chapter 5

As I walk down the hallway that leads to my study, I hear footsteps coming from behind. Since I sent Janet to my room, Iam curious about who’s in this part of the house. I turn and take a few steps forward, coming face-to-face with Ana.

She has on a faded blue top and shorts that stop at the hem of the shirt, leaving her legs bare.

Her legs draw me in, asking to be wrapped around something. And I can imagine a couple of places where I’d like them to be. While I do things to other partsof her body, to see just how unruly and untamed she can be. And those lips?—

How am I just noticing that she has a pale pink upper lip while the bottom one darkens a little around its curves?

“Can I help you?” Her curt tone pulls me out of my short reverie.

I shake my head, noticing that she’s glaring at me.

“No,” I respond.

Why was I ogling her?

She’s Anastasia Petrov, for goodness sakes. My last name is just an attaché that means nothing but formality. If she were handed a gun and asked to shoot me, she wouldn’t hesitate.

“Okay.” She shrugs and turns away.

I turn too, but my phone beeps, and I take it out of my pocket.

“I just saw Nikolai Petrov with Alexey. They’re sharing a drink. Looks like your alliance is falling apart, big boy.”

Lucia. If she was trying to rile me up, she succeeded.

I turn on my heels.

“Ana.”

She takes two steps forward before stopping. She’s not going to give me an audience, I see.

“Your father isn’t allowed to step foot in this house, and you’re not allowed to see him from now on.”

Ana turns slowly, and I see the confusion on her face, in her raised eyebrows and tilted head.

“What do you mean? I’m notallowedto see Papa? That wasn’t the agreement we had. I’ve told you several times, Dmitri.Whatever form of control you have over your men, it’s not going to work for me,” she increases her pitch with the last word. “I’m not your slave or your toy.”

Maybe it’s because of the text I just received, the conversation I had with Alexey, or the fact that he went behind my back, but something in me snaps.

I march up to her, taking long strides as I keep my eyes fixed on her. We’ve been playing this game for far longer than I like, and it’s time to make her see things the way she should.

My way.

“You will not see your father again,” I repeat. “The day you do will be the last time you’ll know his whereabouts.”

“Are you going to kill him? Is that what you’re saying? Then why haven’t you done it already? It wouldn’t be your first time, would it? Silencing someone who does the same things you do because you have more power,” she challenges me.

Don’t let her slip under your skin, Dmitri.

“Your father and mine were as close as brothers. He might not have told you, but my father helped him build what he has now and didn’t ask for anything in return. But the second my father died, yours started reaching out to otherpakhans, allying. He used them to start a fight against me.”

I swallow hard before continuing, “He thought I’d be too caught up in grief to strike back. Your father,” I jab my finger in the air, “felt that he was entitled to what was mine because he had an agreement with my father. He didn’t even attend his funeral. And you judge me for wanting to take revenge?”

The stubborn look on Ana’s face drops, and uncertainty flickers across her expression. Her lips part slightly, and her eyebrows furrow as she stares at me.

“You’re fortunate,” I say. “Even though you don’t know it. Other men would do things to you that would make your life in this house a living hell. And I’m not saying I’m better.” I shakemy head because I consider acts like that barbaric. “I’m just telling you that you might as well start seeing things clearly.”

“I-I . . .” she stutters.

I exhale, regretting already that I so clearly threatened her.

“My order stands. Your father isn’t to step anywhere near this house, and you’re not to see him. Until I change my mind.”

With that, I leave her standing there and head to my room. I’ve had enough for one night. Hell, I already regret ever proposing this marriage agreement. I should’ve raised hell, crushing and damning all of them.