the conversation.
“Viktor says Oleg is being ridiculous, suspecting you. He says if he’d met a woman like Elena, he would make her his without hesitation.”
My knuckles crack when I clench my fist, and heat creeps up my neck and face. “What else?”
“Galina agrees with him,” Jaime replies. “She says it isn’t uncommon for young people to fall in love on first sight. Oleg still isn’t happy. He thinks you haven’t given Nataly a fair chance and … your feelings for Elena aren’t deep enough to be concerning. He says you’ll grow bored of her eventually, and when you do, Nataly will be ready to step in and seal the deal.”
I pace away from Jaime’s workstation and back again, wrestling with irritation at Oleg and rage at Viktor for the way he spoke about Elena. It doesn’t matter that me and Elena’s relationship is only a ruse; I’ve never taken well to someone else sniffing around what’s mine.
“They’re buying the relationship itself, at least,” I murmur, thinking out loud. “They just need to be convinced it isn’t a fling.”
Jaime makes a sound low in his throat, drawing my attention back to him. He’s watching me with wary eyes. We aren’t close like me and Jovan, but I can tell Jaime’s dying to say something.
“What?” I snap.
Jaime shrugs and turns back to his computers. His fingers click rhythmically over the keys as Oleg and his family continue talking. “It’s nothing. The last time I suggested it, you bit my head off.”
I grit my teeth and contemplate revisiting that idea. “For fuck’s sake, I already told you, I’m not marrying Nataly!”
Jamie’s shoulders shake with laughter, but he doesn’t turn around. “Didn’t say anything about the Yezhov girl, jefe.”
The words to tear him a new asshole are on the tip of my tongue, but I choke on them once I realize what Jaime means. “Elena? You think I should marry Elena?”
For some reason, that makes me angrier than the thought of marrying Nataly. To have to spend the rest of my life being driven insane by that hellcat … no, it’s out of the question. I’m barely hanging on to my sanity as it is. After her stunt in the bathroom, I’ve started thinking about moving her to another room. It would mean a more aggressive security detail, but it would also allow me to breathe again.
That night, I tiptoed into the bathroom and jacked off like a horny teenager—something I haven’t had to do since I discovered how easy it was to have whatever woman I wanted. Elena showing me every bare inch of her sinful body nearly snapped what was left of my control.
It isn’t that I don’t intend to fuck her. What I want is to have Elena on my own terms; not because she seduced me into thinking with the head between my legs instead of the one between my ears.
Jaime swivels his chair to face me and rocks back, hands folded behind his head. “The way I see it, you won’t let her go anytime soon. She can serve an actual purpose beyond pissing off Oleg and putting the merger at risk. You know how old-school Oleg is. If you commit to a marriage, he’ll see it as a true sign that you’re in love. He won’t have a choice in the matter; the alliance will go forward without Nataly’s involvement.”
It makes so much sense, but I refuse to admit that to Jaime. My teeth are in danger of shattering from how hard I’m clenching them, and my vision is hazy with anger. Jaime’s expensive equipment is in serious danger of being smashed to bits.
“And just what the fuck am I supposed to do with a wife I don’t want after the wedding?”
Jaime grins. “Hell if I know. What you do with your own wife will be none of anyone’s business.”
I clench and open my fists while staring Jaime down, wondering if he’ll fight back if I hit him. A good fight might help me clear my head just now.
But violence against my own men has never been my way—not for those who are loyal, anyway. My mother taught me to rule with fear, but I prefer to save that for my enemies.
“Keep listening and tell me if you hear anything important,” I bark on my way out.
Slamming Jaime’s door, I make my way to the stairs. My head is spinning and my thoughts firing in a dozen different directions. Apparently, the forces controlling my life seem determined to