Been Kozlov

Aria POV

I fought against him in the dark, panic crashing over me before I was even fully awake.

My body twisted violently beneath the blankets, my breath tearing out in broken gasps as something heavy held me down.

My heartbeat exploded in my ears and I shoved harder, clawing at the thing trapping me, but the fabric only tightened around my legs and waist. One arm was pinned beneath me while the other thrashed wildly through the darkness.

A strong hand suddenly wrapped around my wrist and astrangled sound left my throat then light flooded the room.

I blinked hard against the brightness, my chest heaving violently as the nightmare slowly peeled away from reality.

“Calm down, Aria,” Viktor said quietly. “You’re tangled in the covers.”

His voice cut through the terror like a blade through fog.

For a second I could only stare at him. My lungs still burned from panic  but the fear slowly loosened its claws when his face came into focus above me.

I exhaled shakily and loosened my grip on his wrist and he released me immediately.“Let me help you.”

The moment he reached toward me, my entire body stiffened on instinct. My eyes locked on his hand before I could stop myself. Something dark flickered through his gaze when he noticed, but he said nothing.

Instead, he grabbed the blankets twisted around my legs and yanked them loose in one sharp pull.

I dragged in a deep breath and pushed myself upright slowly, my pulse gradually settling.

Viktor sat beside me, one arm braced behind him. His dark hair had come loose from its usual short tie, strands falling carelessly around his face then my gaze dropped lower.

The tattoos across his chest caught my attention instantly, they covered nearly every inch of skin below his throat, black ink curling over hard muscle and old scars alike.

Some marks disappeared beneath the waistband of his pants while others stretched across his shoulders and down both arms.

The scars stood out the most, they didn’t ruin him but they made him look even more dangerous.

I swallowed hard and looked away before he caught me staring.

“I’m not used to that much space,” I murmured, trying to steady my voice.

“The chaise lounge I slept on before didn’t exactly give me enough room to get tangled in blankets.”

Viktor was still watching me, his gaze moved over my face carefully, then I became aware of how close we were. 

Heat crept into my cheeks, he must regret this marriage already and the thought made me panicked, what if he sends me back?

I lowered my eyes. “I’m a mess,” I whispered. “At least you don’t have to worry about other men making a move on me.”

The words tasted bitter but they were true.

I expected indifference from him but Viktor’s expression barely shifted as he said in that low, steady voice, “I’m not worried about that.”

I looked at him carefully. “Have you realized you got a faulty prize?”

One dark brow lifted slightly. “Faulty?”

I motioned weakly toward myself. “Broken.” My throat tightened around the word.

“I’m not what was promised, you should give me back.”

For a moment he simply stared at me then he shifted closer and every muscle inside me tightened automatically.

I hated that reaction and Viktor noticed.

His eyes flickered briefly over my tense posture before returning to my face.

“I was promised a beautiful woman in marriage,” he said calmly. “A woman with beauty and grace.”

His gaze held mine steadily. “You fulfill my requirements.”

I blinked at him. “You think I’m beautiful?”

The question escaped before I could stop it.

“To think it would suggest imagination,” he said. “Your beauty is fact.”

My breath caught, no one had ever said it like that before.

“And the reason I’m not worried about men making a move on you,” he continued, “is because you are a Kozlov now. My wife and In New York, nobody goes against us.”

I swallowed hard and the room suddenly felt smaller.

Viktor leaned back slightly, studying me in the silence before speaking again.

“The dark holds power over you because he came at night for you?”

I nodded slowly even now my stomach twisted remembering shadows moving toward me in darkness. 

Viktor’s voice lowered further. “Your nights are safe now.”

I looked up at him. “You are safe, Aria even in the dark, there is nothing you need to fear. No one.”

His expression remained calm, but there was something terrifying beneath it. “Because I am there and they would have to go through me first.”

A chill slid down my spine. “No one has ever won against me,” he said quietly. “I am the most dangerous thing in the dark.”

His eyes held mine completely captive now. “But you do not need to fear me.”

A man like Viktor should have terrified me more than anyone else alive but somehow he didn’t.

“Why?” I whispered.

His brows drew together faintly. “Why what?”

“Why don’t I have to fear you?” My voice trembled slightly. “You’re a Kozlov.”

“I am.”

He rested his arms loosely against his knees, gaze unwavering.

“My brothers and I protect each other because we are family. We protect Ivan because we chose to make him family.”

His voice remained calm, but there was life in it now, “And now we protect you because you are my wife.”

“That’s what family is supposed to do,” Viktor said. “Don’t you think?”

A shaky laugh almost escaped me. My father had beaten me, my mother died because of him and my uncle......

My throat closed instantly and I looked away fast, fighting the sudden pressure behind my eyes.

“Was that how your family raised you?” I asked softly. “Because mine…” My voice cracked. “

My father killed my mother trying to save himself. My aunt and uncle treated me like a burden because my father betrayed them and my uncle Yuri…” The words died painfully inside me.

I still couldn’t say it aloud and Viktor watched me silently for a long moment.

“My mother and father were never family,” he said finally. “They were blood, nothing more.”

His expression hardened slightly. “My brothers and I decided to become more than blood, se became a unit.”

There was emotion in his voice now and for the first time since meeting him, I wondered if Viktor truly was as emotionless as everyone believed.

“We are blood and chosen family,” he said. “And we protect what belongs to us.”

His gaze locked onto mine again.

“If you choose to become a Kozlov and become one of us” His voice lowered. “Then we will protect you too.”

“What do I have to do?” I asked quietly. “To become family?”

Viktor held my gaze for several seconds before answering. “Be loyal.”

“Be trustworthy. Forget your blood family and Houston.” His voice turned colder then.

“It’s us against the rest of the world and It will always be that way.”

I thought about Houston and people who shared my blood but never truly wanted me.

There was nothing for me there except pain, nothing except Nyla and even she had her own life now. “I can do that,” I whispered.

Viktor studied me for another long moment before finally giving a single nod then he leaned back against the headboard again. “Try to sleep now.”

The lights clicked off moments later and darkness swallowed the room instantly.

Fear curled through me again before I could stop it but this time, I focused on something else, Viktor’s breathing.

He was still awake, I didn’t know how I knew but I did and somehow, hearing him there beside me kept the darkness from swallowing me whole.

So I closed my eyes and counted each breath he took until sleep finally dragged me under.