Hell, Our New Home…

Anya.

If anyone told me that the man I’d imagined as my husband would stab me in the heart so treacherously by eloping with my own twin sister, I would never have believed it.

My life was a joke. A big one. And somehow, getting married to Tariq Volkov in less than forty-eight hours after meeting him didn’t seem any better.

My fingers dug into the sides of my simple white dress as I stared blankly around the room into which I’d been led.

I’d been told to wait in the room for my husband, and I’d spent the whole morning and afternoon wondering when exactly he would get there and what I should expect.

This room was big and had a bed and a fancy couch, but I could bet a toe that it wasn’t my husband’s room.

It looked simple, far too simple, and my brows furrowed as I tried to picture how Tariq’s bedroom might be.

Would it have a bed the size of a ship? Or a fireplace tall enough to stand in?

Compared to my imagination, this room looked like a place built for a prisoner, not a bride.

I rubbed the ring on my finger. The golden band was heavy and strange, and my skin had already gone slightly red beneath it.

My heart tightened, emotions rushing through me as my eyes moistened. I sniffled hard. Even the ring felt like a symbol of my imprisonment.

The wedding ceremony had passed in a blur. I could barely remember any of it because all I could think about was Yelena and Dmitri.

The thought of the two of them betraying me was worse than going through this hell.

I’d loved Yelena as much as I’d loved Dmitri.

I loved my sister so much that I’d do anything she asked. I’d sneak out, dress up in her place and go to her school to sit through the exams she was most worried about. I’d talk with her and play with her, and she chose to break me in this way?

And Dmitri…

A tear slid down my cheek, and I closed my eyes to stop the rest from pouring down.

He had never truly loved me. All along, while I was busy giving my heart to him so selflessly, he was in love with Yelena. And Yelena had been smiling at me with the knife already in her hand. She’d stabbed me with it; she’d hurt me so badly.

I could forgive almost anything. Not that.

Mama had come to me earlier in the morning while the maids pinned my hair. She dismissed them with a wave of her hand and stood behind me, her eyes fixed on my reflection in the mirror.

“Listen carefully, Anya, because I will say this once.”

“Mama—”

“You belong to the Don now, and now that you are here, Anya Sorokin, you must put your innocence aside. Do you understand?” Her voice was flat and unfeeling.

My lips parted in a tremble, but Mama continued before I could even get a word out.

“Your virginity and everything that you are belongs to the Don.” Her fingers moved over my shoulders, resting on either side, and I stiffened when she leaned in closer to whisper in my ears.

“You will spread those legs for him, Anya, and if that means becoming his whore, then so be it.”

Blood rushed up my neck.

“You will be obedient, and you will not refuse him. Whatever he wants, make sure as hell that you give it. On the outside, you’ll be his dutiful wife, but on the inside, you are his fucktoy. Make sure you never forget that. Men like Tariq, these men in the mafia, do not need a smart mouth or a real wife. They only want a whore disguised as one, and your pussy.”

My throat closed. “Mama, please.”

“Shhh…,” she whispered, shutting me up as she adjusted a pin in my hair, hard enough to sting. “Don Tariq has promised to fulfil his end of the deal within a month if you behave. He wants to be sure that what we gave him is exactly what we promised. It’s just one month, Anya. One perfect month and every single worry our family has will be wiped away by the Don. And by God, Anya, you will behave. You will hide that hideous scar every morning, every afternoon, and every fucking night. If he sees it, you will cost this family everything.”

She left without another word.

My heart clenched painfully in my chest as I recalled everything she’d said.

I had survived fifteen years in a locked room, but that didn’t make me strong enough to live with a monster like Tariq.

I had heard the stories about him. I’d heard the maids whisper about him when I sneaked past the corridors.

Don Tariq Volkov was a ruthless, cold man who killed people for his amusement and washed the blood from his hands with the calmness of a surgeon. His heart was as black as coal and more evil than any of the other godfathers put together.

The servants whispered that he took no mistresses because he did not need warmth, and the guards in our home said no one had ever heard him raise his voice because he never had to. He did everything quietly, even his monstrous deeds.

And I was to be left alone with him.

Fear clung tightly to my throat, and its harsh vapours crept slowly into my veins.

What if I died before a month was over?

I was still lost in thought, when I felt goosebumps rise on my skin. The back of my neck burned… as if…

I turned slowly, and my breath ceased.

Tariq stood in the doorway with one hand braced on the frame. He still wore his wedding trousers, but the jacket was gone, and the sleeves of his shirt were rolled up to his elbows. But something about his expression made my skin crawl. There was no hint of that lazy, mocking smile I had seen on him countless times. His face had turned to stone.

“Who are you?” He asked suddenly.

I blinked, my heart raced furiously in my chest.

“I said, who are you?”

What the hell was he talking about? Confusion tangled inside me as I stared at him, lost. “I… I don’t understand the question, Tariq…”

“Who are you?” he asked for the third time.

