the feeling is mutual

Chapter 7

Ariel

I clutched onto the edge of the chair tightly and sucked in air. His eyes glinted with mischief, showing how much he enjoyed toying with my emotions.

I puffed out a nonchalant sigh and swallowed. "There's no home for me to return to. I'm fine where I am," I retorted.

He let out a chuckle and leaned on the backrest, folding his arms. "Look, young lady, I don't know why my brother is hell-bent on marrying a little girl like you. All you've done is to cause us trouble and interfere in our plans so you'd better obey me now that I'm asking nicely or your father would bear the brunt of your obstinance," The smile on his face disappeared.

"And I'll also maintain my stance," I replied stubbornly, raising my chin. "You called me a little girl which I am and I keep asking myself why you all are so insistent on forcing me into a marriage that I'm uninterested in. Your brother is a beast who has no regard for anyone and I can not be with him," Fury took over me and I slammed my fist on the table.

He remained calm, but with the tautness of his shoulders and the steeliness in his eyes, I could tell how hard it was for him to control himself.

My family's reputation didn't matter anymore as I planned to cause a ruckus if they did anything funny. As long as I was concerned, I'd lost my family the day they decided to sell me like a cheap article to Dmitri.

He grabbed my wrist and tightened his grip around it so hard that it hurt. "My brother might be slow to action but I'm quite different from him. I don't enjoy playing silly jokes with you and I'm sure your father might have told you about the Outfit. Just imagine they attack your precious Famiglia because the Russian Bratva has pulled away from the alliance, won't it sound great?" The last statement was filled with sarcasm.

My chest squeezed painfully and I let out a gasp when the truth suddenly came to light. The reason my father desperately wanted me to get married to that man was because of a common alliance.

Was that why he kept the truth away from me for so long?

My heart palpitated and I began to hyperventilate. Vladimir noticed it and freed me, and then he crossed over to me.

"It's because of an alliance?" I muttered under my breath.

He snorted and scooted before me, tucking his hand into the pocket of his jacket. "What else could it have been? You're eighteen and you should know by now that women in your rank have no importance aside from being prepared for marriage. This is where your strength lies and you'll have to do as we want,"

I shook my head vehemently and sprang to my feet, pushing the chair backward.

"No!" I objected firmly, "I'm not going anywhere with you," I turned to my heels, heading to the kitchen.

"Freud Volkov,"

I froze on my steps and shut my eyes as a wave of dizziness hit me. "How do you know him?" I asked flatly without bothering to spare him a backward glance.

"Guilia had no choice but to spill a lot of your secrets after going through some series of threats, but we had to run our background check to confirm and I wonder how my brother is feeling right now, knowing that his fiancée has been sharing a house with another man,"

Shit! My lips twitched nervously, not in fear of what he'd do to me but about the safety of Freud.

The mafia men were very territorial about their women and if they already knew about Freud then I had no choice but to go with him.

My eyes stung with tears and I allowed them to roll freely down my cheeks. My shoulders slumped in defeat and I turned around, my head inclined in resignation.

"I'll go with you, but don't hurt him, please. Nothing happened between us, he was just being a kind person. Something you men can never be,"

"Tell that to your fiancé. He's waiting for you in the car," He spat rather impatiently and stalked away.

I stalled behind him, dragging my feet along the tiled floor with my attention trained on the Rolls-Royce parked in between two other cars I didn't know the details.

My brain began to imagine how the trajectory of my life would be in the next thirty seconds. The car door would be opened for me and I'll be faced with the man I thought I'd successfully run away from.

Maybe I should slump and pretend to be unconscious, but they'd take me to the hospital and I'll be forced to wake up. The future looked bleak and there was no escape route.

I should have listened to Mama when she asked me to get married to him and try to make him happy and I began to wonder if that was what she did with my dad.

It was really hopeless, my life, my future.

The door of the café was pushed open by one of his men and I continued with my slow steps, secretly wishing that he'd be irritated and drive off, but the man was as patient as a sheep.

"Please get in, ma'am," Another man standing by the car door implored after opening it.

I gaped at him absentmindedly for a while, wondering where he got such politeness from. "Thank you," I murmured.

Cold chills ran down my spine the moment my eyes locked with him, the man who came into my world and snatched away the peace and joy I'd been enjoying for years. Worst still, he was on the thick black mask that hid his brutal identity.

"We meet again," He rumbled, his eyes cold and unfeeling.

For the first time in a while, I was lost for words and bereft of energy. If there was a being that answered prayers, I needed mine to be attended to.

"I hate you," I fired, oblivious to when the words left my lips, however, I didn't regret telling him how I felt.

He deserved to know that I aimed at making his life a living hell just the way he did to mine.

"The feeling is mutual, doll," He replied in a placid manner that irked me and the engine of the car revved up, reminding me of my depressing reality.