alec cry out my name behind me. Turning back to him, I met his tear-filled eyes, and felt my heart break.

"Take me with you. Let me go." He struggled in his father's arms. Ilya lifted him fully off his feet. It didn’t matter; the little boy continued to struggle. "I want to go with my mama."

"Is this what you want, Daisy? You want to leave your son for the second time? Is that how much he means to you?" Ilya's words were cruel. They cut deep, and I almost gave in.

"I am not leaving him. I will never leave him. But I can’t—"