“I’m Yelena,” I said in an exasperated rush.

He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him,

My nerves knotted into a tangled mess.

“I will not ask another time.” His voice was very quiet, and somehow that made it worse. “So tell me who the fuck are you? You are not who you claim to be.”

My heart clenched as I stared at Tariq. It seems the Don is starting to go insane. I’ve always heard he was wise, but how could this man in front of me not as well be a mad man?

“What kind of question is this, Tariq? I’m your wife. Did you not just get married to me this morning? You know who I am. I’ve been here, waiting for you to come and take me to our supposed room—”

“I’m asking you who the fuck are you?!” Tariq moved closer to me, and I jerked backward. “Your father cheated me, you aren’t the girl I’m supposed to get married to!”

My blood turned to ice. My eyes widened with terror. H-how… did he find out? No… No… T-this couldn’t be happening.

“Your father looked me in the eye and cheated me! You are not the girl I’m supposed to marry. You are not Yelena! You are not the favorite daughter! You are just a freaking shell in her place. You all must think I’m stupid! And you? You had the guts to deceive me…”

My legs trembled as I backed farther away from him. Fear collided with panic, and I glanced at the door as my life flashed before me. I had no idea how he had found out when I had hidden it all so well, but I knew I was finished.

“I-I…” My voice quivered with fear. “I don’t know what you are talking about,” I lied.

Darkness loomed over Tariq’s face, and the temperature in the room dropped another degree.

“I hate liars, but I hate cheats even more.”

My throat tightened as my back hit a solid wall.

“Your family manipulated me into getting married to you! You are a twin! And you are the wrong bride! How dare you try to play me for a fool?!”

He was close now, so close that I could smell the fury radiating off him. Tariq’s hand shot out and closed around my throat.

“P-please…” Air rushed from my lungs, and my breathing grew shallow as I tried to get a word out. I felt death circling closer as he squeezed even tighter.

My vision narrowed as he spun me around. He tilted my head back, and the room slid sideways as I clawed at his wrist.

“Let me go! Let me go, you monster!” I screamed.

“Did you not just get married to me?! Are you trying to kill me now!”

“Yes, I did marry you, but I married the wrong person.” Tariq sneered. “You are the rejected one. You are the discarded twin. The one nobody wants.”

His breath fanned my neck. It felt hot and cold at the same time.

“I did my research, and I found out why even your family hates you! You are not a person, you are a thing. You are a thing they threw at me because they could not bear to keep it next to them.”

He gripped my neck hard, and my hair fell onto his shoulder as I struggled. I felt his spittle land on the left side of my face.

Disgust and fear crawled over my skin as Tariq held me tightly with one hand. Then he lifted his other hand and dragged his palm across my face.

The powder on my face smeared, and I shut my eyes as tears spilled down my cheek. Every layer of makeup I’d used to cover my shame fell apart beneath the roughness of his thumb. The cold air kissed the skin beneath. I felt the ridge of my scar exposed.

His hand stilled.

For a second, nothing moved. I felt my skin crawl as Tariq’s gaze burned into the pale line on my face. My fingers clenched into fists.

“Well, well, well,” he murmured. “Not only is your father a murderer, but he is also a thief, a liar, and a coward. I knew Viktor was scum, but I did not know he was despicable enough to throw me his leftovers.” I yelped as his grip tightened. “You know what? I wanted to use Sorokin’s most precious thing in the world as my revenge pawn, but now the stakes are higher, and the situation has changed.” His voice lowered dangerously. “I’ll make sure you feel miserable.”

The room dimmed at the edges of my vision.

“Leave me alone!” I thrashed, and my knee struck something solid. Suddenly his hand was gone, and I was falling.

I hit the marble floor hard, gasping and scrambling backward on my elbows.

“Stay away from me! You’d better stay away!” I yelled. “I don’t know what you have against my parents, but I didn’t do anything!”

He advanced slowly toward me, and I scrambled to my feet, moving cautiously backward until my hip struck the side of a table. I grimaced and swung my hand behind me. Luckily, my fingers closed around something cold and heavy.

The bronze lamp.

Tariq’s eyes darkened as I pointed it warningly at him.

“Stay away from me! If you come close to me, I swear, I’ll kill you with this,” I said bravely, despite the fear trembling in my voice.

A dark chuckle rumbled in his chest. “I have steeled myself against pain, wench. Your little trick won’t cause me any pain!”

He lunged closer to me, and I swung it with everything I had.

I missed.

It slammed against his palm with a cracking sound. Tariq staggered, one hand gripping the other. When he raised his palm, his fingers were red.

Oh God.

He stared at the blood, then at me, and something in his eyes went terribly still.

My heart missed a step, and that was the last moment of quiet before I bolted.

My feet moved fast, and my heartbeat roared in my chest as I raced through the open door and fled down the corridor barefoot, my hair flying behind me and the cold marble biting at my soles.

“Where are you running to, wench?!” Tariq’s voice bellowed behind me. “Do you think there is a corner of this mansion where you can hide that I will not find you?! I’ll find you, and I’ll make you pay for the manipulation and the lies!”

I didn’t wait to hear the rest of it.

I raced down the stairs, tears running down my face as fear for my life moved my feet.

I had no plan. I didn’t know where I was headed. I brushed past maids who gasped and rushed out of the way as I tore through the servants passage and burst into the courtyard.

It was dark, and only the bright lights ahead lit my path.

There were several buildings ahead on the estate, and I didn’t stop to think before rushing toward one of them.

Somewhere behind me, a dog began to bark.

It wasn’t a puppy’s yap. No. It was a deep, cavernous sound that rolled across the grounds and settled in my bones.

I threw the doors open, then rushed past two doors before running into the third bedroom. I shut the door softly, but the lock wasn't there. I pressed my back against the door and held my palm over my mouth.

I tried to stay as quiet as possible, but my heart was pounding furiously in my ears.

Lightning flashed as the barking grew louder and louder. I bit down hard on my trembling lower lip as I heard footsteps somewhere in the house

“Hey, wench!” Tariq’s voice echoed loudly through the empty building. “You have until the count of three to come out. If you don’t, this dog will do the work for me.”

“When he finds you, he’s going to devour you and ruin every inch of you. That scar on your face will only be the tip of the iceberg!”

My fingers trembled around the doorknob as sweat broke out on my skin.

He was serious. He was f-fucking serious… I had heard a lot of barking in my life. Pushok’s yelps and the distant howls of my father’s guard dogs. I knew dogs and loved them, but I also knew how dangerous they could be just by the sound of their barks. This was something else.

“He is very good. He has never lost a thing he was sent to find. When he finds you, I will not stop him!”

“One.”

The barking got louder and louder, and the dog ran.

“Two.”

I moved away from the door, shaking my head from side to side.

“Three.”

Silence. A long, awful silence.

Then I heard claws on wood. The door creaked open. I heard a rumble of harsh breathing before I looked up in terror.

The great black shape of a Doberman filled the doorway, its eyes glowing like coals, its teeth bared.

I did not scream. I could not. I pressed myself against the wall and watched the animal pad toward me, and behind it, in the doorway, a second shape emerged.

Tariq. Blood was drying on his palm, and a pistol hung loosely in his other hand.

“Good boy,” he said.

The dog sat. Tariq stepped into the room, seized my arm, and dragged me across it as though I weighed nothing.

He threw me against the wall and caged me there, one forearm braced beside my head.

“Now which twin are you?” he sneered. “What is your fucking name?”

I said nothing, and his eyes darkened even more.

He pressed the muzzle of the gun beneath my chin, tipping my face up. “I’ll punish you for what your father had done. I was going to do whatever I wanted with you for just a month, but you have all deceived me and twisted the revenge I had planned,” he swiped a finger along my scar, making me inhale sharply. “I’m going to make you feel pain for the rest of your life.”

Tears gathered quickly in my eyes and slid down my cheek as I glared at him. “You are a monster, Tariq! A heartless devil! I’m your wife, for crying out loud!”

“Did you think marriage was your escape?” he asked, leaning into my ear. “You thought the Don would be a door out of your father’s house. He is not. This marriage is your prison and I am your warden. I will make sure you feel every single sting that you deserve."

My dress had torn from my shoulder to my hip. I felt the cold on my skin, and I felt his body, hard and unyielding, trapping me against the wall. He set his knee between mine and forced my legs apart, then placed his hand tightly around my throat again.

I held my breath as the gun slid down, over my collarbone, along my ribs, slowly, as though he were mapping me. The muzzle came to rest against my hip, over the thin, ruined fabric of my dress, and then pressed directly against my pussy mound.

I froze.

Tariq leaned in even closer, his voice hoarse as he spoke. “Now, tell me, which twin are you? What is your name? You claimed to be Yelena, which you obviously aren’t. So what the fuck is your name? Tell me!”

I was crying.

My heart was hammering so hard it hurt.

Beneath the terror, beneath every instinct screaming in my body, something treacherous stirred.

A feeling I couldn’t recognize no matter how hard I tried to.

The muzzle moved and twisted into the hem of my panties, and heat and fear rushed up my spine.

No one had ever touched me like this. Not in such an intimate place. No one had ever been so close.

And I hated myself for feeling anything at all.

“Yes, I am a beast,” he whispered, brushing his lips so near my ear that I felt his breath on my skin. “I’m one of the rare ones you’ll ever encounter. I will give you nightmares beyond your imagination. I will make you feel so small and worthless. Now tell me.” The gun slid across my clit. “Which. Twin. Are you?”

I lifted my chin and met his eyes, though it cost everything I had.

“Go to hell!”

A slow, dangerous smile curved across his mouth.

“I live there.” Tariq said.